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Adventure Bay is the name of both a township and a geographical feature on the eastern side of Bruny Island, Tasmania. At the 2006 census, Adventure Bay and the surrounding area had a population of 152.^[1]

Abel Tasman tried to enter the bay in 1642 but was driven off by a storm. Captain Tobias Furneaux named it after his ship HMS Adventure that stayed in the bay for five days in March 1773, after being separated from Captain James Cook during his second voyage in HMS Resolution in search of Terra Australis Incognita. It was later used as an anchorage by James Cook (HMS Resolution 1777), William Bligh (HMS Bounty 1788 and 1792 HMS Providence), Bruni d'Entrecasteaux (Recherché 1792 & 1792) and Nicolas Baudin (Géograph 1802). Matthew Flinders tried to enter the bay (Norfolk 1798). During the early 1800s it was the site of a whaling station, and during the 19th and 20th century it was used by the timber industry.

Sheltered from all but strong north-easterly winds, the township of Adventure Bay at the southern end of the bay itself was the site of both extensive timber mills and a long jetty from where sea-going vessels could load timber. Dangerously exposed to north-easterly gales, several ships were driven ashore and wrecked there, the largest being the 241-ton barque Natal Queen in 1909. Adventure Bay is now largely a tourist destination.

References

• Scott, Ernest (1929) Australian Discovery (VOL I By Sea)

Coordinates: 43°22′S 147°20′E / 43.367°S 147.333°E / -43.367; 147.333