Probably one of my favorite beaches in Sydney. During my semester abroad way back when I'd enjoy…read morestrolling through Manly all the way to lesser known Freshwater beach. Sometimes I head through the lovely cliff side neighborhoods just walk along the cliff. I'd often find my self hanging out here for hours. Sometimes at the beach or sitting on the cliffs studying for school. There's a special connection to this beach to where I currently live in Hawaii. This is where Duke Kahanamoku, Olympian, politician, surfer, spreader of Aloha introduced Surfing to Australia. Inside the Freshwater Surf Life Saving Club there is a little memorial for the Duke with pictures, trophies, and his original wooden board he took to Australia. If you head up the stairs above the salt water pool there is an overgrown little park with a statue of the Duke Kahanamoku surfing on a boulder facing Freshwater beach. It's definitely a cool spot for anyone visiting from Hawaii. It's a great beach too with dramatic picturesque landscape. Ideally probably one of my top dream Neighborhoods to reside one day.

Once again, Freshie is one of my favorite beaches. It draws locals and not the chaos of tourist and…read moresurfers.

Beautiful and picturesque. One of those spots that locals…read moreand visitors alike love but not overly busy. Great morning noon or night to explore , chill, or hideaway. There's a cafe on the beach for food or coffee and the area has the local fish'n'chips plus other stores. There are flagged areas to swim but it's a good beach to almost swim anywhere. Rocks are great source of entertainment for the kids as well as photo opportunities. The cliffs provide a majestic backdrop and the open beach gives lovely light for sunset. I don't know why I don't come here more often. :)

One of my favorite beaches in Sydney. And today was a stunning day to be there. Mostly locals and…read morerelatively quiet. The walk along the headlands to bilgola beach is also recommended. I used to live close to this place so have been many times over the years. Loads of nice cafes and the Newport Arms is a short distance away on the Pittwater. This is an amazing part of Sydney.

Newport is a suburb of Sydney, about 30 K or 20 miles north of the city center. Newport sits…read morebetween the Pacific Ocean to the east and Pittwater harbor to the west. On the inland shores of Pittwater are several marinas and small boatyards, including the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club and Royal Motor Yacht Club. Newport also features many cafes and restaurants, as well as the famous Newport Arms Hotel. Plenty of parking and plenty of shops and a Coles supermarket. The ocean beach is patrolled by Newport Surf Life Saving Club, so swim between the flags as the open exposure to the Pacific can produce big waves and rough conditions. Newport Beach is a great beach, but watch out for the "shore dump" by the waves at times. For those who prefer, there is an ocean pool at the south headland, filled by the Pacific at high tides. At the north end are tide pools and you can walk around the point. The coarse sand of Newport Beach is unusually red. There is good vegetation growth behing the beach and few buildings can be seen. Crowded on weekends and school holidays, but during the week there are few beachgoers. Some other beaches in the area are more protected.

The beach looks out to sea between Barrenjoey Point and Block Head, it is generally only a mild…read moreswell and is thus much favoured by families. I love dropping in here for a dip in the middle day, not so good for a surf but always good to cool down!

Little Bay Beach is a gorgeous little spot, still not very well known. It's the last sand beach…read morebefore Botany Bay. Because it's a sheltered cove, there isn't any surf, but the place is great for paddling and snorkeling. Don't be put off by its proximity to Long Bay Gaol, or by its proximity to Malabar sewage treatment -- they've got that stuff all sorted out now, right? Little Bay Beach has wonderful sandstone outcrops, perfect for having a picnic with friends, and a nice mix of sun and shade. The abundance of little outcrops and cave-like spaces means you often find canoodling couples in various states of undress, spread out on towels and picnic blankets, with grapes, hummus and watermelon strewn about ... it gives the whole place a relaxed, bacchanalian sort of feel. There was an old hospital in Little Bay (long since closed down), which used to make the entrance to the beach quite creepy. In recent times they've built a housing subdivision at the old Prince Henry Hospital site, so the place isn't quite so spooky or derelict, but the development isn't too close to the foreshore, so you can't see buildings when you're sitting at the beach. It was quite a creepy hospital: used during the Bubonic plague in 1900. There are still a few heritage hospital buildings around, otherwise the rest of the structures are very new. There is a golf course nearby, but the risks of getting hit on the head by a golf ball are probably lower than your average Sydney bluebottle sting risks, so I reckon it's worth it. Little Bay achieved art-world fame back in 1969, when Christo wrapped it up in fabric. The whole bay. There are some great photos of it here: http://kaldorartprojects.org.au/project-archive/christo-and-jeanne-claude-1969 Little Bay's remoteness means that you can still find a park, if you drive there. But it is also accessible by bus. Just go down Anzac Parade, almost forever... The best bit? Feels like a holiday retreat, but it's in Sydney. The worst bit? No waves. Flat as a tack.

