Ideas for an Australian beach holiday with an eight month old

[MaggieFS]

DH and I are planning a trip to Australia to see friends in Sydney and Melbourne. As both of these stops will involve a bit of travelling around and sightseeing, we'd like to finish the trip off with a week on a beach.

Originally we'd thought about going up to Queensland as we've always wanted to go to the Barrier Reef, but as DS will be only eight months old we've ruled this out. Instead we'd ideally like somewhere which is driveable from either city so we don't have to take another flight. Probably up to four hours drive. We don't want a huge resort but do want at least a supermarket and some restaurants.

Australia is obviously huge, so before I start looking, just wondering if anyone knows anywhere which would fit the bill.

Thanks in advance,

Jervis Bay - about three hours south of Sydney.

Thank you, I'll look it up

I'd just go to Manly and stay there. The beaches up and down from there are great. I didn't like Sydney much but loved Manly.

Somewhere along the Great Ocean Road in Victoria - Lorne and Apollo Bay are the biggest towns, I think, but there are smaller places too. Or go south of Melbourne and stay somewhere on the Mornington Peninsula.

I’ll second manly beach.

If you’re in Oz, most beaches are great. You wouldn’t need to go too far to find a decent one.

Internal flights in Oz are quite cheap and easy to do. Like getting the train. That said, there are so many beaches around Sydney, you can get the ferry from Circular Quay to several.

It will be so hot! You need somewhere with a lot of shade. The sun won't be good for your son whose body may struggle to acclimatise to the weather. Make sure you get a lot of sun proof long clothing for him

Philip Island is only 90mins or so from Melbs and lovely. Or even just the Mornington Peninsula; plenty of lovely little villages and beaches...in forever telling people to go Sorrento for a vanilla slice. Or further afield in VIC is Wilsons Prom...you (and by you I really mean your baby) can sit on Noni the Pony at Alison Lester's bookshop in Fishcreek, and go to Warratagh Bay, and there are some amazing beaches 😀

Manly is great, I live there. But it’s busy. I would either go to one of the other Northern Beaches like Freshwater, Curl Curl or Narrabeen. Or Jervis Bay. We stay in Vincentia and house rentals are pretty reasonable depending on what time of year you are going.

What time of year are you going?

I would also recommend Manly but be prepared for the temperatures - it will be HOT. Even in winter it doesn't get particularly cold in Sydney.

What time of year are you going? The temperatures in Australia at the moment are in the 40s'!

It would definitely depend on the time of year. If it's Australian winter then a beach holiday near Melbourne/Sydney won't be great and you'd be better off heading further north.

I'd third Manly if it's not winter time, or Jervis bay area.

Very much dependant on the time of year.
If northern summer, Aus winter, go up to Queensland. Sydney and Melbourne are not beach destinations in the southern winter.
Manly was nice. Heard good things about Melbourne Great Ocean Road, but didn't go up there.

there are so many nice beaches in Australia. If you are going in summer please keep in mind that you will not be able to spend the majority of the day actually on the beach. It will be too hot. You would be best going first thing in the morning before 10am, and after 4/5pm.

If you have a car I would drive down the great ocean road from Melbourne. Stop along the way st torquay, Anglesea, Lorne, appollo bay, port Arlington. All lovely towns.

Otherwise drive up from Melbourne to the Mornington Peninsula, sorrento, rosebud etc. all lovely quiet towns.

Sydney beaches are a lot busier, it is just like being in Sydney still, so if you want to relax I would do it best Melbourne, so much nicer, so many small towns to explore, lovely bakeries, gorgeous parks for picnics.

Thank you, loads to look into!

Wilson’s promontory without a doubt.

8mth old on a beach, sounds like stress.

If they aren't mobile you could use a tent and ensure they don't eat sand by using picnic blankets.
If they are mobile - I'll wish you good luck !

I'm an Australian that has lived in both Qld and Melbourne.
Definitely fly to Queensland if it's Australian winter. You could go to the Sunshine or Gold Coast, or even to Hamilton island (flights direct from both Sydney and Melbourne) - it's my favourite place to beach/sunshine holiday in all of Aus! There is a sale on flights with Jetstar at the moment, so you'll get a good deal.

Depends on the time of year you are coming. Now until Feb there would be a plethora of options.

From Feb onwards the weather limits these options somewhat. Having said that I have chatted to people from overseas swimming at beaches in Sydney in Spring and Autumn on what I would consider to be pretty cool days completely unsuited for the beach (not to mention beaches are not patrolled at that time of year) . At these times I had taken the kids for beach play on the sand, in shorts but with all of us wearing jumpers! Early Autumn and late Spring may be doable though dependant on weather at the time.

If outside of this time period you really need to head to the resorts up north QLD, around Port Douglas for example.

Unima beach is great. www.nrmaparksandresorts.com.au/ocean-beach/

Depends what time of year you are going. We went this August, Sydney beaches nice then but cold and windy, Port Stephens, nice beaches and whale watching but weather bit borderline and went by Cairns / Port Douglas beautiful beaches around but some warnings of crocodiles and cassowary.

Great Barrier Reef was amazing and you can just do glass bottom boat tours or go somewhere like Fitzroy Island. I would still go. Also rainforest not far and we stayed at place with tree kangaroos. Magnetic Island looks good, rock wallabies you can feed, koalas, and beaches etc. We stayed in Watsons Bay in Sydney, that was very nice.

Agree you need to tell us what time of year you are going. We've just come back from spending time on the NSW south coast and the water was so cold we couldn't swim in the ocean.

Totally depends on when. If it's winter fly to Noosa. In summer Sydney is great - Manly is busy/touristy, if you're after somewhere quieter Balmoral and Freshwater are nice.

Keep in mind

1. No umbrellas on Aussie beaches, so you'll want to buy some shade.
2. Stick to patrolled beaches - several deaths already this week from rips. Very, very sad.
3. Some beaches have ocean pools which are great because beaches are mostly very rough surf. You get dumped a lot. The pools are nice. Not just the rectangular swimming pools - these are called ocean pools.

It really does depend what months you are travelling.

Also internal flights are actually quite expensive.
Any of the coast between Sydney and Melbourne is lovely between November and about March. After that you will want to fo north.
Also be aware that too far north and you will be dealing with deadly jellyfish and won't actually be able to swim in the ocean some parts ofthe year. And inland rivers and lakes up north have crocs.