The original Jaws (1975) was filmed primarily on Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts , which stood in for the fictional Amity Island, with additional work done in California and off the coast of South Australia.

Main filming location: “Amity Island”

Most of the movie’s town and beach scenes were shot on Martha’s Vineyard, an island off the coast of Massachusetts, USA. Key spots there include:

  • Edgartown, Martha’s Vineyard – used as the main town of Amity, including the town hall and harbor sequences.
  • Joseph Sylvia State Beach – the main beach where several shark attack scenes occur, including the death of Alex Kintner.
  • American Legion Memorial Bridge (“Jaws Bridge”) over Sengekontacket Pond – where the shark enters “the pond” and another victim is attacked.
  • Various roads and houses around Oak Bluffs, Edgartown, and Chilmark – such as Chief Brody’s house and the ferry and harbor areas.

Ocean and shark footage

The production also needed open‑ocean and shark material beyond what they could stage off Massachusetts. For that, they used:

  • Open ocean off Martha’s Vineyard – many of the Orca-at-sea scenes were shot between East Chop and Oak Bluffs.
  • Dangerous Reef, Spencer Gulf, South Australia – real great white shark footage, including the famous shark-and-cage sequence, was filmed here by shark experts Ron and Valerie Taylor and Rodney Fox.

Studio and pool work

A few specific shots and reshoots were done away from the island. These included:

  • A swimming pool in California (often cited as a movie executive’s or editor Verna Fields’ pool in Encino) used for the close-up “head in the boat” scare shot during reshoots.
  • Studio water tanks in Culver City, California (MGM/Esther Williams tanks) used for some controlled water and effects shots.

TL;DR:
When people ask “where was Jaws filmed,” the core answer is Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts for Amity Island, plus South Australia for real shark footage and a few California pool/tank shots for specific effects.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.