Western Australia Wildflower Season
Australia has a vast coastline being an island continent, which means there are a lot of beaches, and many many beautiful ones at that. Consider this, getting to many of the most beautiful beaches is an effort and you can’t stay there for long. Everyone talks about Whitehaven Beach in the Whitsundays, but there is no accommodation there, so you can’t hang around there overnight and you have to take a fleeting boat trip there and then go back.
Most tourists will stay in the main towns and cities, so isn’t great to be able to stay a few days, and to be able to visit the beach most days while you’re there? So what are the most beautiful beaches you can visit that doesn’t take half a day and an a tiring adventure just getting there?
Here’s a list of Australia’s 10 biggest cities and the best places to lie on a beach, while you are staying there:-
10 Sunshine Coast– this is a city made up of a number of large towns. The main beach towns are Caloundra, Molooloba, Maroochydore, and Noosa Heads. While most have good beaches like Dickies Beach in Caloundra, the jewel of this coast is Noosa Beach, with stunning views that on a nice clear day can look like the Caribbean. Some accommodation is 20m from the beach, on occasions has good surf, and it also has a National Park, which you can walk through and even see koalas.
Noosa Heads
9 Wollongong– just 75km south of Sydney, Wollongong is a stunning city and off the beaten tourist traps. It has a long coastline, and a beautiful mountain backdrop from every beach. The main city beach North Wollongong Beach is beautiful by anyones standards. From there you can walk to the fishing boat harbour at Flagstaff Point or the lighthouse on the hill above. But Wollongongs most beautiful beaches are Austinmer and Thirroul 14km north of Wollongong, Austinmer is a nice small beach lined with Norfolk Island Pines. To get more room just walk around the corner to Thirroul which has large parks for picnicing and a large saltwater pool
a few of the many Wollongong beaches
8 Canberra– Canberra isn’t by the beach, but is only 1.5hrs away. Batemans Bay the closest beach town is therefore called Little Canberra. The best beaches are Durras or Pebbly Beach. At Pebbly Beach there are kangaroos which come close to you, but these days they tell you not to feed them. Most people will make a day trip of the coastal adventure and it’s great to get away from Canberra’s stifling summer heat.
Batemans Bay
7 Newcastle– a big industrial beach city. Merewether and Nobbys Beach are within walking distance from the city centre and is renowned for it’s waves. Merewether Beach has a nice green backdrop, a nice surf life savers and calm seaside pool
Merewether Beach, Newcastle
6 Gold Coast– Gold Coast has a long stretch of beaches. The main tourist centre Sufers Paradise, has a nice white sandy beach with clear blue water, most people would be happy to see, and many hotels and backpackers located within walking distance, but the skyscrapers are a drawback for some like me. The most beautiful beach is at the other end of the coast at Coolangatta, which once vied for the capital of Gold Coast tourism. Rainbow Bay and Greenmount Beach have a green headland and parks to block some of the lesser amount of skyscrapers along this stretch.
Gold Coast, surf, sun and hot girls
5 Adelaide– From the city centre, Glenelg is a nice tram ride away. It has backpapers and other accommodation there, you can relax on the beach, walk the jetty and hang out by the restaurant area. The sand is nice and the water temperature nice in summer. A bit further away is Maslins Beach although a nudist beach is quite nice. These beaches are protected water inside a gulf, but a short 1hr away is Adelaide’s favourite Victor Harbour, where you can stay and walk to Granite Bay
Glenelg Jetty-Image via Wikipedia
4 Perth– Close to the city is Cottlesloe Beach where you can relax on the nice sandy beach and has a nice cafe and restaurant area backing the beach. Scarborough Beach is also popular, but not as nice. Most Perth people prefer to go down south towards Margaret River where you can find some nice beach towns like Yallingup and Gracetown
Injidup Point south of Perth
3 Brisbane– Unfortanetly Brisbane although it has beaches is protected by large islands which make the mainland beaches not so nice. The closest beach to Brisbane is the artificial beach at Southbank in the city centre. Otherwise Cleveland or Redcliffe are on the coast but not attractive. To access beautiful beaches in Brisbane you have to take a ferry to North Stradbroke Island or Moreton Island where there are long white beautiful sandy beaches
The channel between North Stradbroke and Moreton Island-Image via Wikipedia
2 Melbourne– protected like Brisbane doesn’t have the same problem. Port Phillip Bay has some beautiful beaches. St.Kilda is the closest and if you feel like a good walk you get reach it 8km from the city centre, while passing Albert Park. Sandridge Beach nearby provides a nice view of the city while relaxing on the beach, or Edithvale Beach is a nice place to visit. Further afield Bells Beach, Lorne and Apollo Bay are great day visits for Melbounites and really stunning beaches
Port Phillip Bay-Melbourne- Image via Wikipedia
1 Sydney– Sydney has some stunning beaches both harbourside and oceanside. The closest beach in distance to the city is Double Bay within the harbour, but it is probably just as easy to go to Bondi or Manly. Manly is the pick of the 2 beaches as far scenic wise, and you can combine a ferry ride across the harbour to get there. But the glitter of Bondi and it’s fame usually win in the end. Nearby and much more beautiful are the small beaches of Bronte and Tamarama.
Tamarama Beach, Sydney- Image via Wikipedia
While most of these 10 biggest cities are some of the most visited while you are in the area of one of them there are certainly many other nearby beaches to relax on. Other popular destinations with nice beaches include Cairns-Port Douglas, Byron Bay, Broome, Esperance and Hobart. If you’re a beach lover and you’re aim to visit Australia was to see as many beaches as possible, by the time you leave you ,ight be bored of them because there are so many. So while you’re sitting on one of these beaches enjoy.
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Enjoy!
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