St Helens is the largest town on the north-east coast with a population of about 2,000. The town is known as the game fishing capital of Tasmania, and each March the St Helens Game Fishing Classic is the highlight of the year for locals and an increasing number of interstate visitors.
From St Helens you can explore Binalong Bay and Bay of Fires, which extend to Eddystone Point. The Bay of Fires (named by British Captain Tobias Furneaux who only saw the smoke from the fires of the local Kunnara Kuna tribe), has white sandy beaches, giant granite boulders, and the area is popular with divers because of its kelp forests and underwater caves.
St Helens is a fishing port sheltered by Georges Bay and St Helens Point, a long headland, 1,066 hectares (2,500 acres) of which is reserved as a public conservation area. The other side of the bay - Humbug Point - is also protected.
The town was established in the 1830s when tin was discovered in the Blue Tier mountains. The history of the town and the region is told in displays in the St Helens History Room.
