Guide To Bondi To Coogee Coastal Walk In Sydney, Australia
Bondi Beach is one of the world’s most famous beaches, so it’s no wonder why the Bondi to Coogee Coastal Walk is a big attraction. It is a 6-kilometre one-way (12 km round-trip) fully-groomed trail that connects Bondi Beach to Coogee Beach. This beautiful coastal trail is located on the eastern shoreline of Australia in its largest city, Sydney.
The Coastal Walk is a must-see if you enjoy hikes (or even just spectacular views) and find yourself in Sydney! In this article, we’ll go over the essentials of this beautiful trail and share our experience of doing it ourselves.
Difficulty: Easy to Moderate
Length: 12km round trip (6km each way)
Suggested Duration: 2.5-3 hours
Signage: Maps throughout, easy to follow
Facilities: Washrooms, canteens and restaurants at each beach stop and water fountains throughout
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Key Features Of The Bondi To Coogee Coastal Walk
All the breathtaking views aside, the Coastal Walk is a major tourist attraction and has plenty of amenities to go with it. Here are just a few of the key features of this trail:
- A famous coastal walk along the eastern suburbs of Sydney
- Access to Bondi, Coogee, and many other beach access.
- Offers breathtaking coastal views and access to several beaches
- Passes through Bondi Beach, Tamarama Beach, Bronte Beach, Clovelly Beach, and Coogee Beach
- Features a well-maintained coastal path with stunning ocean vistas
- Ideal for a leisurely walk, swim, or sunbathing at the beaches
- Opportunities for picnicking, dining, and shopping along the route
- Accessible year-round and suitable for all ages and fitness levels
- A popular and iconic coastal walk showcasing Sydney’s natural beauty
As you travel along the coastline, you will come across five beautiful beaches.
Before You Start The Bondi To Coogee Coastal Walk
There are technically two starting points for this breathtaking coastal walk: Bondi or Coogee. Really, you can start at either end. It is common for folks to start at Bondi and end in Coogee. However, we recommended going the opposite way. Bondi is breathtaking and, for many, the highlight of the coastal walk. It is nice to end the walk at Bondi so you can sit and rest up afterward (or swim)! However, ending at Coogee is just as beautiful and less busy. It is just not as big, nor does it have as many restaurants as the Bondi Beach area.
On the Coastal Walk, you will walk past five popular beaches along the coast, as well as a small bay called Gordon’s Bay.
Bondi Beach
Bondi Beach is one of the world’s most famous beaches. Known for its sunny scenery and vibrant beach culture, Bondi stretches around 0.62 miles long. Along with a stunning beach to lay on, Bondi Beach is popular for surfing, hanging out at the Bondi skatepark, and checking out the Bondi Iceberg Swimming Club (one of the most photographed pools in Australia).
Tamarama Beach
Tamarama Beach is located between Bondi and Coogee and features 80 metres of shoreline. There is a cafe, playground, lifeguards, and other amenities located here. While this is a beautiful spot to lay on the beach and soak up the sun, it is not recommended to surf here as it is extremely prone to strong currents. We recommend avoiding this spot if you plan on surfing. Don’t let this discourage you from checking out this beach. It is beautiful and well worth the walk from Bondi.
Bronte Beach
Bronte Beach is a family-friendly beach that is enclosed by sandstone cliffs. It stretches for 250 metres and has flag markers to locate the safe zones, as there are strong rips. While Tamarama Beach is closed off to surfers, Bronte Beach is surf-friendly. Like Bondi, Bronte Beach features a gorgeous pool on the beach that is open to the public.
If you want to take a little break from the sun, Bronte Beach is home to multiple quaint cafes and fish & chip shops to beat the heat in.
Clovelly Beach
Clovelly Beach is a smaller beach located between Bronte and Coogee. It lies in the center of two concrete platforms and features a saltwater pool. Just like the other beaches, Clovelly does have an on-duty lifeguard and is family-friendly. While much smaller than its sister beaches, this is a great spot to take a quick dip and beat the Australian heat if you are in the Bronte area.
Coogee Beach
Coogee Beach is the most popular beach for families as it has safer swimming conditions and is less populated than Bondi Beach. Coogee is perfect for picnics as it has a range of barbecues located throughout. If picnics are not your thing, don’t worry. Multiple restaurants and cafes surround Coogee. If you want to experience a beach similar to Bondi, with half the population, Coogee is the beach for you!
Additional Tips
No Sun Coverage
Sunscreen is a must on this coastal walk as there is zero sun coverage. Even when it is overcast, it is important to apply sunscreen, as Australia’s UV is no joke. (Trust us, our sunburns are telling us we should have worn more)! Even a hat would help protect you from some of the harsh rays.
We also recommended going earlier or later in the day to avoid the 1-3 pm timeframe. This is when the sun is the hottest and can make the hike a bit unbearable. We underestimated the weather as it was overcast and a bit cooler. However, once 2 pm came around, we were only midway through the Coastal walk and already feeling the effects of the heat.
