Sydney's Beaches
In Sydney, nothing beats a day at the beach. Sun, sand and surf dominate the culture for six months of every year...at least. There are no privatised beaches here: lay down a towel and you’ve claimed your personal patch of paradise for as long as you want it.
Ocean Beaches
The city's magnificent run of ocean beaches stretches from Royal National Park in the south to Palm Beach in the the north. Surfers, scenesters, swimmers and sunbathers are lured onto the golden sand and into the powerful swells of the Tasman Sea.
Serious surfers head to Cronulla in the south; Maroubra, Bronte, Tamarama and Bondi in the east; and Curl Curl, Narrabeen, Queenscliff, Freshwater and Manly in the north. Of these, Bronte and Manly are also popular with swimmers, joining Coogee, Clovelly, Bondi, Bilgola, Whale and Palm as regular entries on 'Best Beaches' lists. Each of these beaches has a devoted crew of regulars: families flock to Clovelly, Bronte and Whale Beach, while bronzed, body-enhanced singles strut their stuff at Bondi, Coogee and Palm Beach.
Sydney's best-known beaches – Bondi and Manly – host an incongruous mix of pasty-skinned foreigners, weather-wizened surf gurus, grommets and geriatric locals who've been perfecting their body-surfing techniques for decades. Always crowded, these two beaches showcase the most endearing and eclectic aspects of Sydney's character, and shouldn't be missed.
Ocean Pools
If you find Sydney's ocean surf a little intimidating or if you just want to soothe your jetlag with a few slow laps, take advantage of the city's famous ocean pools. There are 40 seawater pools up and down the coast, most of which are free. The most popular are Wylie's Baths, Giles Baths and the Ross Jones Memorial Pool in Coogee; the Bondi Icebergs Swimming Club; and the pool at Fairy Bower Beach in Manly. Our favourite is rugged little Mahon Pool near Maroubra.
Harbour Beaches & Pools
The pick of Sydney's harbour beaches include Camp Cove and Lady Bay near South Head (the latter of which is mainly a gay nude beach), Shark Beach at Nielsen Park in Vaucluse, and Balmoral Beach on the north shore. Also popular are the netted swimming enclosures at Cremorne Point on the North Shore and Murray Rose Pool near Double Bay. There are plenty of little sandy gems scattered about that even Sydneysiders would be hard pressed to find, including Parsley Bay and Milk Beach right in the heart of residential Vaucluse.
Beaches By Neighbourhood
- Sydney Harbour Lots of hidden coves; the best are out near the Heads.
- Bondi to Coogee High cliffs frame a string of surf beaches, with excellent coffee and cold beer just a stumble away.
- Northern Beaches A steady succession of magical surf beaches stretching 30km north from Manly to Palm Beach.