My perfect Australian beaches...
First, I have to explain my beach criteria (of course!)
- There cannot be a road by the beach. The perfect beach should be reached either through palm trees, sand dunes, climbing down a cliff, etc... but not be visible from a road. I just don't think you get that 'beach seclusion' just-me-and-the waves feel if there is traffic trundling by
- No pebbles. Sorry, just can't have them!
- Warm (ish is OK, just not nail-biting freezing) water
- A great beach has decent depth of sand strip (you see I take this quite seriously!) between the edge of the beach and the water
- The perfect beach can not be too crowded (and by this I mean not very crowded at all i.e. you go for a walk and see a handful of other people, not a concert hall amount in a concert-hall-size space)
- The beach must have a view. Here I mean something like a bay curving round, or some islands offshore.
So where in Australia have I found some perfect beaches?
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Through the palms you can see Dunk island, across from Mission Beach... it meets all my beach criteria! |
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Mission Beach — I love this beach! It's hugely long, and while there are houses and the odd hotel or beachhut, you can't really see them through the palm trees, and the sand goes on for miles... view-wise there is Dunk island and all the 'family' islands to look at, and if you miss the height of 'summer' then the weather is pretty perfect too. Not to mention you can easily get to the (Barrier) Reef from here, if you wanted to. Mission Beach is in Far North Queensland, around 2 hours (drive) south of Cairns.
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These lucky pelicans are having a paddle on Belongil Beach in Byron Bay (NSW) |
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Belongil Beach and also Clark's Beach in Byron Bay are also on my list of nigh-on perfect beaches. Admittedly these are a bit busier but you can always head round the corner to Tallows for a huge expanse of almost empty beach, and you've got mountains in the background and surfers and dolphins in the water, and just a great great beach! I have a real soft spot for Byron, and the beaches of Northern New South Wales. Maybe they're not perfect, but they're pretty damn close for me. You can stay at Julian's and see for yourself.
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Bunker Bay (WA) sweeps round in the background as we found little coves on our way up to the lighthouse |
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Bunker Bay, Cape Naturaliste and other Margaret River region beaches in Western Australia are also quite perfect. There's lots of small beaches and bays to choose from, and while they can be quite windy (OK, very windy!), then that's all the better for the surf (and watching the surfers!). If you are lucky and come at the right time, you can also sometimes see whales from the beach, passing by on their migration. That's got to be close to perfect, I think.
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Wineglass Bay, Tasmania, with its well photographed arc |
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| Wineglass Bay in Tasmania is only accessible on a walk or hike, but it is stunning (and well worth the effort!). You are quite likely to share the beach with some wildlife (we met wallabies), so it's not really one for sunbathing, instead for exploring. Along this 'Freycinet' coast of Tasmania are beaches that could almost be caribbean (if you aren't there in August like we were — the middle of winter!)
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As seen from an Air Whitsundays seaplane — Whitehaven Beach — the 'supermodel' of Australian beaches (QLD) |
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And if sand is your thing (and ticking off an iconic beach — as seen in MANY an advert for Australia!) — then you need to head to Whitehaven beach in the Whitsundays. You can't get much purer silica than this. See it from above (we took a seaplane!) to really appreciate its swirls and turns.
Now there are, of course, LOTS more beaches in Australia, and I have hardly started here with all the good ones, but I'm not even sure even I'll ever be able to see them all! What I can say though, pretty much without a doubt, is that I am sure you can find your own 'perfect' beach in Australia without looking too hard.
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