Tuross Boatshed & Cafe

"The Boatshed"

Tuross boatshed and café is located in a wind protected bay on the shores of beautiful Tuross Lake half way between Moruya and Narooma on the far South Coast of NSW.

Boatshed History

The "Boatshed" was originally built by Mr Howell around 1938, before the start of the Second World War. Comprising of local hardwood the Boatshed was built to withstand the harsh saltwater conditions and lake floods. Originally the business was to service the local fishermen and their boats, with an internal rail dry-dock and marine workshop.

The boatshed passed through a few hands until it was sold to Mr Nossiter in the late 50's.


Mr Nossiter understood the need for more facilities and saw the first potential for tourism services on the lake. He had the first sign writing put on the front of the building, calling it Nossiter's Boatshed & Fishermans store. At the store they carried a range of fisherman's tackle, bait and provided freezing facilities for fish caught in the lake. Fuel was also introduced as the new boats had outboard motors and it made sense to provide fuel on the lake to service them. Still providing a marine workshop Nossiter's Boatshed became the hub of the Tuross Lake. Further development in the business as the years rolled passed was the provision of hire boats and at the time Nossiter's Boatshed had the largest Fleet of hire boats on the South Coast.
Nossiter's Boatshed was eventually sold and over the next half a century remained virtually unchanged, other than for newer boats, until the 1990's when the café came into existence to cater for the increasing demand for more facilities for the growing Tourist trade.
John and Janine Suthern took over the boatshed in 2009 and renamed it the Tuross Boatshed and Café in line with what all the locals called it for years. The business was quickly analysed and segregated into different sections, hire boats, fishing tackle, marine workshop and café. A further section was then added to cater for surfing and diving equipment missing from the area, each offering a different specialised tourism experience.
The Boatshed is a state attraction and is marketed to both intrastate and interstate visitors. As one of the major attractions within the Tuross, Coiler and the Eurobodalla combined with the natural beauty and tranquillity of the lake The Boatshed significantly contributes to the visitor's tourism experience within the South Coast Area.