Sydney Harbour Interesting Facts

Here are some interesting facts about Sydney Harbour that you might find interesting to know along your journey (some fun, some serious). They may come in handy as a quiz with your guests onboard.

• Sydney Harbour is the deepest natural harbour in the world with 504 billion litres of water. It spans approximately 240 kilometres of shoreline.
• There are over 586 species of fish in Sydney Harbour. These include Bull Sharks, White Sharks and Tiger Sharks between 2 and 3.2 metres long. The sharks are most likely to be around in Summer and hide in murky waters. The last reported fatality was back in 1963 in Middle Harbour on the lower North Shore section of the harbour. However there was a severe shark attack in 2009 when a navy diver lost his hand and leg whilst diving at Garden Island at Woolloomooloo. By the way, Russell Crowe lives at the Finger Wharf in Woolloomooloo so he has front row seats to your cruise.
• The waterfront mansions of Point Piper are the most expensive residential properties in Australia. Notable residents include Westfield founder Frank Lowry, Aussie Home Loans founder John Symonds, the former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull, Hungry Jacks owner Jack Cowin, and media boss Lachlan Murdoch. The priciest property in Australia is a penthouse and sub‑penthouse combination atop One Sydney Harbour at Barangaroo, purchased by Yan Zhang for $141.55 million in 2025. Before this sale, the most expensive recorded home was Fairwater, a historic waterfront estate in Point Piper bought by Atlassian co-founder Mike Cannon‑Brookes for nearly $100 million in 2018.
• There are around 20,000 boats registered on Sydney Harbour. Most of these are for private use and don’t have the commercial licenses we require with Easy Boat Hire. We affectionately refer to our harbour city as Boat City.
• There are over 20 swimmable beaches in Sydney Harbour.
• In today’s money the Sydney Harbour Bridge cost around $1.5 billion dollars to build back in 1932. It’s nicknamed ‘The Coathanger’ for obvious reasons.
• Before he was a movie star, Crocodile Dundee (Paul Hogan) was a rigger on the Sydney Harbour Bridge in the 1970s.
• The Sydney Harbour Bridge carries 160,000 vehicle per day.
• The Sydney Harbour Tunnel carries 96,000 vehicle per day. It starts at the Botanical Gardens and sits around 35 meters below sea level underneath the Opera Bar next to the Sydney Opera House.
• The Sydney Opera House is the only man-made World Heritage listed site in Australia and it has over 1 million tiles.
• Arnold Schwarzenegger won his last Mr Olympia bodybuilding title in the Sydney Opera House in 1980.
• Over 240 cruise ships pass through Sydney Harbour every year. The Overseas Passenger Terminal is one of the busiest ports in the Southern Hemisphere, welcoming over 1 million passengers a year.
• The Manly Ferry is “Seven Miles from Sydney and a Thousand Miles from Care”. The large Freshwater-class can carry over 1,000 passengers each. During whale migration season, it’s not uncommon to see whales or dolphins while taking the Manly Ferry!
• You can often see huge Navy ships docked at Garden Island. The name Garden Island came from when First Fleet sailors planted vegetable gardens there in 1788 to supplement their diet – but today, there are no major gardens left.
• Luna Park at Milson’s Point is one of the only amusement parks in the world located on the waterfront with direct views of a major international icon – the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge. Luna Park has a haunted history too – the Ghost Train fire in 1979 tragically killed seven people. The mystery and controversy around the incident remains part of local lore.
• Taronga Zoo in Mosman is one of the few zoos in the world with a harbourfront view. It’s home to 4,000+ animals from over 350 species.
• The New Year’s Eve fireworks display typically costs around $6.3 million and draws 1.5 to 1.6 million attendees every year.
• Sydney Harbour is officially known as Port Jackson. The First Fleet arrived on 26 January 1788, a date now commemorated as Australia Day. The fleet first landed at Botany Bay, but Captain Arthur Phillip found it unsuitable due to poor soil and lack of fresh water – so they moved north to the more sheltered and fertile Port Jackson.
• The land around Sydney Harbour is the traditional Country of the Gadigal people, part of the Eora Nation. Their Country stretches from South Head to Petersham. The word “Eora” (pronounced “ee-or-a”) was used by the local Aboriginal people to describe themselves when asked by the British. It literally means “from here”. Aboriginal people have lived around Sydney Harbour for at least 50,000 years – fishing, hunting, gathering, and managing the land and sea with sustainable practices. Before 1788, Sydney Harbour was surrounded by Aboriginal campsites, ceremonial grounds, and middens (ancient shell heaps). Sites were often located at Bennelong Point, Darling Harbour, The Rocks, and North Head. The first contact between the British and Aboriginal people happened right on Sydney Harbour, near Watsons Bay and Camp Cove, where Captain Phillip first landed before settling at Sydney Cove (Circular Quay).
• Click here to discover all the destinations (beaches, landmarks and islands) to explore on your cruise.