Cape Jervis

Cape Jervis (postcode: 5204) is a town at the southwestern tip of Fleurieu Peninsula in South Australia, approximately 108 km south of Adelaide. It is also the name of the headland at the south west tip of Fleurieu Peninsula. The population is approximately 300 people and growing rapidly, with a new estate (Cape Jervis Heights) situated behind the main town. Cape Jervis falls under the local governance of the District Council of Yankalilla.

Matthew Flinders named the headland Cape Jervis after John Jervis, the British First Lord of the Admiralty on 23 March 1802. French explorer Nicolas Baudin provided the alternative name Cap de la Secheresse (Cape Drought) in the same year.

Cape Jervis has been the site of an operating lighthouse since 1871. The lighthouse is located on the Cape at a locality known as Lands End, the tip of the Fleurieu Peninsula, about 1.5 km south of the town and 400 m north of the Kangaroo Island ferry terminal.

Cape Jervis marks the beginning of the famous Heysen Trail walking track which extends all the way to the Flinders Ranges. It is also close to Deep Creek Conservation Park and Talisker Conservation Park.

There are two nearby beaches - sandy Morgan's Beach (with the remains of the trawler Ellen), and pebbly Fisheries Beach (with remains of an old whaling station).

The waters surrounding Cape Jervis are part of Gulf St Vincent, Investigator Strait and Backstairs Passage, and offer excellent fishing.

Vehicle ferries use Cape Jervis as the mainland port for the crossing of Backstairs Passage to Penneshaw on Kangaroo Island.