Which bay in northern Australia is the site of Darwin Harbour?

Beagle Gulf is the northern Australian gulf whose southern coast includes Darwin Harbour.

The gulf lies in Australia’s Northern Territory and opens westward to the Timor Sea. Bathurst and Melville Islands bound it to the north, while Clarence Strait connects it eastward with Van Diemen Gulf. Darwin Harbour is a major natural harbor on Beagle Gulf’s southern side.

Darwin Harbour itself is the waterway adjoining the city of Darwin and contains Port Darwin. It opens northward into Beagle Gulf, so the gulf is the larger geographic body surrounding the harbor rather than an alternative name for the harbor itself.

The name Beagle Gulf comes from HMS Beagle. The vessel surveyed northern Australia during its third voyage in 1837–1838 under John Clements Wickham. Although Charles Darwin had sailed on an earlier Beagle voyage, he did not visit this gulf—a detail that often causes confusion.