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Located on Australia's east coast, Bondi Beach's proximity to Sydney makes it one of the most popular beaches on the continent. Bondi Beach is synonymous with Australian beach culture, and indeed the mile-long curve of golden sand must be one of the best-known beaches in the world. Big, brash and action-packed, it's certainly not the best place for a quiet sunbathe and swim, but the sprawling sandy crescent really is a spectacular sight when you first see it as you swoop down the hill of Bondi Road. Red-tiled houses and apartment buildings crowd in to catch the view, many of them erected in the 1920s when Bondi was a working-class suburb. |
Surfing is part of the Bondi legend, the big waves ensuring that there's always a pack of damp young things hanging around, bristling with surfboards. However, the beach is carefully delineated, with surfers using the southern end. There are two sets of flags for swimmers and boogie-boarders, with families congregating at the northern end near the sheltered saltwater pool (free), and everybody else using the middle flags. The beach is netted and there hasn't been a shark attack for over forty years. If the sea is too rough, or if you want to swim laps, a seawater swimming pool at the southern end of the beach under the Bondi Icebergs Club building on Notts Avenue costs $1.
Topless bathing is allowed at Bondi - a long way from conditions right up to the late 1960s when stern beach inspectors were constantly on the lookout for indecent exposure. In fact, so blasé are the attitudes now that every January an irreverent sunset nude surfing competition is held, watched by TV cameras and a huge crowd offering a wry commentary.
Beachfront Campbell Parade is both cosmopolitan and highly commercialized, lined with cafés and shops. Much money has recently been spent improving the congested parade, widening the footpaths and landscaping, so that sidewalk dining is now the norm.
Between Campbell Parade and the beach, Bondi Park, always full of sprawling bodies in fine weather, slopes down to the promenade where there are two board ramps for rollerblading and skateboarding. The focus of the promenade is the arcaded, Spanish-style Bondi Pavilion, built in 1928 as a deluxe changing-room complex and now converted to a community centre hosting an array of workshops, classes and events, from drama and comedy to day-time dance parties and outdoor film festivals (programme details on tel 9130 3325 Mon-Fri, tel 9368 1253 Sat & Sun). Downstairs in the foyer, photos of Bondi's past are worth checking out, with some classic beach images of men in 1930s bathing suits, and the adjoining souvenir shop (daily 9.30am-5.30am) is a haven of old-fashioned Bondi imagery. There's also an art gallery (daily 10am-5pm) exhibiting local artists.
On Sunday the Bondi Beach markets (10am-5pm) in the grounds of the primary school on the corner of Campbell Parade and Warners Avenue facing the northern end of the beach, sells some groovy fashion and jewellery.
Beached at Bondi, below the lifeguard lookout tower, rents out everything from umbrellas, wetsuits, cozzies and towels to surfboards and body-boards. They also sell hats and sun block and have lockers for valuables.
A series of annual activities keeps Bondi Beach hopping year-round, including Flickerfest, a short film festival in January, World Environment Day in June, and the City to Surf Race in August, a marathon that drew over 60,000 runners last year. The beach itself offers great surfing and coastal hikes, while some of Sydney's poshest hotels are a stone's throw away.
Nearest Airport: Sydney International Airport
Recommended Resort:
Swiss-Grand Resort & Spa
Cnr Campbell Parade & Beach Rd.
Bondi Beach, NSW 2026
Australia