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Watsons Bay Sydney, NSW
The Gap, Watsons Bay looking north
Postcode:	2030
Property Value:	AUD $2,150,000 (2007)
Location:	11 km (7 mi) north-east of Sydney CBD
LGA:	Woollahra
State District:	Vaucluse
Federal Division:	Wentworth
Suburbs around Watsons Bay: Clifton Gardens Manly Mosman Watsons Bay Vaucluse Vaucluse Tasman Sea

Watsons Bay

The Gap, Watsons Bay looking south

Watsons Bay is a harbourside, eastern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Watsons Bay is located 11 kilometres north-east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the Municipality of Woollahra.

Watsons Bay sits on the end of the South Head peninsula and takes its name from the sheltered bay and anchorage on its western side, in Port Jackson (Sydney Harbour). It provides spectacular views across the harbour to the Sydney Harbour Bridge. The Gap is an ocean cliff on the eastern side with spectacular views to Manly at North Head and the Pacific Ocean. Vaucluse is the only adjacent suburb, to the south.

Watsons Bay is a mostly residential area with some recreational areas and beaches, including one legal nude beach. Some restaurants, cafes and a hotel are located here, with Doyles on the Beach being one of the most famous Sydney seafood restaurants located on the foreshore of Watsons Bay. The Sydney Harbour Pilot Boat Station is located on the bay, and the HMAS Watson naval station is located nearby at South Head.

Watsons Bay was named after Robert Watson (1756-1819), formerly of HMAS Sirius, who was appointed harbour pilot and harbourmaster of the port of Sydney in 1811 and the first superintendent of Macquarie Lighthouse in 1816.

The first grant of 20 acres was made to Edward Laing in 1793 in the Camp Cove Area. Watsons Bay was an isolated fishing village until development began in the 1860s.

On the 20th August 1857, a sailing ship called the Dunbar was shipwrecked against the cliffs below The Gap, with 121 lives lost. The Dunbar had mistaken the bay of The Gap for the harbour entrance. Today, The Gap is known as a notorious suicide spot, with about 20 to 30 deaths occurring there each year.

In 1942, to protect Sydney Harbour from a submarine attack, an anti-submarine boom net was constructed on Green (laings) Point, Watsons Bay. It was demolished after the war and all that remains are the foundations of the old boom net winch house which can be viewed on Green (Laings) Point Watsons Bay.

• The Book of Sydney Suburbs, Compiled by Frences Pollen, Angus & Robertson Publishers, 1990, Published in Australia ISBN 0-207-14495-8

Memorial to Lieutenant G.J.Grieve, Gap Park	St Peters Church, Watsons Bay	Boating at Watsons Bay	Watsons Bay, with Sydney on the horizon.
View to Sydney skyline	Watsons Bay beach	Watsons Bay beach	Robertson Park

Coordinates: 33°50′33.9″S, 151°16′52.5″E

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