Culburra Beach, commonly referred to as Culburra, is a town located in the South Coast region of

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

, Australia. Located within the Shoalhaven local government area, the town is east-southeast of

Nowra Nowra () is a city in the South Coast, New South Wales, South Coast region of New South Wales, Australia. It is located south-southwest of the state capital of Sydney (about as the crow flies). As of the 2021 census, Nowra has an estimated po ...

on Jerrinja Wandi Wandian Aboriginal Country. At the , the town had a population of 2,946 and is the regional centre for the coastal villages of Currarong, Callala Beach, Callala Bay and Orient Point.

Description

Culburra Beach is a small seaside town and a popular holiday, fishing and surfing location. Local industries include

oysters Oyster is the common name for a number of different families of Seawater, salt-water bivalve molluscs that live in Marine (ocean), marine or Brackish water, brackish habitats. In some species, the valves are highly Calcification, calcified, a ...

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment (Freshwater ecosystem, freshwater or Marine ecosystem, marine), but may also be caught from Fish stocking, stocked Body of water, ...

, and prawning. It has two surf beaches, Culburra Beach and Warrain Beach. The town is flanked by the Crookhaven River to the north, Curleys Bay to the west, and Lake Wollumboola to the south. It is home to the Culburra Beach Boardriders, Culburra Dolphins Rugby League team and the Culburra Cougars soccer team and the Culburra Beach Festival know to many as the Burradise Festival which happens annually in September celebrating local creative arts, Jerrinja Aboriginal culture, original live music, the annual Surf Bash tournament, skateboarding, regional foods, markets, crafts and makers. The town also boasts the two closest surf beaches to

and is home to the Culburra Beach and Nowra Surf Lifesaving Club whose clubhouse is located at the northern end of Warrain Beach. The beaches are patrolled during the summer holiday period, and being located on either side of Penguin Head face in different directions, providing a variety of surf conditions for board riders, swimmers, body surfers and families with young children. A wide variety of fish species are caught on these beaches and from the rocky headlands adjacent to them. It is the location of Crookhaven Heads Light.

Notable people

* Owen Wright – Surfer * Tyler Wright – Surfer

History

Originally called Wheelers Point after the first landholder George Wheeler; the name was changed to Culburra in 1916 after an Aboriginal word meaning "sand"; and later to Culburra Beach. Postal services were first provided from Warrain Beach Post Office, which was renamed Culburra Beach in 1970. The area's first school was the Roseby Park Aboriginal School, which opened in 1903. It became a public school in 1906 and remained that way until it closed in 1964. Culburra children had to attend Pyree Public School until its closure in August 1976, and the following month saw the opening of Culburra Public School. The modern street plan of Culburra Beach has been popularly attributed to

Walter Burley Griffin Walter Burley Griffin (November 24, 1876February 11, 1937) was an American architect and landscape architect. He designed Canberra, Australia's capital city, the New South Wales towns of Griffith, New South Wales, Griffith and Leeton, New So ...

, who also designed the street plan for

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

, but was in fact the work of developer

Henry Halloran Henry Ferdinand Halloran (9 August 1869 – 22 October 1953) was a major property owner and developer in New South Wales, in the early part of the twentieth century. Halloran was born in Sydney. His father was a bank clerk and architect named ...

, as landowner, designer, and surveyor. Sunbaker maxdupain nga76

Culburra Beach is the location of the famous Max Dupain photo '' Sunbaker''. Dupain took the photograph in 1937. The man in the photograph was Harold Salvage (1905–1991), a British builder, who was part of a group of friends on a surfing trip. The most familiar version of the photograph was not printed until a retrospective of Dupain's work in 1975.

Population

According to the 2021 census of Population, there were 2,946 people in Culburra Beach. * Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 6.4% of the population. * 84.7% of people were born in Australia. The next most common country of birth was England at 3.3%. * 93.1% of people spoke only English at home. * The most common responses for religion were No Religion 40.8%, Anglican 20.9% and Catholic 20.8%.

References

{{authority control Towns in New South Wales Towns in the South Coast (New South Wales) City of Shoalhaven Coastal towns in New South Wales