Botany Bay National Park

460ha.

Botany Bay National Park extends over the two tongues of land enclosing the bay, protecting the coast from Little Bay to La Pérouse and the Kurnell peninsula. The old cable station was converted in 1987 into a museum commemorating the French discoverer La Pérouse, who was in Botany Bay at the same time as Captain Arthur Phillip and was shipwrecked on his homeward voyage.

Within the national park are the beaches in Congwong Bay, Captain Cook's landing place at Kurnell (with picnic areas and a museum devoted to Cook's voyages) and the coastal fortifications of around 1880 (Henry Head, Bare Island). Botany Bay was given its name by Joseph Banks, the botanist who accompanied Cook on his voyage and found numerous new species of plants here.