The strait provides the most direct waterway between the Great Australian Bight and the Tasman Sea, and is also the only maritime route into the economically prominent Port Phillip Bay.

Formed 8,000 years ago by rising sea levels at the end of the last glacial period, the strait was named after English explorer and physician George Bass (1771–1803) by European colonists.

[4] After the glacial period ended, sea levels rose and flooded the Bassian Plain to form Bass Strait at around 8,000 years ago, leaving them isolated from the Australian mainland.

When the land veered to the north-west at Eddystone Point,[5] he tried to keep in with it but his ships were suddenly hit by the Roaring Forties howling through Bass Strait.

At Flinders' recommendation, the Governor of New South Wales, John Hunter, in 1800 named the stretch of water between the mainland and Van Diemen's Land "Bass's Straits".

He reported that the strong south westerly swell and the tides and currents suggested that the island was in a channel linking the Pacific and southern Indian Ocean.

[11] When news of the 1798 discovery of Bass Strait reached Europe, the French government despatched a reconnaissance expedition commanded by Nicolas Baudin.

The shipwrecks on the Tasmanian and Victorian coastlines number in the hundreds, although stronger metal ships and modern marine navigation have greatly reduced the danger.

Despite myths and legends of piracy, wrecking and alleged supernatural phenomena akin to those of the Bermuda Triangle, such disappearances can be invariably ascribed to treacherous combinations of wind and sea conditions, and the numerous semi-submerged rocks and reefs within the Straits.

[13] Despite the strait's difficult waters, it provided a safer and less boisterous[clarification needed] passage for ships on the route from Europe or India to Sydney in the early 19th century.

Subaqueous dunes (sandwaves) and tidal current ridges cover approximately 6,000 km2 (2,300 sq mi) of the seabed in Bass Strait.

[15] During Pleistocene, low sea level stands the central basin of Bass Strait was enclosed by raised sills forming a large shallow lake.

[17]: 485  In 2020 activist group No Gas Across the Bass was set up after American company ConocoPhillips put in an application to seismic blast 27km from King Island.

Frederick Valentich was flying a small aeroplane over the strait when he reported to personnel at a local airport that a strange object was buzzing his plane.

[25] In 1998 Australian offshore sailor Nick Moloney took on a different challenge by being the first person to windsurf unaided across the Bass Strait in a time of 22 hours.

The purpose of the voyage was to raise funds for the treatment of the endangered Tasmanian Devil, an animal species suffering from a facial tumour disease and, if possible, break the dinghy sailing time record for the crossing.

[32] In 1971 lone rower David Bowen from Mount Martha crossed Bass Strait in a 6.1 m (20 ft) dory, leaving from Devonport he landed on Wilson's Promontory.

[33] The first crossing by paddleboard was made by Jack Bark, Brad Gaul and Zeb Walsh, leaving Wilsons Promontory in Victoria on 25 February 2014 and arriving at Cape Portland in northeastern Tasmania on 4 March 2014.

[35][36][37] Fewer sea kayak crossings have been made via King Island, due to the 100 km (60 mi) leg between Cape Wickam and Apollo Bay.

[38] Tammy van Wisse swam part of the strait in 1996, from King Island to Apollo Bay in Victoria, a distance of about 100 km (60 mi) in 17 hours and 46 minutes.