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Northern Beaches, Sydney
Palm Beach
The end of the peninsula, where Pittwater meets the open ocean
About this place
Last updated: 15/10/2026
Palm Beach sits at the very end of the Northern Beaches peninsula, and that geography is the whole reason to come: a narrow strip of land with the surf on one side and the sheltered water of Pittwater on the other, and Barrenjoey Head rising at the tip with its 1881 lighthouse on top.
It is the northernmost point of the Sydney basin, an hour and a half or so from the city by bus, and it feels further away than that.
Two villages share the strip - Palm Beach around the surf club, Whale Beach and Avalon a few minutes back down the road - and the whole peninsula runs on surf culture, weekend houses and coffee.
It is also where Home and Away is filmed, which for a certain kind of visitor is the main event and for everyone else is a small, pleasant piece of trivia.
Highlights
The Barrenjoey Lighthouse walk and the view back over Pittwater
The Palm Beach-Ettalong ferry across Broken Bay
Pittwater's calm side - kayaks, paddleboards and the Basin
Avalon and Whale Beach, and the Northern Beaches surf culture
Attractions
What to see, how long to spend, and roughly what it costs.
Barrenjoey Lighthouse and the headland walk
1.5-2 hours returnFree to walk; parking at the Governor Phillip car park is paid. Lighthouse tours run on Sundays - check current tour times and prices.
The walk up to the 1881 lighthouse at the tip of the headland, about 1km each way and roughly 30 minutes up. There are two routes: the steep Smugglers Track, which climbs straight up the sandstone, and the gentler service trail that starts from near the beach and swings around the headland.
From the top you look back down the whole peninsula on one side and out over Pittwater and Broken Bay on the other. It is one of the best whale-watching spots in Sydney between May and August.
The Palm Beach-Ettalong ferry
30 minutes each wayCheck the current fare and timetable with Fantasea Palm Beach Ferries before you go - services divert to Patonga away from the regular route in bad weather.
A passenger ferry from the wharf at the end of Palm Beach across Broken Bay to Wagstaffe and Ettalong Beach on the Central Coast, run by Fantasea.
The crossing takes about 30 minutes and passes Barrenjoey Headland, and it is the sort of trip most visitors to Sydney never hear about. No cars, no booking needed in the ordinary way, and dogs are allowed on deck. It runs every day.
Palm Beach ocean side and the surf club
Half a dayFree
The long surf beach itself, with the surf club at the southern end and Barrenjoey Head closing off the north. Patrolled in the warmer months and famous as Summer Bay in Home and Away, which is why a steady trickle of visitors photographs the surf club and the palm trees.
The beach peters out into the sand spit that runs towards the headland and the lighthouse walk.
Pittwater, the wharf and the Basin
2-3 hoursFree to look; kayak and paddleboard hire is charged by the hour and Basin camping is booked and paid through NSW National Parks.
The western side of the peninsula faces Pittwater, a sheltered waterway of moorings, small bays and bush, and it is a completely different experience from the surf beach ten minutes away.
Kayaks and paddleboards can be hired near the wharf, and ferries run north to the Basin, a long-established campground in Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park with a beach of its own. Camping there has to be booked through the national park.
Whale Beach and Avalon
Half a dayFree
The two villages back down the peninsula, ten minutes south of Palm Beach on the same bus route. Whale Beach is the smaller of the two - a steep surf beach between two headlands, with the ocean pool at the northern end - and Avalon is the one with the cafes, the cinema and the weekend market feel. Both are where Northern Beaches people actually spend their Saturdays.
How to get there
The bus route changed, so ignore the old advice. Palm Beach used to be served by the L90 express from Wynyard, and a lot of still-published guides and older travel pages still send people looking for it.
The L90 was withdrawn from the Palm Beach end of the route in December 2020: what survives is route 190X, a peak-hour service that only runs between Avalon and Wynyard.
There is no single bus from the city to Palm Beach any more, but the connection is straightforward and the second bus is the scenic one.
