Due to adverse winds and sea currents, the exploration of this south western harbour was extremely difficult. Although the existence of a natural harbour had been postulated by Matthew Flinders and George Bass during their circumnavigation of Tasmania in 1798, the discovery and exploration of the area is credited to James Kelly.

Kelly embarked on a voyage from Hobart with a crew of 4, and after making several landings along the south coast arrived at Port Davey on 17th of December 1815. Kelly spent two days in the area before travelling further up the coast and discovering Macquarie Harbour.

The first pine getters and timber men soon moved into the area to exploit the immense copses of Huon Pine. Activity declined in Port Davey after 1821, as the government discouraged the settlement of the south west in order to keep the convict settlement at Sarah Island in Macquarie Harbour isolated.

When surveyor Hobbes was sent to survey the coastline of the State, he was ordered by Governor Sorell to by-pass Port Davey. It was not until the subsequent abandonment of Sarah Island that the potential of Port Davey was investigated any further.

In 1834 an expedition was organised by Sharland, and a bridle track was cut from the Huon to Arthur's Plains allowing "easy" access to the forests. Thus began the development of the only real settlement at Port Davey, as the timber getters moved in during 1845.

By 1852 Port Davey was the main source of high quality Huon Pine. A number of small settlements grew up at Settlement Point near the mouth of the Davey River, and at Spring River. The piners also constructed boats and ships at Port Davey to supplement their incomes. The isolation of the area became apparent when heavy storms in 1866 cut off coastal supplies and led the settlers to survive on a diet of swan, kangaroo and wombat.

Two years later a track from the settlement to the Gordon River was proposed, and work began on the track that same year. Unfortunately, it wasn't completed before the settlement was disbanded.

A temporary school had been in operation at the settlement, but following the exhaustion of the Huon Pine reserves the settlements declined, and the pioneers departed. In 1911 an attempt to regenerate the timber industry was proposed by F.B. Rathbone, but this plan never materialised.

During the mid 1800s the potential of mining and pastoral activities in Port Davey had been investigated, but had come to nothing due to the isolation of the region. It had been proposed that a series of townships be developed at regular intervals along roads linking Port Davey to Lake Gordon and Lake Pedder, but again this was a concept that never materialised.

In 1891, Mark Macquarie discovered tin deposits at Cox's Bight, and this led to the establishment of a small settlement of miners. Over 15 years, 120 tons of tin were extracted from the site, and a track was cut from the mine site in 1901 as the Bight proved an unsafe anchorage point for vessels transporting the ore to Hobart.

In 1913 Tin Options Ltd, a Melbourne based company, prospected the western side of the bay without success. An Adelaide company resumed prospecting in 1926, again without success. In 1938 a report suggested that an extensive tin deposit was present at Port Davey, but after further investigation this proved to be untrue, although a vast amount of alluvial tin was present.


Port Davey is a base from which to start exploring the SouthWest National Park and from which to walk the Old Port Davey Track and the South Coast Walking Track.

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