Conception Bay, inlet of the Atlantic Ocean indenting the north coast of the Avalon Peninsula on the southeastern coast of the island of Newfoundland, Canada. It was named by Gaspar Côrte-Real, the Portuguese explorer who visited the coast in 1500 on the Feast of the Conception (December 8). The bay is about 30 miles (50 km) long and 12 miles (19 km) wide. Its shore areas are among the oldest and most densely settled of Newfoundland; Cupids, on the southwestern shore, was the first English settlement made by John Guy (1610). Major towns on the bay include Harbour Grace, Carbonear, and Wabana, the latter on Bell Island in the southeastern part of the bay. In addition, there are many small fishing communities supporting seafood canneries and beach resorts such as Holyrood. Part of the bay is underlaid with rich iron-ore deposits, which were mined from Bell Island until 1966.