Three kilometres down a turn-off from the main road, this excellent surf beach is a picturesque spot. Like all of the Royal National Park surf beaches, swimming can be treacherous. There's a toilet block but no other facilities despite the large building complex, though the beach is patrolled on summer weekends and daily from late December to late January. A food kiosk opens weekends and school holidays.
Garie Beach
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
22.71 MILES
Definitively Sydney, Bondi is one of the world’s great beaches. It’s the closest ocean beach to the city centre (8km away), has consistently good (though…
23.36 MILES
Sydneysiders love their giant 'coathanger', which opened in 1932. The best way to experience this majestic structure is on foot. Stairs and lifts ascend…
25.75 MILES
Lovely Watsons Bay, east of the city centre and north of Bondi, was once a small fishing village, as evidenced by the heritage cottages that pepper the…
24.67 MILES
A 12-minute ferry ride from Circular Quay, this forested harbour hillside is full of kangaroos, koalas and similarly hirsute Australians, plus numerous…
23.21 MILES
Designed by Danish architect Jørn Utzon, this magnificent building is Australia's most famous landmark. Visually referencing a yacht's sails, it's a…
27.73 MILES
About 3km south of central Manly, spectacular North Head offers dramatic cliffs, lookouts, secluded beaches, pretty paths through the native scrub, and…
22.52 MILES
With its neoclassical Greek frontage and modern rear, this much-loved institution plays a prominent and gregarious role in Sydney society. Blockbuster…
22.12 MILES
As well as regular tanks, this impressive complex has large pools that you can walk through – safely enclosed in Perspex tunnels – as an intimidating…
Nearby attractions
2.33 MILES
This eight-shaped pool on a rock shelf near Burning Palms Beach is an Instagram favourite. However it is imperative to pay attention to conditions: tides…
3.42 MILES
The 15,091-hectare Royal National Park was established in 1879, making it the oldest national park in the world after Yellowstone in the USA. Stretching…
3.58 MILES
About halfway along the coast, Wattamolla Beach is one of the favourite picnic spots in the park and gets pretty busy in summer. It has the great…
5.88 MILES
Bone-white and richly decorated with sculptures of Hindu deities, Helensburgh's temple is a rewarding detour on the drive between Wollongong and Royal…
6.12 MILES
Friendly kangaroos are the highlight at this private zoo, 34km north of Wollongong. Native animals such as emus, echidnas and koalas (plus imported…
7.65 MILES
The town of Bundeena, on the southern shore of Port Hacking opposite Sydney’s southern suburb of Cronulla, is surrounded by the Royal National Park and…
9.4 MILES
Cronulla is a beachy surf suburb south of Botany Bay, its long surf beach (Sydney's only one reachable by train) stretching beyond the dunes to the Botany…
8. Kamay Botany Bay National Park
14.52 MILES
This national park straddles both heads of Botany Bay, 15km south of Sydney Harbour, enclosing 458 hectares of coastal bushland. Visitors come here to…