If you fancy a beach holiday away from the hustle and bustle of cities and commercialism, you’d do well to head down-under. Australia has more than 11,000 beaches to offer, more than any other country — many of which you’ve probably never even heard of. Best of all, many of Australia’s beaches remain completely unspoilt and absolutely gorgeous. Even those that are well known offer holiday experiences you will never forget.
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© paul bica
With 20,000 to 40,000 kilometres of awesome coastline (depending how you measure it), Australia offers some of the best beaches in the world (not difficult when you have so many to choose from). Most people know about the most famous of these, including Sydney’s cliff-hanging Bondi Beach and Bells Beach – just two iconic surf spots in the country. But what about the many secluded bays and beaches which are not widely advertised?
Here, we present just five of a lengthy list of fabulous beaches Ozzie locals won’t be anxious to tell tourists about.
#1: Green’s Pool, Western Australia
You’ll find Green’s Pool in the William Bay National Park, 15 km west of Denmark in Western Australia. Set between expansive and seemingly desolate long white beaches, this tiny strip of sand offers a taste of paradise. The pool is beautifully sheltered from the ocean waves by moonscapey, round boulders. It is surrounded by a gradually sloping rock formation that has, over time, eroded to form little crevasses and pools, and is quite safe for swimming.
If you like walking, make Green’s Pool your base for the day and take a mini hike to the nearby Elephant Rocks and Elephant Cove. From behind, these enormous boulders on the water’s edge look remarkably like a small herd of elephants. Be sure to take your camera — you’ll get a photograph you will treasure forever.
#2: Scott’s Head, New South Wales
Scott’s Head is about 500 km north of Sydney, and well worth the drive. You could stop off at Coffs Harbour or Port Macquarie on the way, but Scott’s Head is a more peaceful and considerably less expensive alternative. There’s an excellent, well-equipped recreation and camping reserve adjacent to the beach where you can stay or picnic.
The main beach — Forster Beach — stretches for kilometers, but it is the little havens in between that make Scott’s Head so special. There are several popular breaks that surfers seek out, but probably more fishing spots including Warrell Creek (in the reserve of the same name), Bruce’s Hill Rock (which marks the northern point of the main headland), Flat Rock and Shag Rock (both on the Little Beach side of the main headland), Snapper Rock (Scott’s Head’s so-called second headland), and Picnic Rock which is also known as the Blow Hole for Jew Fish off Wakikaki Beach.
#3: Wooyung Beach, New South Wales
New South Wales, in the east of Australia, is the most highly populated of the country’s six states — with more than half of the population living in Sydney. It boasts some truly iconic, hideaway beaches which could easily fill a list of hundreds all on its own.
Wooyung has been home for Australian Aborigines for thousands of years, but it was only discovered by Westerners relatively recently. Discovered by sand-miners in the 1930s, it became a potential tourist resort when an insurance salesman from Sydney built a motel and caravan park there in the 1960s.
With about 10 km of normally deserted beach, Wooyung is still largely undiscovered, probably because it really is off the beaten track. If you are a keen fisherman or bird watcher, get there before the masses realize what they are missing.
#4: Jan Juc, Victoria
This amazing little beach on the southeastern coast of Australia is bounded by rugged cliffs on all sides. Well known by surfers but few other people, it got its name from fossils of the extinct Janjucetus hunderi whale found there by a surfer in the late 1990s. In fact, strangely, its fame is more fossil-based than beach-based.
If you head for Jan Juc and its beach, you can expect to feel as if you are at the end of the earth, which you will be, with only Tasmania and the frigid Antarctica ahead of you. But it’s every bit as special.
#5: Lucky Bay, Western Australia
Western Australia is a rather expansive region, so you’ll need to head to a town called Esperance, on the southern coast of Western Australia, to find Lucky Bay. It’s located in the Cape Le Grand National Park just a half hour’s drive from Esperance.
Lucky Bay has a coastline that stretches for five kilometres where you can expect pristine white sand, luminous turquoise-blue water and swimming conditions that are hard to beat anywhere in the world. This is also a popular spot for fishing and boating, and there are some stunning coastal bush walks which will reward you with incredible views of many off-shore islands.
Whether you decide on one location, or opt to explore multiple beaches in Australia, if you’re visiting from abroad it’s a good idea to consider travel insurance. Most places are pretty safe, but it’s good to protect against unexpected circumstances.