DomPerignon1

Hello, I'm planning a trip to OZ in February. Mainly to SYD. Could anyone advise if there are nice beaches in SYD? Is it worth going to another city, such as Brisbane, Perth or Melbourne? Many thanks for your assistance!

AustralianPoochie

How long do you plan to stay in Aust?
If I had a bit of more energy, I would probably go and stay for 2 nights or so on Rottness.
Maybe a trip to start a boat trip out to the Great Barrier Reef.
Sydney is great for a city person, but if you are into nature, you would have to go out of the city, Royal National Park or up to Katomba way.
Bondi and Coogee would be worth it if you do ocean board surfing. Some even make it out to Wedding Cake Island!

DownUnderFlyer

[mod hat] Welcome to FT and the friendly QF forum, DomPerignon1! As your question is not about the Qantas Frequent Flyer program but about travel to Australia in general I am moving this thread to the right forum. [/mod hat]

bensyd

If you expect people to put in the effort of answering your post, you should put a bit of effort in as well. In answer to your first question, yes there are nice beaches in Sydney. The northern beaches, imo, are nicer than those south of the harbour. Your second question is impossible to answer. You haven't even said how long you will be coming for or given any idea of what you like/don't like.

CPMaverick

If you want a beach city, then Sydney is a good choice. You'll need to provide more information on your itinerary to answer your second question. Cheers

DomPerignon1

Folks... thanks for your assistance. To be more precise, the entire trip will be between 10 and 15 days. How easy/far is it to go to the Great Barrier Reef?

Mwenenzi

You need to do some research on Australia.

How far?
You can go to Cairns http://www.gcmap.com/mapui?P=SYD-CNS...SU=kts&RS=best (1220 miles ~ 2:30 hrs).
There is reef access in places south of Cairns, but most people go to CNS

How easy?
Buy an airline ticket and then go on one of the many reef tour operators

CPMaverick

The Great Barrier reef is accessed from anywhere between Brisbane and Cairns, but it is much closer to Cairns or Airlie Beach. Essentially, you fly to another city/town in Queensland and book a tour operator from there.

Australia is a big country. Most places you've heard of are only reached by flights from each other, especially for a short trip of 10-15 days.

LadyB

You could fly to Cairns, approx 2.5 hours from Sydney, perhaps hire a car & drive for about an hour to Port Douglas, which IMO, is nicer than Cairns. You can take trips out to the GBR for a half or full day depending on your own preference. We don't dive & only wanted to snorkel so we did a half day out to the Low Isles, we loved it.
Alternatively, you could fly to Airlie Beach (into Hamilton Island then ferry), that's about a 90 minute, maybe 2 hour flight from SYD. To be honest, I don't know what it's like, we're booked for 4 days next April during our trip, it looks stunning.

Ace71

I was in Sydney for 4 days at the start of the year, I went to Bondi but not Manly.
I did not see a sunbed or lounger like you would if you was in the Mediterranean, everyone had a towel on the sand or on the grassy verge. Please note the sea/water is rough and most of the people who enter the sea have a surf board at their side!
Also I was in Cairns for 3 days for the GBR which was fantastic, I booked a flight, hotel and a full day snorkeling trip separately, there are plenty of tour operators to choose from in town but I did my online before leaving London for Australia.
Brisbane was my base as I was visiting my sister but I would suggest you should stay at the Gold Coast (1 hour by train) if you want the beach.

bensyd

North Bondi is not rough 90% of the time and fibreglass boards are not allowed there unless the flags are down, but no one would want to surf there anyway. South Bondi is rougher, largely because of the prevailing wind in Sydney. Many a traveller has had to be fished out of the water at South Bondi, so many that the local rip is called backpackers' rip.

If you don't like beaches with surf then you'd probably want to head to Coogee, Clovelly or the harbour beaches like Nielsen Park or Camp Cove.

Catweazle

Yep, this is one helluva big continent!

If in Sydney, there are plenty of wonderful beaches to visit, especially north of the city and further south if you're keen for a few hours driving in the car...

There's a great walk you can do in Sydney from Manly beach to Spit Bridge. Along the way, there are some neat looking places to have a dip. I walked it on a bright, sunny day in June early this year and reckon it would be even better in summer with a towel and an ice-cream or three.

If you're keen for the Great Barrier Reef, as most others have said CNS is a convenient option.

Another option is somewhere, anywhere in the Whitsunday islands just off Airlie Beach. You can fly to PPP from SYD with JQ or TT. The alternative is to fly to the aptly named Great Barrier Reef airport on Hamilton Island (HTI). Plenty of tour operators, and Whitehaven beach is the more popular destination.

If camping is your thing, you can also get dropped off by boat transfer on an island with camping gear. You pay for the transfer ($65–$130 each way depending how far out) that includes the camping gear and drinking water, take your own food, and pay about $6 per night to the rangers (online booking) for a tent sight. Marvellous opportunity to have the whole island to yourself, and stick around long after most of the tourists have departed for the day.

Off the coast from Townsville (TSV) is Magnetic island, also known for its beaches.

Just be aware that February is, I believe, stinger season in tropical waters off parts of the QLD coast so you may opt to hire a stinger suit. But not to worry; come to Australia, have fun and don't freak because you're more likely to be killed by a spider, snake, angry roo, drop-bear or shark anyway before a jelly fish. The human population, by contrast, is more than welcoming!

Btw, BNE itself doesn't have much in the way of beaches. You'd do better to head an hour (by car) north to the Sunshine Coast or an hour south to the Gold Coast.

Northern NSW is also a beautiful coastline, as far as beaches go, but it all depends how much traveling you want to do when you get here. By the sounds of it, pick two places tops and explore your options there (SYD and CNS/PPP/OOL or whatever).

As an afterthought, have you considered Lord Howe Island about 2hrs flying time East of SYD?

CPMaverick

Just for other's information, it is faster and usually cheaper to fly to PPP and take a shuttle to Airlie, rather than the ferry from Hamilton. More flexible too not being stuck to a ferry schedule. Of course, you can't beat the view landing in HTI and the ferry ride is gorgeous... I'm sure you will enjoy it.