Which are they?

For clear water, snorkelling, nice sand?

I'll answer, at least for the parts of Oz I've been to a few times...
In Sydney, I stayed on Bondi Beach, but didn't like it too much because it was incredibly touristy and absolutely packed with people. Manly and the northern beaches were much more low-key and my kind of beach. Newcastle's Nobby Beach had the clearest water I've ever seen, although the day I went, it was filled with bluebottles.

The Gold Coast is the best known in the SE Queensland area, but I much prefer the beaches of the Sunshine Coast (especially Coolum) and the islands surrounding Brisbane. Straddy, Moreton, and Bribie all have beautiful stretches of unspoiled beach that attract many fewer visitors than the mainland beaches. On Moreton, you can snorkel just off shore around twelve shipwrecks, which was definitely an amazing and different experience (especially since you can swim through doors inside the wrecks!)

Far North Queensland offers some spectacular beaches, including the Whitsundays and at Port Douglas. I've heard the Whitsundays have great snorkeling, being on the Barrier Reef, but I haven't been there. Unfortunately, you can only swim off of these beaches in the winter months because of the box jellyfish.

I certainly haven't visited a good majority of beaches in Australia, but those are the ones I like, with the sand islands around Moreton Bay being my favorite for clear water and unspoiled stretches of sand.

Sorry I'm so long winded!

Just qualifying a bit of what stomps has said, clearest water will alweays be found about islands, the further from the mainland the better to avoid run off pollution.

Obviously with islands, there is a transport/cost issue and though box jelly fish are a problem up north between say November to May, they are more a mainland problem rather than for islands.

Of the islands, North Stradbroke on southern end of Moreton Bay (mouth of Brisbane river) is probably about the cheapest to get to/stay and as stomps says has superb beaches, beautiful water but not much snorkelling that I know of - and there are deep water channels off popular northern beaches which sharks frequent.

There is great sand in many locations about Australia from WA, the southwest/southern area in particular and also many more isolated stretches of beach heading to NW of state.
From South Australia right around Victoria and up the NSW and Qld coast you have great beaches, water clarity varying with closeness to populated areas and the further south you are the colder the water is.

The Gold Coast has good sand but it is all mainly a surf coast, little snorkelling opportunity and quite dangerous in many places.
Sunshine coast is similar though with less development.
Fraser Island has great beach stretches but a NO No for swimming/snorkelling owing to rough water and known to be an area where a lot of sharks are, but lake beaches are great.

If you are heading as far as Cairns, Great Keppel Island near Rockhamptom, Hook Island (a great ideal/cost compromise to stay) and Whitehaven Beach (on a day trip or several days sailing trip - Definitely not to be missed), both in Whitsundays, Magnetic Island (Townsville) and Dunk Island (Mission Beach) and Fitzroy Island (a day trip from Cairns) others worth considering.

Typically, a day trip to a barrier reef island/atoll with lagoon for by far the best snorkelling will set you back anywhere between $100-200 depending on what you choose.
Northern Queensland islands have warmer water, some off beach snorkelling and you may sight harmless reef sharks rather than larger bitey types.

I'm even longer but not sorry

Awesome guys, thanks.

I'll be hitting Darwin in the beginning of June and traveling down towards Melbourne via the eastern coast for a couple months so hopefully that puts me outside prime box jellyfish time.

Oz sure does have it's share of set-backs with respect to dangerous animals. Dang!

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Oz sure does have it's share of set-backs with respect to dangerous animals. Dang!

We don't have bears, mountain lions (are they in Canada) big moose or stuff like that in Oz CH.

Sure there's snakes and spiders and stingy and bitey things in the water, ocean and estuaries (Crocs) but just beware of warnings, ask locals and do not go poking around in dark places and you'll be like most tourists who visit and leave unscathed.

It is reported that most people in Australia who get bitten by snakes may have been in the process of attempting to kill them, whereas like most wildlife they are usually shy and only get agressive if having been disturbed or feel threatened.

We sight snakes reasonably regularly, and you either let them go on their way or use a garden leaves rake to pick them up and relocate them further to scrub when like one may have got into the garage or is heading towards near house garden.

Beaches up Darwin way and generally in tropical top half of Oz are not so great as huge tidal changes means more of a mud flat type of beach.

Most tourists at beaches in Australia have usually been killed (particulartly on Gold Coast) where European/Asian guys are so mesmerised by seeing such beaches and head there first thing on arrival having probably minimal experience in surf type conditions and it does not take much for them to get into difficulty with undertows, rips and/or being dumped - the sea needs to be respected.

There has been in recent years a great effort to alert arriving travellers to dangers, videos on planes, plenty of warning signs in different languages, longer life guard surveillance periods etc., and must say that compared to a few years ago when I lived on GC, numbers of drownings seem to be down.

I have been to a few of the beaches here in Australia so here is my 2cents. In Victoria I really liked Phillip Island as well as Wilson's Promitory. Nice beaches water a little cool though but not to busy when I went. Phillip Island is more for surfing while the Prom not only has some nice beaches but lots of hiking in the area as well if you are into that.

If you are looking for a "hip" beach then Torquay is the place to go in Victoria while Bondi near Sydney is other popular trendy beach to check out in New South Wales. I have been to the beach in Adelaide which was okay nothing to write home about. I haven't been to Queensland yet but the Aussies I work with all tell me the Whitsundays is the place to go in Queensland for beach lovers. So that is definitely on my future travel intinerary.

My personal favorite beach I have visited here was in West Australia. The Perth area has plenty of nice beaches but I really enjoyed going to Monkey Mia. There you got a nice beach that is visited regularly during the day by dolphins plus beautiful sand, warm water, pleasant weather, and it's remoteness makes the place not very crowded.