While the Coastal walk is beautiful, it is important to be safe, especially during Australian Summer. Even days that are overcast and cooler than most can still lead to sunburns and heatstroke.
Busy-Busy Tourist Attraction
The Coastal Walk is no walk in the woods. It is a trendy tourist attraction for both travellers and locals. Especially on nice days, be prepared to be packed up on the path and move out of the way of frequent joggers. Since we typically do backcountry hikes, walking on an overcrowded path was quite new to us. Just be prepared to share the pathway with everyone to enjoy the coastal views.
Endless Amenities
There is no shortage of amenities on this coastal walk, which makes sense due to the popularity of this trail. You will find at least one cafe and/or restaurant directly off the trail at every beach. Along with this, each beach has its own free water station to fill up your water bottle, washrooms, and an outdoor public gym.
Well-Groomed Trail
This has to be the nicest, most well-groomed trail we have been on to date! The trail is well-maintained, and even the occasional stairs are well-kept. Do not worry if you forget improper footwear. There is no backcountry on this trail. In fact, you can do the entire coastal walk only on the groomed portions of the trail if you choose to.
There is always the option to hop off the trail at each beach for a shortcut and then continue onto the trail at the other side of the beach. We recommended exploring the beaches and bays to get the most out of each place, but that is completely up to personal preference.
Parking Accessibility
There is plenty of parking at both the Bondi and Coogee beach areas. It would be worthwhile to go early as the parking lots (especially the Bondi Beach parking lot) can fill up quickly. If you choose only to do the Coastal walk one-way, multiple buses stop at each beach and take you back to whichever parking lot you started at.
Our Experience Hiking The Bondi To Coogee Coastal Walk
We first arrived in Sydney in January 2020 (during the Summer). The Coastal Walk from Bondi to Coogee was at the top of our to-do list during our short time in the city as tourists.
Being eager tourists as we were, our first stop was Bondi Beach, and we completed the walk, starting in Bondi and finishing in Coogee.
It was overcast and about 28 degrees Celsius the day we decided to go. We underestimated just how hot we would feel during the walk (even though we are from Canada!).
Bondi Beach was not so busy, so we had an impromptu warm-up while walking on the sand. Our visit to Bondi Beach could have taken up an entire day, but we were set on completing this walk. So, after a quick scan through the beach (and Arthur dipping his feet into the Pacific Ocean for the first time), we were off!
We would advise bringing a beach towel with you. This will obviously come in handy if you decide to take a break and enjoy the beach and water, but will also double as a sweat rag and an effective way to dust the sand off of your feet before lacing up for the walking trail.
The trail itself was well-groomed. It is, after all, a popular walk for all fitness levels. The most difficult part of the hike is the relatively large steps in a few sections.
This groomed trail was a nice change-up from our typical hikes through the forest. It’s easy to take in all the magnificent views of the Australian coastline when you’re not worried about tripping over tree roots and rocks in the path.
In fact, we spent more time focusing on the views (beaches, rock faces, ocean waves, etc.) than on our feet. This helped tremendously in scoping out some nice photo opportunities to share with you!
During our walk, we stopped on a few of the beaches between Bondi and Coogee. The beaches are easily accessible from the walking path. This added more time to the walk than we had originally planned for (and perhaps added to the sunburn on our skin).
Though the walk is only 6 km one-way, frequent stops for pictures and beach enjoyment really add time to the unforgiving Australian sun. Be careful and wear sunscreen.
Another neat part of the Coastal Walk is the several outdoor gyms on the trail. Though there are no free weights or bars, it was cool to stop and do a few pull-ups and leg raises before and after relaxing on the beach.
There were also many water fountains/bottle refill stations along this trail. We always advise bringing lots of water on any hike. In the case of the Coastal Walk, you can carry less and refill as you go. You also don’t have to worry about carrying a water filter.
We should mention that there are many residences along this trail. Checking out the buildings’ architecture and the stunning natural scenery was a major highlight of this trail.
After a stop at Tamarama Beach, we started to feel the more negative effects of the sun and the heat. It was time to speed up our walk to get out of the sun sooner rather than later. At this point, we discussed doing shorter hikes in the morning or the evening rather than at midday/early afternoon.
There is also a large cemetery called Waverly Cemetery at a point on the trail between Bronte and Clovelly Beach. It is easy to mistake the main trail for the cemetery trail as they both follow the same direction. However, they do lead to different destinations. Along with many other tourists, we made this mistake the first time. We then had to turn around and get back onto the main trail.
We wrapped up the hike after catching a relatively quick glimpse of the beautiful Coogee beach and called it a day in terms of hiking.
It was time to hop on a bus (which was right off the beach) and head back to our Hostel!
Checklist And Recommended Gear
The Coastal Walk is relatively short (6 km one way), and there are plenty of amenities alongside the trail. However, we would still recommend bringing a few items with you.
- Water bottle
- Comfortable Walking or Hiking shoes – Women’s // Men’s
- Camera/Phone
- Sunscreen
- Insect repellent (spray or cream with a high percentage of DEET)
- Swimsuit (optional)
- Beach Towel
- Sunhat
