The Cape Bailey coastal walk is one of Kamay Botany Bay National Park's great attractions and is currently being upgraded by National Parks and Wildlife Service.
The track is adjacent to the Banks, Solander track which highlights the important botanical value of the national park where many of Australia’s plants were first collected and described by Cook’s botanists, Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander, in 1770.
This coastal return walk with some city views starts at the end of Cape Solander Drive and follows the Cape Bailey walking track as it winds south along the coastline, through thick heath and small sand dunes, to the Cape Bailey lighthouse.
Built in 1950, the 9.1metre lighthouse, with a 10 nautical mile range light (18.5 kilometres), was required so north-bound shipping could hug the coast and avoid the strong southerly currents further out to sea. The lighthouse alerted ships to the entrance to Botany Bay.
There is a wide variety of flora and fauna that can be found on this walk, from different types of birds (terns, kestrels and sea eagles) to reptiles and amphibians to hanging swamps and wild flowers (in spring).
The walk also has southern Sydney's best whale watching opportunities in June, July, September and October.
Humpback whales migrate between their Antarctic feeding grounds and the warmer tropical waters off north-eastern Australia where they breed.
They migrate north between May and July, and return to the south between September and November.
Southern right whales and dolphins are also often sighted
