Manly: Sydney's Northern Beaches Gateway
Manly sits at the southern gateway to Sydney's Northern Beaches, reached by a 30-minute ferry ride across the harbour rather than a straight drive — a trip old tourism posters once billed as "seven miles from Sydney, a thousand miles from care." The beach itself is wide and open, running for the best part of a kilometre between two headlands, which gives it enough exposure to catch swell from most directions and keeps a beach break running here more often than at some of the more sheltered harbour-side spots.
The Corso, Manly's pedestrian strip linking the harbour ferry wharf to the ocean beach, has anchored a beach culture here for well over a century, and the surf club scene remains active year-round. Because the bank shifts along the beach's length, conditions can vary noticeably between the northern and southern ends on the same day — this stream gives you a look before you commit to a spot.