I suggest, if you have time, to head to Ningaloo Reef just off Exmouth in Western Australia. I haven't actually been there but I hear it rivals the Great Barrier Reef in marine diversity.
For beaches, you can't beat Broome's Cable Beach. You won't get any great beaches up in Darwin - its pretty muddy.
Oh, and if you're in Perth, head over to Rottnest Island. Pretty nice snorkelling and beaches and a real relaxed attitude.
Have fun!

I'd second Ningaloo - pristine and serene! Very beautiful. There are also plenty of Kangaroos and Emu around. Only have a sunset shot of it:


One recommendation that I just pass on second hand are the beaches around Esperance (WA). Perthites keep saying that they have the nicest beaches at least in WA, if not Australia. Dunno how it is now after 'the super storm'.

Here's tips from a Sydneysider. Bear in mind I have not been to Queensland for about 20 years. For the Northern territory and far north Queensland, you have to watch out for crocodiles as well, because they go into the surf and people were attacked and killed in the northern territory and Queensland last year. I don't know if crocs hang around the Whitsundays and places like that, but I don't think they do. I really love the North Coast of New South Wales, all along the coast there are beautiful, unspoiled beaches with caravan parks overlooking them. Most of them you would need your own transport, though. If I were a tourist, I would hire something like a Wicked Camper (no, I don't work for them) and just head on up the north coast. I have also enjoyed Rottnest Island which is gorgeous, and done the beaches south of Perth. I still think that Western Australia has the best beaches. I remember going to a series of beaches, all beautiful and no one on them: Yallingup, Meelup and Injidup. I have heard great things about Ningaloo Reef. The only draw back is that Perth is a 5 hour plane ride from Sydney.

Welcome to Boots Carrie but we should not ovely scare visitors re

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For the Northern territory and far north Queensland, you have to watch out for crocodiles as well, because they go into the surf and people were attacked and killed in the northern territory and Queensland last year. I don't know if crocs hang around the Whitsundays

And yes, people have been killed by crocodiles but

1. Heading north in Queensland, the surf ends at Agnes Water (500 km north of Brisbane)and though a couple of centuries back, crocodiles were found in the Mary River, south of there, the furtherest south that positive sightings have been made in more recent times are the Fitzroy river at Rockhampton about two hundred kilometres north of Agnes Water (other than for the Australian Zoo on the sunshine coast)

2. Crocodiles have also occasionally been spotted a thousand or so kilometres from mainland Australia, so yes they are territorial and migratory as younger adults search for unclaimed territory.

3. They are in the estuarine rivers about the Whitsundat coast (it being several hundred kilometres north of Rockhampton) and you can do spot a croc tour on the Proserpine River right at the Whitsundays, but I have never heard of anybody being attacked by a crocodile in that neck of the woods other than for an owner of a crocodile farm.

As I said their normal natural habitat is a mainland estuarine river(very muddy banks at low tide) and it is more constant higher temperatures of that environment which allows them to thrive, and not many estuarine environments about the islands, though Hinchcliffe Island/channel and islands between Rockhampton and Gladstone do have the mangrove type creeks and mud flats that they would enjoy.

All that said, there are probably just as many people if not more who get attacked and even killed by sharks which happens far more from Brisbane south, but again still relatively few.

whitehaven beach was the nicest beach i went too in australia...it was on whitsunday island...the sand is 98 percent silicon it is soft like a babies bottom...

Lorne on the great ocean road was an amazing beach...not so much for snorkling but lots of surfing and a great little beach town.

I'll even throw out Byron Bay

5 mile beach in port douglas...

then from what i've heard - frazier island (largest sand island/beach in the world)

gonorth is the obvious authority on the subject.

I'll second Fitzroy and Frasier. Frasier has some great swimming in clear clean water on the upper parts of the island. I'm not a fan of Rockhampton, but the whitsundays are just fine (as long as you watch out for the occasional croc that may frequent various local beaches). Don't leave food unattended otherwise monitor lizards will get it.

Don't forget Perth however there are some lovely beaches just to the north.

If it stings, bites, or is poisonous, you'll find it in Australia.

Good luck on your trip.

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Originally posted by Slip:
I'll second Fitzroy and Frasier. Frasier has some great swimming in clear clean water on the upper parts of the island.

As nice as 75 mile beach is on Fraser, I would not recommend swimming off of it, or any other beaches on the island. You'll know why when you stand on Indian Head (which marks the northern end of 75 mile beach)--there are a lot of sharks around. Our guide told us the last one that got caught in a net at nearby Rainbow Beach was a 17-foot tiger shark, and he called the very few people actually in the surf "shark bait" every time we passed them. I would still highly recommend taking a trip there--we absolutely loved it. There are plenty of beautiful inland lakes with white silicon sand and crystal clear water to swim in instead, and even one where you can sandboard down the dunes and into the water.

- Kristin

quote:

I'll second Fitzroy and Frasier. Frasier has some great swimming in clear clean water on the upper parts of the island.

Yes Slip, I do hope by upper that you do mean like in the lakes of mostly higher up land on Fraser.
There are the champagne rock pools not far past Indian Head, but anybody is tempting that bait fate swimming in the ocean.
And we do love Frasier too or is it Frazier

Thanks for the welcome gonorth, but no I am not trying to scare travellers, but to alert them that crocs arent necessarily esturine only, which is why I used the term (perhaps incorrectly): "surf". Remember in 2005 there were 2 deaths by snorkellers in the NT, one at Coburg Peninsula and the other at Groote Eylandt, both in the ocean. And also one at Bathurst Bay, 250 kilometres north of Cooktown in Far North Queensland. Like anywhere, Australia has its share of dangerous things, and anyone has to do their research, or ask a local.