By bus: B-Line to Mona Vale, then route 199. The B-Line (route B1) is the yellow double-decker service from Wynyard to Mona Vale, and it is a turn-up-and-go route running seven days a week from early morning until after midnight, so there is no timetable to plan around at that end.
Change at Mona Vale for route 199, which continues up the peninsula through Newport, Avalon and Whale Beach to Palm Beach and drops you a couple of minutes from the beach.
Allow about an hour and a half to two hours for the whole run from Wynyard, more if you catch the change badly. Check the current 199 timetable before you go, because the frequency of that leg is the part that varies.
The 199 also runs from Manly. If you are starting on the Manly side, route 199 runs the whole way between Manly and Palm Beach via Dee Why and Mona Vale, so you can do Manly in the morning and Palm Beach in the afternoon on one route.
It is the same bus that meets the B-Line at Mona Vale.
By car: from the city, the A3 north and then the A8 and Pittwater Road up through the Northern Beaches, or Military Road through Neutral Bay and the Spit Bridge.
The Spit Bridge opens to let boats through and that alone can hold you up, and the whole corridor is slow on a summer weekend: allow an hour off-peak and up to two hours on a Saturday morning in January.
Once you reach the end of the road the peninsula runs out, which is exactly why the traffic has nowhere to go.
Parking is the real constraint, and in summer it is brutal. There is no driving up to the lighthouse - the last stretch is on foot - so everyone converges on the Governor Phillip car park at the end of Beach Road, which is paid and fills early.
On a hot weekend the car parks around the surf club and the wharf are full by mid-morning and the streets behind the beach are resident-permit or time-limited.
The honest advice is to come by bus in summer, arrive before 9am if you are driving, and expect to walk a few blocks whatever you do.
Opal fares and the daily cap: the fare is distance-banded and then capped rather than a flat regional fare, and Palm Beach sits in the longest band - the same one as Newcastle and Kiama.
The adult Opal daily cap is $19.30 Monday to Thursday and $9.65 on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and public holidays, with a $50 weekly cap; adult fares rose on 14 July 2025, so treat those as the 2025-26 figures.
Tap on and off with an Opal card or any contactless card or phone. We have not been able to verify the current single-trip fare for this band, so budget against the cap rather than a quoted fare - and note that because the trip needs a change of bus, it still counts as one journey as long as you tap on again within the transfer window.
Best time to visit
Summer (December to February): beach season, and the reason the peninsula is so busy. The water is warm, the beach is patrolled in the warmer months and the days are long, but this is also when the parking, the buses and the ferry all run at their fullest.
Swim between the flags: this is open ocean with real rips, and the calm water is around on the Pittwater side.
Autumn and spring (March to May, September to November): the best compromise for most visitors. The light is good, the crowds thin out after the school holidays, the lighthouse walk is comfortable rather than hot, and the ferry crossing is at its nicest. Water temperatures are still reasonable in March and April.
Winter (June to August): quieter and cooler, and the season for whale watching. Barrenjoey Head is a known vantage point as the humpbacks move north and then back south, and the headland gives you the height to see them without a boat.
The surf is bigger and the wind can cut across the headland, so take a jacket for the walk.
When not to go: a hot January weekend, if you can avoid it. The road up the peninsula, the car parks at Palm Beach and the ferry wharf all hit capacity at the same time, and the bus is standing-room only.
A weekday, or any weekend outside the summer holidays, is a different and much better place.
Top things to do
1. Walk up to Barrenjoey Lighthouse
About 1km and 30 minutes each way, with the steep Smugglers Track for the direct route and a gentler service trail for the long way round.
The reward is the view back down the peninsula and out across Pittwater and Broken Bay - and humpbacks in winter.
2. Ride the ferry across to Ettalong
Thirty minutes from the Palm Beach wharf across Broken Bay to Wagstaffe and Ettalong Beach, passing under Barrenjoey Headland. It runs every day, takes passengers only, and is the crossing almost no visitor to Sydney knows about.
