Going to Aus

[Bradley]

Hey guys, I’m going to be coming to Australia in the new year and planning on hitting a load of beaches on the east coast, anyone got any recommendations?

[...:::sam:::...]

Where on the East coast? It’s probably 3000km long.

[Mazda3mps]

let me know if youre coming to sydney

[Speedoaddict]

From what I have seen in photos from people I know who have been to Aus.
Bondi Beach is a big hit with the tourists.

[Bradley]

Haha yeah I should have said where I’m going, I’ll be working my way from Melbourne up to Cairns so any recommendations for place in between would be great!

[Mazda3mps]

Haha yeah I should have said where I’m going, I’ll be working my way from Melbourne up to Cairns so any recommendations for place in between would be great!

melbourne doesnt really have much beaches
But sydney... the must go tourist spots are bondi and manly! or if you like nude beaches, theres cobblers and obelisk in mosman.

queensland is beautiful too..

feel free to PM me if u want to know more

[devildog]

Had made a thread for (clothing optional) beaches in Aus viewtopic.php?f=4&t=140717

[BozeHawk]

melbourne doesnt really have much beaches
But sydney... the must go tourist spots are bondi and manly! or if you like nude beaches, theres cobblers and obelisk in mosman.

queensland is beautiful too..

feel free to PM me if u want to know more

Melbourne has St Kilda Beach, where the Collingwood Magpies AFL hold their recovery sessions.

[Speedoaddict]

I would help them recover.

[DaveSpeedoEvans]

Bradley,

The coast from Sydney up to the Sunshine Coast has hundred of beautiful spots.

I personally hate the touristy beaches (Bondi, Byron, Surfers Paradise). I like FIngal up near the Qld/NSW border. Maitland Bay is a gorgeous beach where you can even see the Sydney skyline and it is always quiet.

Dave

[Thom]

I saw a film made in the Whitsunday Islands. Looked like paradise.

[MrMusik]

Melbourne has St Kilda Beach, where the Collingwood Magpies AFL hold their recovery sessions.

Yeah, that sounds like a good place to schedule a visit when they are recovering.

[...:::sam:::...]

I saw a film made in the Whitsunday Islands. Looked like paradise.

It is paradise! We used to go there every year. You’ve got to be able to sail to do it best.

[MrMusik]

I saw a film made in the Whitsunday Islands. Looked like paradise.

It is paradise! We used to go there every year. You’ve got to be able to sail to do it best.

That sounds like a spectacular place to visit!

I would appreciate any suggestions on the best place to rent a yacht to visit the Whitsunday Islands. You can send travel suggestions to my Inbox.

[Aircat]

That's a huge trip and there are endless beaches, mostly deserted.
If UK and never traveled you probably can't mentally grasp the scale and emptiness yet.

There are more isolated locations than can be mentioned.

Melbourne, its on a bay so not good beaches. Though still a big city so the beaches near the population have people strutting around.
Down the southern tip, Great Ocean Road area is very isolated and scenic, you should do that famous run for the scenery. Tends to be cold and dangerous water.

Nice but empty beaches through to Sydney, the NSW coast through to Sydney is all very nice. Manly, Bondi are the crowded ones for people watching though but that point you will have seen far nicer scenery wise.

Sydney has the official nude beaches.

Lots of cost up to QLD. Goldcoast near the border being the famous beach culture area (and overdeveloped with tacky highrise), which will still be warm midyear.

Very isolated beyond Goldcoast. QLD are much more prudish bible bashers than Sydney so not the same culture as the Sydney beaches.

Sydney is really the hotspot people wise.

[Speedoaddict]

That's a huge trip and there are endless beaches, mostly deserted.
If UK and never traveled you probably can't mentally grasp the scale and emptiness yet.

There are more isolated locations than can be mentioned.

Melbourne, its on a bay so not good beaches. Though still a big city so the beaches near the population have people strutting around.
Down the southern tip, Great Ocean Road area is very isolated and scenic, you should do that famous run for the scenery. Tends to be cold and dangerous water.

Nice but empty beaches through to Sydney, the NSW coast through to Sydney is all very nice. Manly, Bondi are the crowded ones for people watching though but that point you will have seen far nicer scenery wise.

Sydney has the official nude beaches.

Lots of cost up to QLD. Goldcoast near the border being the famous beach culture area (and overdeveloped with tacky highrise), which will still be warm midyear.

Very isolated beyond Goldcoast. QLD are much more prudish bible bashers than Sydney so not the same culture as the Sydney beaches.

