Shipstern Bluff

Ship Stern Bluff is Australia's most famous 'big surf' site. Watch YouTube videos to get a feel for 'Shippies' on a big day. It also makes for a very rewarding 3-4 hour hike. You start out walking in gum forest, then suddenly emerge at the lookout, which is breathtaking on a clear, sunny day. Then you descend on a zigzag path down the cape, followed by winding your way through bracken fern and scrub, ending with steep stairs to the base of the Bluff itself, and onto a rocky shelf. Wear good shoes, long pants (to avoid being scratched by the scrub), bring water and have a rain jacket handy, as the weather can turn quickly.

If you're tempted to divert to Tunnel Bay on the return trek, be warned. The track ends at the 'floor' of Tunnel Bay, which is essentially a swamp, impassable after heavy or repeated rainfall, and you may be unable to reach your destination.

Fantastic scenery definitely worth the effort of walking the track all the way down to the beach. Some areas can be challenging therefore a level of fitness is required, especially for the steep incline back up to the car park.

If it’s calm don’t stay behind the sign, go exploring 😉

One of the amazing hiking experience in Tassie. The freshness of the air, rejuvenates after the walk. The tracks are well lead, wear proper food wear, can be slippery after rain.

What a place! We made the trek out here for the Red Bull Cape Fear surf camp. We didn’t get 100ft waves but they were still massive.

The walk from the car park took about 90 minutes and was breathtaking.

Definitely worth the hike

Most Amazing views, well worth the climb . Very well maintained track. It took us 2 hrs to just do the lookout points.
Definitely coming back.

What a magnificent place. The walk was quite fun there, as we walked downhill but way back was quite not as fun. So make sure you go early and, go there first while you got more juice in you. If you plan on going to the other lookout at Cape Raoul. The big waves are very hard to catch, but the view was well worth the walk. Nothing like having lunch looking out to the ocean at the giant rock cliff.

Great walk over the mountains, about 2hrs walk each way plus stops, great spots for a picnic along the cliff face once you get down to the water.
The track needs work and it's very confusing which way to go, half our party followed the blue tags and half followed the old metal tags. The track has been trashed in places where I assume they are rerouting the track for some reason.

A great walk, weather permitting !!
Awesome coastline views.

A great day out. The walk to Ship Stern Bluff has many features: a track of decent length to allow some exercise (about 90mins one way) with some up and down sections; a journey through the unique flora of Tasmania; sightings of endemic wildlife such as black cockatoos and echidnas; and the destination is a scenic and powerful shoreline.

A beautiful 3.5hr hike through ever-changing vegetation and rugged coastline. Highly recommend this.

Easy walking with well formed tracks and steps on mostly gentle slopes. A couple of sandy spots towards the beach. Views are off the charts.

Amazing experience! A must visit place 😊 Would also recommend checking out the Cape Raoul Lookout and certainly Tunnel Bay as well while you're in the area. Be sure to keep enough water and some snacks for the way.

Awesome spot to check out what can be one insane wave. The views from the lookout are great if you don't feel like walking all the way down to the bluff.

A long hike down to the beach. The hike took 4 hours return in total. The hike back is very steep incline for the most part so would reccomend so decent hiking shoes and good fitness level. But the view is worth it

Spectacular place... well worth the walk

Great spot, sadly some parts are inaccessible to the sensible due to risk of falling rocks. The track to get out there is currently getting some renovation but it's pretty good at the moment. I would definitely recommend the extra walk over to Tunnel Cave, as well as the lookout ~500m up the Cape Raoul Track.

The tracks were perfect, made our walk easy and safe. Only took us 1hour 15min each way with a short stop at the lookout overlooking the break, we were cutting a reasonable pace although my girlfriend was lagging, it might have taken 2h if we went at her pace.

It's a good long walk. If you're fit and bush walk a lot it would be easy. You can walk right down to the bluff. Insane views. Well worth the effort

Nice trail. Many signs indicating the way. The way back is harder. There's a large free car park just where the trail starts.