With 60,000km (37,282 miles) of shoreline, selecting a favourite amongst Australia’s roughly 12,000 seashores is an nearly unimaginable activity.
However that simply means there’s loads of selection. Whether or not you’re eager to strap on a snorkel masks, paddle out to catch a wave, break away from the group or just cool off, Australia has the right stretch of sand ready for you.
Listed below are 12 of our favourite seashores from coast to coast.
1. Bells Seashore, Victoria
Greatest seashore for browsing
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On the southern coast of Victoria within the Nice Ocean Highway area, surfers collect within the seashore parking zone, arms crossed and sun shades on, watching the waves roll in across the level. Some shake their heads and drive off, others wait for his or her set. With the tides altering, one or two seize their board and head down the weathered steps to paddle out at one in every of Australia’s finest surf breaks: Bells Seashore.
There are not any swimmers right here: simply the clifftop bluffs the place most pilgrims perch, wanting to see Australia’s finest browsing break and watch the surfers who experience it.
Planning tip: The Rip Curl Professional Bells Seashore aggressive browsing occasion is held every year through the Easter vacation interval. Guide properly upfront to safe lodging.
2. Fortunate Bay, Western Australia
Greatest seashore to see kangaroos
Most guests don’t imagine it till they see it: kangaroos bounding down a white sand seashore. A brief drive from Esperance, Fortunate Bay gives an iconic slice of Australiana. The campers who wake at daybreak will see Fortunate Bay at its finest. Absent of crowds, early morning is when the animals are most lively. Better of all, the unbelievable turquoise water is a elegant substitute for a bathe.
Planning tip: Accessible solely by 4WD, be cautious of getting bogged within the powder-white sand.
3. Mindil Seashore, Northern Territory
Greatest sundown in Australia
When the warmth of the Prime Finish provides out within the late afternoon, locals, nomads and vacationers flock to Darwin’s Mindil Seashore for the sundown markets. Right here, vacationers browse the humanities and crafts stalls, whereas locals seize a meal-to-go and head to the seashore. If it’s low tide, households stroll the uncovered sand flats; throughout excessive tide they perch on the sand dune overlooking the water, watching the solar burn into the Timor Sea.
Planning tip: The markets are held from 4pm to 9pm on Thursdays and Sundays through the dry season (late April to late October).
4. The Go, New South Wales
Greatest seashore lookout
Well-known for its lengthy rolling waves, Byron Bay’s The Go has been a popular surf spot because the sport was launched to Australia within the early 1900s. Stroll down the boat ramp and previous the shell midden – the place generations of Indigenous households shared seafood caught on this seashore – and wade throughout to the lookout. A customized viewing platform seems to be throughout the bay to Wollumbin/Mt Warning. This can be a great place to search for dolphins and whales, whereas surfers can use it to test whether or not the waves are much less crowded than across the nook at Watego’s.
Native tip: Head to the Go at sundown when the crowds skinny and you may see the solar dip behind Wollumbin/Mt Warning.
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5. Bondi Seashore, New South Wales
Greatest seashore for individuals watching
Everybody has their place at one in every of Australia’s most well-known seashores: households arrange camp on the northern finish in Cozy Nook. Day trippers and backpackers assume the center. Surfers take custody of the southern finish, and the lifeguards of their seashore buggies watch over all of it, typically adopted by a digicam crew filming TV present Bondi Rescue. Regardless of being overexposed, overhyped and crowded, Sydney’s Bondi Seashore is a spot the place individuals dwell their lives outdoor, and people who go to can’t assist however be seduced by the approach to life.
Planning tip: Bondi is among the busiest seashores in Australia, however that doesn’t imply it’s resistant to harmful rip currents. All the time swim between the flags.
6. Shelly Seashore, New South Wales
Greatest seashore for snorkeling
A brief stroll from Sydney’s Manly Seashore is the 20-hectare (49-acre) Cabbage Tree Bay Aquatic Reserve, the place you’ll have the possibility to identify seahorses, tropical fish and even elusive inexperienced sea turtles. This shallow and guarded swimming spot is well accessible from Shelly Seashore, a sandy spot of actual property that draws snorkelers, divers and households alike.