Sydney is really the hotspot people wise.

Hi Aircat,

Thanks for that. Really informative. Just shows ask a local and you get the info travel companies don’t tell you.

[...:::sam:::...]

I saw a film made in the Whitsunday Islands. Looked like paradise.

It is paradise! We used to go there every year. You’ve got to be able to sail to do it best.

That sounds like a spectacular place to visit!

I would appreciate any suggestions on the best place to rent a yacht to visit the Whitsunday Islands. You can send travel suggestions to my Inbox.

We would fly into Proserpine airport, Whitsunday airport???, taxi to Airlie Beach and then pick up a yacht from there. Actually, really, the monohulls are not very good for the area because they roll around a lot and they have a deeper draught. Cats are most definately the go there! You can fly directly to Hamilton Island, but we've never tried to get a boat from there. All through the islands is good, from Hook at the very top down to Hamilton. Below that when you get into the Lindemans islands its all sort of private stuff and I dont think you can really get off the boat so you end up spending a lot of time going south and having to go north again. Hamilton Island is just so good, you can stay on the boat in the mariner there and visit whatever. Whitehaven beach is a real tourist hotspot, check the tides if you come up from the south because it can make it tricky through the bottleneck- check your depth gauge as you go through, it is a *massive* hole under it! Whitehaven is a great beach for a visit, very touristy but always have someone on the boat because the currents drag the boat which only has an anchor in the sand. Up over the top, there are little coves to anchor up in and are pretty protected and secure to overnight. Although its all behind the reef, it can sometimes get pretty windy, so you need to know how to sail well, also there are lots of bommies and reefs, so you really need to have a good crew on the boat that know how to steer and sight under the water, if you sink a $500k boat, you might just buy it! Oh over the top there are sometimes whales! We had one swim actually under our boat! They are MASSIVE! One of the most incredible things Ive seen.

[Thom]

I saw a film made in the Whitsunday Islands. Looked like paradise.

It is paradise! We used to go there every year. You’ve got to be able to sail to do it best.

Wow. Thanks ...:::sam:::... I sail. Don't own a boat anymore. Occasionally rent a Hobiecat here in Florida, so I have a bit experience handling the smaller ones. I see in your comments that's the hull design of choice in that section of the coast, and your comments also indicate you need an experienced crew.

[...:::sam:::...]

I saw a film made in the Whitsunday Islands. Looked like paradise.

It is paradise! We used to go there every year. You’ve got to be able to sail to do it best.

Wow. Thanks ...:::sam:::... I sail. Don't own a boat anymore. Occasionally rent a Hobiecat here in Florida, so I have a bit experience handling the smaller ones. I see in your comments that's the hull design of choice in that section of the coast, and your comments also indicate you need an experienced crew.

Hey Thom, If you can sail a hobicat then you’ll be ok, its just a bigger version that doesn’t spit you out - hopefully. Just have to control the boom rather than letting it go and use the winches. People on the front also with good eyes so you don’t hit anything, but they also have motors so you can drop the sails and motor with a fair bit of control. The Cats are good because they have so much better and more usable living areas and they don’t rock and roll with the wind like the monohulls. You’d love the place! Pick your timing so you’re not up there when the stingers are out in the water.

[Thom]

Hey Thom, If you can sail a hobicat then you’ll be ok, its just a bigger version that doesn’t spit you out - hopefully. Just have to control the boom rather than letting it go and use the winches. People on the front also with good eyes so you don’t hit anything, but they also have motors so you can drop the sails and motor with a fair bit of control. The Cats are good because they have so much better and more usable living areas and they don’t rock and roll with the wind like the monohulls. You’d love the place! Pick your timing so you’re not up there when the stingers are out in the water.

Sam> Yeah, the multi-hulls are really stable. The biggest I've handled was a friend's Hobie 21SE. Due to an error of judgment that we both made, we were knocked down and couldn't right the thing by ourselves. We were miles off shore between Martha's Vineyard and the south side of Cape Cod. What was supposed to be a two hour pleasure sail turned into a fourteen hour ordeal. I didn't panic, but it was a long day. We eventually got rescued by the Coast Guard. It was June, and the water was no warmer than 60F, if that. Luckily, I was wearing a full surfer's wet suit (with a speedo underneath, of course) otherwise I'd have gone hypothermic. It kept me comfortable, and I never felt cold. That particular model of the Hobie was designed for racing, and difficult to right without assistance. I did feel soggy for two days afterward.

I'm sure the Whitsunday Islands would be far more fun.