Bellambi lies on the flat northern Illawarra coastal plain, with views of the escarpment to the west, one of note being Broker's Nose, 440 metres high.

Whilst still being home to one of the largest shell middens in NSW, much of the archaeological evidence of Aboriginal occupation has been lost or damaged due to three highly destructive phases of development since European colonisation, beginning with the construction of tramways and jetties for coal loading during the late 19th century, followed by large-scale sand mining and the construction of a water treatment plant during the 20th century.

[6] The following March, whilst workers were cutting down the face of a sand hill to extend the tramway – in the general vicinity of the modern-day swimming pool and carpark – four skulls were uncovered, three fragmented and one complete.

"Buried with them were two stone hatchets, in good preservation, and also a curious mass of yellow substance, like amber, that burns and emits a fragrant odour.

"[7] By 1862 there were still "a fair number" of aboriginal people living a traditional lifestyle in the vicinity of Bellambi Point, including at a campsite on the northern side of Towrodgi Creek.

It was also local knowledge that skeletons had been “found in the sand-hills” and that there was a "black-fellow's cemetery on the sand banks close to Bellambi Lake.

"[8] Towards the end of January 1890, a hotel guest from Wollongong was walking about Bellambi Point and came across the upper portion of a human skull protruding from a sand dune.

The teeth were perfectly preserved, showing no signs of pre-mortem decay, "with the exception of one incisor missing and appeared to have been so for many years.

"[9] The contemporary account attributed the remains to be of an Aboriginal due to the apparent age and the missing tooth, considered evidence of a known regional custom of knocking out one of the front teeth, "as a mark of fellowship or a caste distinction, which was performed at a certain age, and admitted the subject to certain rights and privileges.

In September, 2012, Bellambi Point was declared an official Aboriginal Place by the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage, awarding it legal status as a culturally significant site.

There were two rail tracks on the jetty—a more elevated one for full coal wagons and another lower one for empty wagons—and two loading chutes (one for each hold of a 'sixty-miler'.

Bellambi Point protected the port from the south but its reef extends 600m to seaward[19] and was a hazard to shipping.