Coastal Walk To Coogee Bay

We planned to do the Bondi to Coogee walk last Sunday but walked from Clovelly beach to Coogee Bay area instead. Yes, it was much shorter and sounds like we cheated. But, we had the weather to blame:). It was raining all morning.

Truth be told, I don’t fancy Bondi Beach that much. Sure, it might be Sydney’s most famous beach but it’s also the most crowded. The whole area is just very touristy and over crowded all the time. To find a meter’s parking there will always a mission nearly impossible.

Clovelly’s rocky ridges were my secret hideout place. Years ago, whenever I felt a little stressed, I would drive to Clovelly beach and sit on the rocks, facing the deep blue ocean. The endless open space and the sound of ocean waves crashing have always calmed me down. Coastal walk around this area is also beautiful and therapeutic.

Brave the rain. Coastal walk started from Clovelly beach

We parked at Clovelly car park where there are always plenty of free parking spots. It was not a good day to sit on the rocks.. Not only because the weather was wet, but Sydney had the biggest swells in years also. It was quite dangerous to get close to the edge of the rocks because of the huge waves. But sitting on the rocks was not the plan for the day:). From the car park, we walked across Gordon’s bay. A unique and protected aquatic reserve, Gordon’s Bay is one of Sydney’s most poplar dive spots. Offering Sydney’s only underwater nature trail, the secluded bay is located south of Clovelly beach and north from Coogee beach. A steep staircase led us towards Coogee Bay direction.

It only takes 15 minutes to walk from Clovelly car park to Coogee Bay area. Don’t worry that you might get lost. The walking track was simple to follow. It was an easy, pleasant walk for us. The wet, grey looking weather didn’t dampen people’s spirits to go out and about. There were still quite a few people walking around the Sydney coastal area.

The walk offers brilliant views to Coogee bay and takes you to Coogee beach and parklands.

Cliffs. Views are better than the picture took from my phone camera!

Left: Coogee surf club & rock pool. Right: Coogee beach.

Left: Coogee Wylies Bath

Coogee beach is another popular, busy beach in Sydney with lots of restaurants and cafes around it ( also very hard to find parking).  As we made our way to the other side of Coogee beach, a small patch a blue sky appeared. It was almost like a sunny day again so we stopped to buy some ice cream. It turned out they were giving out ice creams for free that day. Don’t you think the ice cream girls in red looked great?

Next time when the weather is nice enough, we’ll cover the entire Bondi to Coogee route.

If we eat out in Coogee Bay area, instead of looking for parking for ages, we’ll just park the car at Clovelly, then walk to and from Coogee.

Sounds like a plan.