The Bondi Beach to Coogee Beach Coastal Walk is one of the most popular coastal walks in Sydney, taking you from the famous Bondi Beach to the more relaxed Coogee Beach. On my third day in Sydney, my Couchsurfing host Naufar and I decided to do the walk.
When I came to Sydney, I knew that I needed to see Bondi Beach, as it’s hands-down the most popular beach in Australia, mostly because of its great waves that the surfers always take advantage of. I’m not much of a beach person myself, so when we got there and the sky was grey and the temperature was 20 degrees – which is cold for Australians, not for me -, I was actually happy about it!
Instead of spending time on the beach, we decided to walk the popular Bondi Beach to Coogee Beach Coastal Walk. The walk is 6 km. of picturesque coastal paths starting at the Bondi Icebergs, which are large rock pools overlooking the beach. The walk is supposed to take 1-2 hours, but it took us about 3 hours because of our many photo breaks!
As we were about to leave for the walk, a German girl came up to us and asked for directions to Coogee Beach. She ended up coming with us and made it a fun day for all of us!
The walk took us to many smaller beaches, rock pools overlooking the beaches, a historic cemetery and sandstone cliffs. Along the way, there are many beautiful coastal views and it never gets boring, as there’s always something new to see around every corner. And if you have a bit of luck, there are also plenty of colourful birds to see along the way.
My favourite place on the walk was Waverley Cemetery, a cemetery that is located on top of sandstone cliffs at Bronte Beach, known for its well-preserved Victorian and Edwardian monuments. The cemetery was opened in 1877 and contains the graves of many important Australians; people who have all helped shape the country, as well as over 200 war graves from past conflicts.
I can’t imagine a more peaceful place to get buried. But I can imagine the price for it, and it ain’t pretty!
After about three hours of walking, talking and picture-taking, we got to Coogee Beach, which is the perfect place to end an active day with its beautiful sandy beach, excellent surfing and green parks that are perfect for barbecues and picnics.
I would recommend this walk on a cloudy day, but definitely not on a hot summer day (and they get those a lot down under). It’s quite an easy walk, but there are many stairs and steep parts that can be challenging, especially in hot weather.
On a hot day, the beaches in the eastern suburbs of Sydney are still worth a visit – especially if you enjoy spending time on the beach or surfing. Since Bondi Beach is very popular and overcrowded (even on grey days), the smaller beaches that we walked to would be great alternatives. Go hang with the locals and get away from the crowds. You’ll still get the chance to spend time on an amazing beach, catch some great waves and see some breathtaking coastal views.
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14 COMMENTS
Lavern Boniol
7 years agogreat post cheers
Miriam
8 years agoGreat photos
melissacherry
8 years agoThank you, Miriam 🙂
anroworld
8 years agoPictures are stunning, place is too beautiful. Cemetery looks too good, it should be a sad place, but in this region it cannot be. Of course, it’s an honor to be buried here, only for special people! Great post and inspiring shots, thank you, Melissa!
melissacherry
8 years agoThank you Ann, it was hard not to get good pictures of a place so stunning! The cemetery was just so serene, I didn’t feel any sadness there. Yeah, I don’t think us “normal” people will ever get that chance 😉
You’re very welcome and thank you too!! 😀
anroworld
8 years agoDear Mel, I nominated for award!
Jonno
8 years agoHey Melissa, great article. Love all the photos too. We were in Bondi back in October and did the Coogee walk too, really loved it. Like you we thought the cemetery was pretty interesting. Can’t believe that loads of people just sit in Bondi and don’t do the walk, seems such a missed opportunity. We did it as part of our little JWalking trip (https://jwalkingin.wordpress.com/). Nice blog.
melissacherry
8 years agoThank you so much!
I can’t believe that either, so many people in Sydney don’t even know that it exists. It’s a real shame for them!
Your blog is very interesting and your trip around Australia is just amazing! I’m so jealous that you went to Tasmania, it looks like a wonderful place 🙂
Jonno
8 years agoIt was just so interesting and the scenery is fantastic. I would seriously recommend a trip there one day. Where are you at the moment then?
melissacherry
8 years agoYeah, I definitely need to go there! I actually have a friend from Tasmania, but he’s travelling in Europe right now. When he’s back, I’ll go!! ?
I’m in Denmark, home for Christmas ?
Anonymous
8 years agoWe did part of that walk last week, to Bronte.
I love being by the sea, it was very secnic, sunny and the sea was a lovely aquamarine colour.
Glad you’re back home safe and sound.xx
Anonymous
8 years agoAnonymous was me.
Veronica.xx
melissacherry
8 years agoHi Veronica!
I love it too, especially on days that aren’t too sunny 😀
Thanks, my mum is happy about that too – until I go off again 😉
xx