Yarra Bay Beach: Sydney’s secret white sand beach

Yarra Bay Beach on Botany Bay, Sydney, offers white sand and calm water for swimming. You can also get a restaurant meal at the Yarra Bay Sailing Club.

Yarra Bay Beach in Sydney is one of the city’s best hidden secrets. Most Sydneysiders wouldn’t be able to tell you where it is. In fact, given that it shares a name with the Yarra River, most would probably assume that it is in Melbourne.

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The Three Sisters in the Blue Mountains.

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Get perfect views of the world’s most beautiful city on a Sydney Harbour helicopter tour.
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See migrating humpbacks – on a whale-watching cruise.
(Highly recommended ✅) Go behind the scenes of Australia’s most famous building on an Opera House tour.
Dine as the city lights up on sunset dinner cruise around the harbour.
Combine beers and stories on a historic pubs tour through the convict-era Rocks district.
Stand on your board and catch waves during Bondi Beach surfing lessons.
Go to wombat and kangaroo-spotting hotspots on a Southern Highlands tour.
Enjoy Sydney’s wild side on a Manly snorkelling & nature walk.
(🥇Top choice in Sydney) And, best of all, paddle to hidden beaches on a harbour kayaking adventure.

Where is Yarra Bay Beach?

Yarra Bay Beach is located on Botany Bay, however. It is on the northern side of the bay, just round from the La Perouse beaches. It is technically in the little-known suburb of Phillip Bay, and is about 850 metres long.

The reason that most Sydneysiders will overlook Yarra Bay Beach is that it is next to Port Botany. Let’s be honest – the view here isn’t great. Nobody really wants to look out towards shipping containers and cranes from the beach.

Swimming at Yarra Bay Beach

On the flip side, Yarra Bay Beach does offer remarkably calm and usually clear water. The slope of the beach is gentle, too, making Yarra Bay Beach a good place for swimming. It’s a particularly good spot for children, as they can practice swimming without having to contend with waves or nasty currents.

The real star attraction of Yarra Bay Beach, however, is the white sand. It’s not quite at the level of Callala Beach, Cave Beach, Blenheim Beach or Greenfield Beach in Jervis Bay, but the sand here is unusually white by Sydney standards.

There are a few shells mixed in, too. Kids enjoy finding the prettiest shells without there ever being too many of them to hurt tiny feet.

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Yarra Bay facilities and restaurants

Yarra Bay Beach is light on facilities, though, although there are toilets. You’ll also find picnic tables and barbecues in the sprawling Yarra Bay Bicentennial Park, just behind the beach.

Should you not fancy cooking yourself, the Yarra Bay Sailing Club has a bistro and restaurant.

The sailors at the Yarra Bay Sailing Club concentrate on 16ft skiffs. But locals are more concerned with bigger ships at the moment. There have been proposals to build a cruise ship terminal at Yarra Bay, and the Save Yarra Bay campaign is aiming to prevent that from happening.

More Sydney beaches

Eastern Beaches: Bondi Beach | Bronte Beach | Clovelly Beach | Maroubra Beach.

Northern Beaches: Avalon Beach | Bilgola Beach | Long Reef Beach | Queenscliff Beach | Whale Beach.

This article came as a result of a Melbourne to Sydney coastal road trip in March/ April 2022. This trip was supported by Tourism Australia.