Holdfast Bay

The Holdfast Bay is a small bay in Gulf St Vincent, next to Adelaide, South Australia. Along its shores lie the local government area of the City of Holdfast Bay and the suburbs of Glenelg and Glenelg North European settlement on Holdfast Bay The bay was named by Colonel William Light, South Australian surveyor general, in mid-1836. In his journal he expressed his pleasure at the quality of the anchorage after riding out a storm. Holdfast Bay was the site of the landings in 1836 and 1837 by pioneers who were to set up the colony of South Australia. On 8 November 1836 Robert Gouger, Colonial Secretary and Chief Magistrate, arrived there aboard the Africaine and set up camp near The Old Gum Tree. With the arrival of Governor Hindmarsh on 28 December and the proclamation of the new colony, the Holdfast Bay settlement became the first seat of government of South Australia. (It remained the seat of government until mid-March 1837.) On 31 December 1836 the Holdfast Bay settlement was renamed Glenelg. The Corporate Town of Glenelg (later City of Glenelg) was established at Glenelg in 1855 to locally govern the township and its surrounds. Diving and snorkeling sites The Bay contains a combination of natural and artificial reefs accessible to divers and snorkelers. Artificial reefs The Brighton Jetty, the Glenelg Jetty and The Blocks can all be reached by swimming from the shore. The Blocks can also easily be reached by kayak. The Blocks is a disused maritime structure- a series of concrete and steel square columns that today act as an interrupted breakwater and artificial reef. Attractions at this site include seahorses and pipefish.