# Nelson Bay, New South Wales

Nelson Bay is a significant township of the Port Stephens local government area in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia. It is located on a bay of the same name on the southern shore of Port Stephens about 60 kilometres (37 mi) by road north-east of Newcastle, its nearest rail link. At the 2021 census, Nelson Bay had a population of 6,141.
It is a major tourism centre, particularly for dolphin and whale watching, surfing, diving, fishing and other recreational aquatic activities. The eastern boundaries of Nelson Bay lie within the Tomaree National Park while the southeastern section is almost entirely within the park. Nelson Head Light, an unusual lighthouse built in 1875, is positioned on the northeast corner.

## Early settlers

Early settlers included the Dalton family, the patriarch being Captain John Dalton who sailed his ship SS Kingsley to Sydney with fresh marine produce from Port Stephens. He built a house "Westward Ho" in 1882 on the hill overlooking the modern town, on 16 ha (40 acres). He donated land from his holding for the Methodist Church, and for a school.

## Demographics

At the 2021 census, there were 28,418 people in Nelson Bay.
* Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 3.7% of the population.
* 78.3% of people were born in Australia. The most common other countries of birth were England 5.7%, New Zealand 1.6%, Scotland 0.7%, South Africa 0.7% and Germany 0.6%.
* 89.6% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Italian and Greek, both at 0.4%.
* The most common responses for religion were No Religion 37.3%, Catholic 20.4% and Anglican 20.0%.

## Transport

Port Stephens Coaches operate local services to Newcastle, Raymond Terrace and Soldiers Point as well as an express service to Sydney.

## Climate

Nelson Bay has a maritime-influenced humid subtropical climate (Cfa) with warm humid summers, damp autumns, cool wet winters and relatively dry springs. The suburb is relatively sunny, receiving 117.8 clear days annually. Despite the high amount of rainfall throughout the year (due to its exposed location on a peninsula), the rain days are relatively few, barely reaching over 10 days per month.
Climate data for Nelson Head (1881–2023) :
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 38.5 (101.3) | 41.5 (106.7) | 36.3 (97.3) | 32.4 (90.3) | 26.7 (80.1) | 24.6 (76.3) | 24.7 (76.5) | 28.5 (83.3) | 34.2 (93.6) | 34.5 (94.1) | 40.6 (105.1) | 39.3 (102.7) | 41.5 (106.7) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 27.3 (81.1) | 27.0 (80.6) | 25.9 (78.6) | 23.5 (74.3) | 20.8 (69.4) | 18.3 (64.9) | 17.5 (63.5) | 18.9 (66.0) | 21.4 (70.5) | 23.2 (73.8) | 24.7 (76.5) | 26.1 (79.0) | 22.9 (73.2) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 18.9 (66.0) | 19.1 (66.4) | 17.8 (64.0) | 15.2 (59.4) | 12.4 (54.3) | 10.2 (50.4) | 9.0 (48.2) | 9.8 (49.6) | 12.0 (53.6) | 14.1 (57.4) | 16.0 (60.8) | 17.7 (63.9) | 14.4 (57.9) |
| Record low °C (°F) | 11.0 (51.8) | 14.5 (58.1) | 11.5 (52.7) | 9.0 (48.2) | 5.9 (42.6) | 4.4 (39.9) | 2.2 (36.0) | 1.1 (34.0) | 5.0 (41.0) | 6.1 (43.0) | 6.7 (44.1) | 9.0 (48.2) | 1.1 (34.0) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 100.5 (3.96) | 111.3 (4.38) | 117.5 (4.63) | 129.3 (5.09) | 150.7 (5.93) | 155.9 (6.14) | 138.5 (5.45) | 102.4 (4.03) | 89.2 (3.51) | 77.9 (3.07) | 80.2 (3.16) | 93.2 (3.67) | 1,343.2 (52.88) |
| Average precipitation days | 10.5 | 10.3 | 11.3 | 11.9 | 12.7 | 12.3 | 11.7 | 10.6 | 10.0 | 10.2 | 10.2 | 10.4 | 132.1 |
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