Ethicare Resourcing
The harbour city

Harbour, beaches & the mountains

Sydney Guide · Chapter 9 of 9

Sydney’s weekends are the compensation, and they are extraordinary. A hundred beaches, national parks pressing in from three sides, a harbour you can swim in, and a World Heritage escarpment an hour from the suburbs. Most of it is free.

The beaches

A surfer carrying a board into the water at Bondi at sunrise
Bondi at sunrise, before a day shift

East: Bondi, Tamarama, Bronte, Coogee — linked by the coastal walk that everyone does at least monthly, with ocean pools cut into the rocks along the way. North: Manly, Freshwater, Curl Curl and up the peninsula to Palm Beach, quieter and better for surfing. South: Cronulla and the beaches inside the Royal National Park, where the crowds thin out entirely.

The ocean pools deserve their own mention — dozens of them, tidal, free, and used year-round by people of every age. They are the most democratic thing about this city.

The ocean pool at Bondi Icebergs at dusk, waves breaking over the wall
The ocean pool at Bondi, at the end of the day

The harbour

Take the ferry to Manly at least once a month; it costs the same as a bus and is one of the great urban journeys anywhere. Beyond that: Cockatoo Island’s industrial heritage, the harbour beaches at Balmoral and Nielsen Park where the water is flat and warm, the Hermitage foreshore walk, and Sydney Harbour National Park’s tracks around the headlands. The New Year fireworks are worth doing once, from a park with a picnic.

The mountains and the parks

The Blue Mountains begin an hour west: a World Heritage sandstone escarpment with the Three Sisters, canyons, waterfalls and hundreds of kilometres of walking track, plus mountain villages that are ten degrees cooler than the city in February. South, the Royal National Park — the world’s second-oldest — has the coast track, cliff-top walks and beaches you have to walk into. North, Ku-ring-gai Chase holds Aboriginal rock engravings and bushland running down to the water.

National parks on three sides

The compensation for everything else in this guide: three ways out of the city, and a World Heritage escarpment or a coast track at the end of each. Most of it is free.

North, up the peninsulaQuieter beaches and better surfing the further you go — and the ferry, which costs the same as a bus and is one of the great urban journeys anywhere.
The cityManly · by ferryCurl Curl & FreshwaterKu-ring-gai Chase
West, into the mountainsA sandstone escarpment with canyons, waterfalls and hundreds of kilometres of track — and villages ten degrees cooler than the city in February.
The cityBlue Mountains · ~1 hrThe Three Sisters & the canyons
South, down the coastThe world’s second-oldest national park, then the Sea Cliff Bridge, then white sand and the quiet towns beyond.
The cityRoyal National ParkSea Cliff BridgeJervis Bay

The east is the fourth direction and needs no rail: the Bondi-to-Coogee coastal walk, and dozens of tidal ocean pools that are free and used year-round by people of every age.

Further afield

The Hunter Valley
Two hours north — Australia’s oldest wine region, and the classic Sydney weekend away.
The south coast
Down past Wollongong on the Sea Cliff Bridge to Jervis Bay’s white sand and the quiet coastal towns beyond.
The Central Coast
An hour north by train — beaches, lakes and a much slower pace, popular for a weekend shack.

Ten weekends, to start

  • The Bondi-to-Coogee coastal walk, with a swim at each ocean pool
  • The Manly ferry, then the Manly-to-Spit walk back around the harbour
  • The Blue Mountains: the Three Sisters, then a canyon walk away from the lookouts
  • The Royal National Park coast track, or just the beaches you have to walk into
  • Ku-ring-gai Chase for the rock engravings and the water views
  • A Hunter Valley weekend, cellar doors and a long lunch
  • The south coast: the Sea Cliff Bridge, then Jervis Bay’s white sand
  • Cockatoo Island and the harbour’s industrial history
  • Balmoral or Nielsen Park for flat, warm harbour swimming
  • Vivid in winter, walking the harbour foreshore after dark
That’s the guide

Nine chapters on Sydney. Statewide and regional topics live in the New South Wales guide, and everything national in Moving to Australia. When you’re ready to talk about roles here, send us your CV.

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