Macquarie Harbour is a shallow fjord located in the West Coast region of Tasmania, Australia. It is approximately 315 sq.km, and has an average depth of 15m, with deeper places up to 50m. It is navigable by shallow-draft vessels. The main channel is kept clear by the presence of a rock wall on the outside of the channel's curve. This man-made wall prevents erosion and keeps the channel deep and narrow, rather than allowing the channel to become wide and shallow. A reported Aboriginal name for the harbour is Parralaongatek.
The Macquarie Harbour Penal Station, a former British colonial penal settlement, established on Sarah Island, Macquarie Harbour, in the former colony of Van Diemen's Land, now Tasmania, operated between 1822 and 1833. The settlement housed male convicts, with a small number of women housed on a nearby island. During its 11 years of operation, the penal colony achieved a reputation as one of the harshest penal settlements in the Australian colonies. The formal penal station is located on the eight-hectare (twenty-acre) Sarah Island that now operates as an historic site under the direction of the Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service.
Regatta Point is the location of a port and rail terminus on Macquarie Harbour.
Hells Gates is the name of the mouth of Macquarie Harbour on the West Coast of Tasmania.
Cape Sorell is a headland located in the Southern Ocean outside Macquarie Harbour on the West Coast of Tasmania, Australia. The cape and the Cape Sorell Lighthouse, located above the headland, are important orientation points for all vessels entering the Macquarie Heads and then through Hells Gates at the entrance to the harbour.
The Sister Islands Conservation Area, commonly called the Sisters Island Group, is a conservation area of approximately 1,200 hectares that comprises a group of three islands in Bass Strait, Tasmania, Australia.
The Breaksea Islands Group is a group of six islands, located in the Southern Ocean, off the south western coast of Tasmania, Australia.
Kathleen Island is a steeply cliffed island that lies within Port Davey, an oceanic inlet, located in the south west region of Tasmania, Australia. The island has an area of approximately 11.35 hectares and is contained with the Southwest National Park, part of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Site and the Port Davey/Bathurst Harbour Marine Nature Reserve.
Bathurst Harbour is a shallow bay located in the south west region of Tasmania, Australia. Bathurst Harbour is contained within the Port Davey/Bathurst Harbour Marine Nature Reserve, and the Southwest National Park, part of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area.
The Davey River is a perennial river located in the south-west region of Tasmania, Australia.
The Judgement Rocks, part of the Kent Group, is a small unpopulated 0.39-hectare (0.96-acre) granite islet and some associated bare rocks, located in the Bass Strait, lying off the north-east coast of Tasmania, between the Furneaux Group and Wilsons Promontory in Victoria, Australia. The islet and associated rocks are contained within the Kent Group National Park.
Deal Island, the largest island of the Kent Group, is a 1,576-hectare (3,890-acre) granite island, located in northern Bass Strait, that lies between the Furneaux Group, north-east of Tasmania and Wilsons Promontory in Victoria, Australia.
Inner Sister Island, part of the Sister Islands Conservation Area, is a granite and dolerite island, with an area of 748 hectares (2.89 sq mi), located in Bass Strait, Tasmania, Australia.
The Tasman Island, part of the Tasman Island Group, is an oval island with an area of 1.2 square kilometres (0.46 sq mi), lying close to the south-eastern coast of Tasmania, Australia. The island is located in the Tasman Sea, situated off the Tasman Peninsula and is contained within the Tasman National Park.
The Fitzroy Islands comprise a group of four rocky islets that lie within the upper reaches of Payne Bay in Port Davey, an oceanic inlet, located in the south west region of Tasmania, Australia. The islands have a combined area of approximately 0.18 hectares and are contained with the Southwest National Park, part of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Site and the Port Davey/Bathurst Harbour Marine Nature Reserve.
The Mavourneen Rocks is a group of four steep, rocky islets that lie within Port Davey, an oceanic inlet, located in the south west region of Tasmania, Australia. The islets have a combined area of approximately 0.88 hectares and are contained with the Southwest National Park, part of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Site and the Port Davey/Bathurst Harbour Marine Nature Reserve.
Entrance Island is a low island with an area of 6.1 ha. It lies at the entrance to Macquarie Harbour in Western Tasmania at an area known as Hell's Gates. It contains a light beacon and jetty.
Munday Island is a small island that lies between Port Davey, an oceanic inlet, and Bathurst Channel, located in the south west region of Tasmania, Australia. The island is contained with the Southwest National Park, part of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Site and the Port Davey/Bathurst Harbour Marine Nature Reserve.
The Macquarie Heads Breakwater was a project of the Strahan Marine Board in Western Tasmania to sustain a reasonable depth to the Hells Gates and Macquarie Heads of the Macquarie Harbour area to allow for shipping of limited tonnage to serve Regatta Point while the Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company was exporting its mineral products by sea. The heads were notoriously difficult to navigate in good weather, and even more difficult in bad weather.
