More than 30,000 whales are expected to pass by one of the east coast's best whale watching destinations this year and the best spot to watch them is less than three hours from Canberra.
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An old lighthouse marks the location, perched high above the ocean on the top of the sandstone cliffs at Booderee National Park.
National park visitors services manager John Harvey said the steep cliffs and the topography of the area meant it was an ideal location to spot whales.
"Jervis Bay and our park juts out that little bit more into the ocean," Mr Harvey said.
"When the whales are travelling north, they stay close to the coast to avoid the east Australian current. Because we're out that little bit further into the ocean, it's a perfect spot for the whales who do a diversion around the cliff."
The most common sightings were of humpback whales, but there had also been sightings of southern right whales.
Mr Harvey said a record number of the mammals have been spotted off the coast this season.
"For people visiting here, there's a pretty high likelihood that you'll see a whale if you stay long enough."
Meanwhile, marine mammal research group ORRCA had positive results from their 20th annual whale census, held in June.
Vice-president Shona Lonagon said sightings from Booderee on the day of the census had increased four-fold compared with last year.
"The numbers have been increasing every year," she said. "Last year there weren't as many because weather played a part, but 130 [spotted this year] is a huge amount."
Ms Lonagon said across the state there had been 2300 sightings in total.
"The official scientific estimate of the east coast population is 30,200 whales heading north this year," she said.
"That's absolutely phenomenal ... It's growing at a rate of 10.9 per cent every year."
Dolphin Watch Cruises manager Sam Tooley said land-based whale watching was a sight to behold, but nothing beats getting up close and personal.
"There is certainly a lot of activity out there at the moment," Mr Tooley said.
"It's thick and fast. It's worth getting out there because we're in the peak of the northern migration."
He said if you're in the right place at the right time, you can experience rare events like seeing new-born calves with their mothers.
"It's not unheard of to have whales born on their northern migration. Last year we had a whale born in Jervis Bay that hung around for a couple of days before heading outside."