3. Swim on the ocean side and walk to the sand spit
The patrolled surf beach in front of the surf club, with Barrenjoey Head at the north end. Walk north along the sand as the beach narrows into the spit below the lighthouse - it is the cheapest way to spend a morning here.
4. Hire a kayak or paddleboard on Pittwater
The sheltered western side of the peninsula is the calm counterpart to the surf beach, with moorings, bush and small bays to paddle around. Hire is available near the wharf, and the Basin campground is a paddle or a short ferry ride north.
5. Look for Summer Bay in Home and Away
Palm Beach doubles as the fictional Summer Bay, and the surf club building and the palms along the beachfront are the shots people come to see.
It is a genuine draw for visiting fans and a two-minute detour for everyone else.
6. Eat and wander in Avalon and Whale Beach
Ten minutes and a few bus stops back down the peninsula: Whale Beach for the surf and the ocean pool, Avalon for the cafes and the small cinema.
Both are the Northern Beaches on a normal weekend rather than on a tourist itinerary.
7. Watch the sunset over Pittwater from the wharf
The wharf side faces west across the water towards Ku-ring-gai Chase, which is where the sun goes down. Fish and chips on the waterfront while the boats come back in is the standard local ending to a day here.
Pro tips
Do not look for the L90 - it no longer goes to Palm Beach
The old Wynyard to Palm Beach express was cut back and now runs as route 190X between Avalon and Wynyard at peak times only. From the city the current connection is the B-Line to Mona Vale and then route 199 up the peninsula; from Manly the 199 runs the whole way.
Plenty of guides still print the L90, which is why people turn up at Wynyard looking for a bus that is not there.
Parking fills before the beach does
The Governor Phillip car park at the end of Beach Road is paid and is the access point for the lighthouse walk, and the car parks near the surf club and the wharf fill early on a summer weekend.
Arrive before 9am if you are driving, or take the bus and skip the problem entirely - the 199 stops within a couple of minutes of both the beach and the wharf.
There is nothing you can drive to at the lighthouse
The last kilometre to Barrenjoey Lighthouse is walking track only, whichever route you take, and the headland has no road and no facilities beyond the toilets and water at the car park.
Wear something with grip for the Smugglers Track, allow an hour and a half for the return, and leave the lighthouse tour for a Sunday if you want to go inside.
Check the ferry before you build a day around it
The Ettalong and Wagstaffe service is a real daily crossing, but it uses a diversion timetable to Patonga in bad weather and when the channel is being dredged, with shuttle buses covering the difference.
Check the Fantasea timetable the day you travel rather than a guide written years ago, and be on the wharf ten minutes before departure.
Plan your trip
How many days do I need in Palm Beach?
1 day for the beach, the lighthouse walk and the ferry; 2 days to add Avalon, Whale Beach and the Pittwater side of the peninsula
When is the best time to visit Palm Beach?
October to April for swimming and the beach; May to August for whale watching from Barrenjoey Head
How do I get to Palm Beach from Sydney?
B-Line B1 from Wynyard to Mona Vale, then route 199 through Avalon to Palm Beach - about 1.5 to 2 hours in total. Alternatively the 199 runs all the way between Manly and Palm Beach. By car, the A3 and then Barrenjoey Road, roughly an hour off-peak and much longer on a summer weekend. Note that the old L90 express no longer reaches Palm Beach.
Getting there
B-Line B1 from Wynyard to Mona Vale, then route 199 through Avalon to Palm Beach - about 1.5 to 2 hours in total. Alternatively the 199 runs all the way between Manly and Palm Beach. By car, the A3 and then Barrenjoey Road, roughly an hour off-peak and much longer on a summer weekend. Note that the old L90 express no longer reaches Palm Beach.
Best time to visit
October to April for swimming and the beach; May to August for whale watching from Barrenjoey Head
Suggested stay
1 day for the beach, the lighthouse walk and the ferry; 2 days to add Avalon, Whale Beach and the Pittwater side of the peninsula
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