Gorgeous little beach. Not many people around, especially on a weekday. The water is crystal clear…read more& depending on the weather, some waves. Perfect place to relax. Free, non metered street parking near by & access to toilets.

For a beach that is a lot off the beaten track and in fresh water, does this still qualify as a…read morebeach? To get here you will need to get a ferry from Brooklyn across the Hawkesbury River to the Little Wobby Beach Wharf. There's a bit of a walk through the houses to get onto the track that leads to this beach. You will see wildlife. We watched a few wallabies racing around. There were people fishing off the beach in the early morning, it's a great place to have a swim in the afternoon after a hot sweaty day of trampling around the bushes trying to find an obscure waterfall. Which we didn't find. But we did manage to get lost and run out of water! So for those wanting to bush walk in this area, make sure you take more than 3 litres of water for a 7 hour hike! It's a lovely spot though and well worth the ferry over to check out.

This little unknown harbour beach sits at the bottom of Taronga Zoo. If there were any animal…read moreenclosures that could give a hint to where it could be it would definitely be the Muir Cats - standing upright pointing the way. Access to Whiting Beach is a beautiful rugged bushwalk from a residential street which clears out to this tiny beach with a spectacular view of the harbour and ferries pulling into Taronga Beach zoo ferry wharf. As its off the beaten track it does not have the manicured maintenance of our most well known beaches and there is a sign that warns of syringes that maybe hidden in the sand. I talk to some locals and they say in all the years they have been using the beach they have never come across syringes and just as much chance of finding them on the popular beaches than Whiting Beach however for the sake of my baby I keep her shoes on and watch her as she excitedly bumbles towards the water. Bring a picnic blanket also as well as beach towels as the walk is steep you may want to spend quality time on this beach. Alot of leisure craft use the beach as a swim stop. There is only 4 other people on the actual beach which gives it a deserted feeling... well as deserted as you would find in the middle of one of the worlds most beauitful cities. This natural gem is just a reminder of how beautiful it can be.

Beautiful surrounding but extremely dirty. I havnt seen so much garbage on the beach and in the…read morewater since phuket. I pulled out 10 bottles from the beach and on finding no bin left them next to the syringe recepticle unit. Many bottles were broken and swimming would mean cut feet. A real black eye for sydney.

Whale Beach on the ocean side of the Pittwater Peninsula is smaller, though no less stunning, than…read moreits neighbour, Palm Beach (http://goo.gl/D6pFQ). It doesn't receive quite the same surging swell of Palm Beach, though when the surf is up it's very popular with surfers and it can be a bit of a struggle to share the water (Still not to the nightmarish human density levels of Bondi though!) There's an ocean pool to the south end, Surf Life Savers in summer months and a cute little playground right on the beach in the shade. Trees that line the beach provide welcome shade and are part of the reason why it's so popular with families. Parking is limited and is exclusively Pay and Display though that keeps visitor numbers down. The beach is serviced by a couple of cute cafes including a Ripples (part of the group from Milsons Point (http://goo.gl/2LO1l) and Chowder Bay (http://goo.gl/Xc3Hh)). In fact their neighbours at Palm Beach Paradise (http://goo.gl/HAAA2) could do with having a visit here to see how it's done.

Went early in the morning being one of the firsts on the beach. High tide day so there was very…read morelittle sand available for lounging so we retreated to the rocks. It was a gorgeous sunny day with the water feeling refreshing. We left close to noon just as more people started showing up. Will go again if I ever have the opportunity to return to Australia.

I think the days of believing that nudist beaches are a hotbed of blonde beauties flaunting their…read moreperfect physiques are loooooong gone. And if you needed any clarification of this, head to Lady Bay Beach in Watsons Bay. I've never quite worked out if this is technically a gay nudist beach, or whether it just happens to be populated by ageing naked guys, with large guts, most of the time. The beach itself isn't too bad, I've never ventured down to spend an afternoon on it, but you can see it quite clearly from the path that leads to South Head (and it tends to be quite a pretty sight, except when there are people on it!). I've not really considered nudism as a potential activity, but that's mainly due to the fact that I get annoyed when I get sunburnt shoulders, imagine getting sunbu- ... never mind. If you're trying to get around the beaches of Sydney on your travels, I think you'd be better off hitting up Camp Cove just down the path, it's a much more pleasant setting!