Marianne took on the arduous task of checking out the Sydney beaches for the benefit of all her, and our, readers. The three beaches in question are Bondi, Coogee and Manly.

First to get the Maz treatment was Bondi,

“Last week I hit Bondi Beach with a few friends to spend some time on Sydney’s most famous strip of sand. It’s not huge, especially after you see Manly, but it’s big enough and it’s PACKED mostly with the likes of us, i.e. backpackers, and surfing aficionados, i.e. not us… The surf is KILLER.”

She might not be a surfer but she did attempt swimming for three minutes. The surf though was pretty tough, and despite being a strong enough swimmer to cope her bikini was faltering,

“[…] after a couple of minutes I decided that was enough indecent exposure and headed back to shore. Not to self: buy more secure bathing suits…”

A friend did also attempt to surf, but after a ‘handful of near death experiences’ the rented board was returned to the shop – so play safe kids.

Next up was Coogee for a free barbeque. The odd thing about Coogee was it was full of Australians,

“Okay, sounds crazy – Australians on an Australian beach?! What?! But honestly, after Bondi Backpacker Heaven, it was actually strange coming across so many locals.”

The final sandy escapade was on Manly and it turned out to be Marianne’s favourite of the three. Partly because it is on north side of Sydney, partly because it is in a nicer part of town but mostly because,

“[…] for chilled out afternoon lying on the sand. Manly is the way to go.”

There you have it, a quick guide to Sydney’s beaches, the main ones at least. If you’ve got any questions let Marianne know, I’m sure she’ll be more than willing to help out. And if you know of any less well known beaches worth investigating in the Sydney area, get in touch and we’ll see if Maz is willing to continue her research…