First sighted by French Captain Baudin from his ship 'Geographe' in 1803.
It was named after the English soldier Lieutenant Henry Bunbury, as result of an earlier expedition in 1829 when Governor Stirling from Perth first established it as a military post.
The former name was Port Leschenault after the French
botanist, Jean Baptiste Leschenault de la Tour (1773-1826).
He was a botanist on the voyage of the Géographe and Naturaliste (Baudin, 1801-1803), which visited the north-west, west and south coasts of Western Australia, coastal South Australia, Port Jackson, New South Wales, and King Island in Bass Strait.
Leschenault later visited Java, Cape Verde Islands, Cape of Good Hope, India, Sri Lanka, Brazil and British Guyana.
Bunbury is blessed with sandy ocean beaches, rivers and estuarine waterways.
Boating, fishing, crabbing and surfing are popular activities enjoyed by the residents and holiday-makers.
There is a specially managed beach adjacent to the city centre where local pods of dolphins interact with humans.
City of Bunbury
Bunbury has pods of local dolphins and a specially managed beach where people can interact with these fascinating creatures.
See more on the dolphins