Planning tip: Parking is scarce straight at Shelly Seashore. Catch the ferry to Manly as a substitute, from which it’s a straightforward 1km (0.6 mile) stroll to Shelly Seashore alongside the waterfront.
7. Tangalooma Seashore, Queensland
Greatest seashore for shipwrecks
Slip on a pair of fins and a masks, and gently stroke throughout to the 15 shipwrecks simply 30m (98ft) offshore at Tangalooma Seashore. Located on Moreton Island in Queensland, the ships right here had been intentionally sunk within the Nineteen Sixties to offer protected anchorage. Come nightfall, a resident household of dolphins makes an look on the jetty, whereas at night time the waters across the wrecks are identified to glow blue with bioluminescence.
Planning tip: Tangalooma Island Resort is one in every of solely 4 places in Australia the place you may feed wild dolphins, and the expertise should be booked upfront. Whereas it’s strictly regulated and audited, the follow stays controversial as it may be seen to disrupt the dolphins’ common feeding patterns. Certainly not must you pat or contact the dolphins.
8. 75-Mile Seashore, Queensland
Greatest seashore for driving
This may be Australia’s most original freeway; a desolate stretch of seashore operating alongside the island of Ok’gari (previously generally known as Fraser Island). The otherworldliness of 75-Mile Seashore is haunting. The rusted hulk of a shipwreck acts as a route marker on the shore and the tide dictates how far you may go within the day. That is the place you may really feel the ocean fizz at Champagne Swimming pools, a pure spa bathtub; go to sleep to the sound of untamed ocean; and wake to seek out dingo tracks across the camp.
Planning tip: You received’t be capable of swim within the tough ocean alongside 75-Mile Seashore. Attempt freshwater Eli Creek as a substitute, discovered halfway alongside the seashore.
9. Brighton Seashore, Victoria
Greatest seashore for historical past
Thirty minutes from central Melbourne lies one in every of Australia’s most iconic seashore scenes at Brighton Seashore, the place you’ll discover a row of vividly painted, historic bathing packing containers. You may really feel the whoosh of warmth because the doorways of the showering packing containers are opened, whereas on the sand close by, youngsters wield buckets and spades. Regardless of its Insta-cool standing, Brighton Seashore is finally concerning the easy pleasures of a day spent on the seaside.
Planning tip: Brighton Seashore is straightforward to achieve by public transit. Catch the Sandringham line from Melbourne direct to Center Brighton Practice Station.
10. Stokes Bay, South Australia
Greatest secret seashore
Towels and flip-flops clutched to their chests, guests wade into the ankle-deep water, trusting the guiding arrows and their sense of journey as they transfer via the rocks. Slipping previous boulders, ducking below low cliffs and squeezing via slender passageways, they lastly emerge at Stokes Bay. This protected seashore is hidden from the world – or on the very least, the roadside – on the north finish of Kangaroo Island. It’s untouched, unspoiled and completely idyllic.
Planning tip: Time your go to for low tide and keep protected by keeping track of the ocean situations.
11. Wineglass Bay, Tasmania
Greatest seashore to hike to
It’s a must to earn your go to to Wineglass Bay, one in every of Tasmania’s most photographed seashores. Bump down 9km (5.6 miles) of gravel highway, tighten the laces in your mountain climbing boots, and begin strolling via the bush till you attain the dusty pink granite rocks of the saddle between between Mt Amos and Mt Mayson. From there, you’ll have one of the best vantage level over Wineglass Bay, a postcard-perfect crescent of white sand. The seashore is equally pleasing when you land at sea degree, which you’ll entry by descending down a set of roughly 1000 stairs.
Planning tip: Really feel like taking it straightforward? Skip the stroll and take a scenic cruise from Coles Bay to Wineglass Bay as a substitute.
12. Whitehaven Seashore, Queensland
Australia’s most photogenic seashore
Seen from afar, the Whitsundays’ Whitehaven Seashore completely glows. The inlet’s creamy blue elixir shape-shifts with the tide, bewitching those that come shut. Yachts drop anchor; seaplanes land on water; pleasure craft nudge up on shore; and crowds empty onto the sand. Underfoot, the white silica sand squeaks, nearly as an auditory protest on the disruption to the pristine strand.
Planning tip: The journey to Whitehaven may be bumpy relying on sea situations. Come ready with movement illness treatment.
