What are best coastal walks in Australia?
The best coastal walks in Australia include the Bouddi Coastal Walk, Cape Hauy Track, Tomaree Head Summit Walk and Cape Woolamai Circuit.
Australia is blessed with some magnificent coastal scenery, and all around all the country are walks designed to take it in. Some of these are challenging multi-day affairs, such as the Cape To Cape Track in Western Australia or Great Ocean Walk in Victoria. Other coastal walks in Australia can be enjoyed over a day or half day, however.
Australia Travel Questions has pulled together some of the best coastal walks in Australia that just about everyone can have a go at.
Coastal walks in Australia: Bondi To Coogee Coastal Walk
The Bondi to Coogee Coastal Walk in Sydney is perhaps the classic Australian coastal walk. It heads around the headlands and beaches of Sydney’s eastern suburbs, with marvellous views and top drawer people watching along the way. From Bondi Beach, the walk is 8km long. Highlights along the way include family-friendly Bronte Beach and snorkelling at Clovelly Beach.
Other coastal walks in Sydney include the Hermitage Foreshore Walk along the harbour, which takes in Milk Beach, Parsley Bay and the Sydney Harbour National Park.
Coastal walks in Australia: Bouddi Coastal Walk
North of Sydney, the Bouddi National Park is one of the most appealing Central Coast national parks. The 8km Bouddi Coastal Walk from Putty Beach to MacMasters Beach showcases the best of it. On the way, you’ll see cute cove beaches, pounding seas, pockets of rainforest and perhaps even whales if you’re lucky. Another, shorter Central Coast walk is the Patonga Beach to Pearl Beach walk through the Brisbane Water National Park.
Coastal walks in Australia: Cape Hauy Track
The Cape Hauy Track in the Tasman National Park near Hobart, Tasmania offers truly dramatic coastal scenery. The 9.3km return walk on the Tasman Peninsula starts with woodland and wildflowers. But it gets truly impressive towards Cape Hauy, where steepling cliffs rise out of the ocean with lava-formed dolerite columns. Other excellent coastal walking options in Tasmania include the walk to Wineglass Bay in the Freycinet National Park and the walk from South Cape Bay from Cockle Creek.
Australian coastal walks: Tomaree Head Summit Walk
The Tomaree National Park in Port Stephens, New South Wales, is a bit of an uphill schlep from Nelson Bay. But affords tremendous views of Cabbage Tree Island, Broughton Island, Zenith Beach and Wreck Beach. You’ve also got a good chance of seeing the famous Port Stephens dolphins from the top. What makes the Tomaree Head Summit Walk a little different is the World War II fortifications you encounter on the way down.
Further north, in the Booti Booti National Park near Forster–Tuncurry, the Booti Hill and Wallis Lake walking track offers a good combination of whales, waterbirds and wildflowers.
Australian coastal walks: Cape Woolamai Circuit
The Cape Woolamai Circuit on Phillip Island, Victoria, combines three adjoining walking tracks. It’s great for wildlife – you can see hundreds of shearwaters, plus the odd echidna. There are also some tremendously moody rock formations. The view from the Pinnacles Lookout gives you the best view of these jagged stalwarts jutting out of the sea.
Australian coastal walks: Manly to Wynnum Walk
The Manly to Wynnum Walk in Brisbane offers something completely different. No-one’s going to claim it passes along dramatic coastal scenery. Instead, it’s a gentle amble through largely flat bayside suburbs. What it does do extremely well is educational signposting, particularly on the boardwalk section through the mangroves. The Manly to Wynnum Walk is a chance to learn about the ecosystems and wildlife of Moreton Bay.
More coastal walks in Australia
Other good coastal walks in Australia can be found in the Noosa National Park on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, plus the Coffin Bay National Park on South Australia‘s Eyre Peninsula.