West Head Beach

Located in Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park, West Head Beach is a 50-meters-long curve-shaped east-facing beach with light brown sand, a large amount of driftwood, and many large rocks.  This beach is managed by NSW National Parks and it is located within a headland called West Head.  This beach is usually open from morning to 6 pm in winter and from morning to 8:30 pm in summer.

West Head Beach does not have lifeguards or any other amenities, so please plan accordingly.  Dogs are not allowed here.

West Head Beach offers many fun activities including sunbathing, beachcombing, fishing, swimming, paddleboarding, boating, jet-skiing, kayaking, canoeing, surf-skiing, and wildlife watching. 

West Head Beach is ideal for beginner swimmers because the water here is known to have gentle waves.  If you are planning to swim, kayak, or paddleboard here, we recommend being careful because the water here can have unpredictable rip currents and dangerous waves.  In addition, the rocky shoreline around the beach can also make water activities difficult.  Jellyfish are also known to live nearby in summers – these animals can cause painful stings if disturbed.  

If you like hiking, there are many hiking trails near the beach that offer a fun way to explore the vibrant local landscape and biodiversity – one of the hiking trails here is Mackerel Beach West Head Loop which leads from the West Head Lookout to a beach named Great Mackerel Beach.  Another great beach that you can visit near West Head Beach is Resolute Beach – the access trail for Resolute Beach West Head also starts near West Head Lookout and this beach offers a nearby picnic area named the Resolute Beach Picnic Area. 

Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park – within which West Head Beach is located – is a 37,010-acre national park that offers many fun activities including fishing, wildlife watching, kayaking, canoeing, boating, picnicking, hiking, and biking – this national park also has historic European and Aboriginal sites, a marina, a discovery center, rainforests, rocky cliffs, mangrove forests, and creeks. 

West Head Beach does not offer wheelchair access to visitors with disabilities.

Getting to West Head Beach is easy – if you want to visit this beach, you need to first drive to an observation area named West Head Lookout, which is located at the western end of West End Road.  Once you reach this observation area, you can park at the free street parking spaces and the small free parking lot here.  After parking here, you need to walk along a partially narrow nearby walking trail named the West Head Beach Walk that has some steep stairs.  This trail will lead you to the beach – this trail starts near the West Head Lookout and it is easily identifiable through signboards.

Please note that you need to pay an entry fee for visiting West Head Beach and Ku ring gai Chase National Park.  You can pay your fee at the entrance station that is located at West Head Road – the current fee is $12 per vehicle for day visitors.  You can visit NSW National Park’s website for more information on the entrance fees and payment methods.

We recommend visiting this beach during low tide because at high tide this beach is significantly submerged and inaccessible. 

If you like taking pictures with excellent views, West Head Beach offers amazing Instagram-worthy views of a bay named Pittwater, the nearby Barrenjoey Lighthouse, and the Northern Sydney shoreline.  You can get many excellent views and photographs from West Head Beach.

There are many attractions near West Head Beach.  West Head Lookout is a popular observation area near the beach that offers amazing views of The Pittwater, the nearby Broken Bay, the nearby Lion Island, and the New South Wales’s Central Coast landscape and it also offers many informative interpretive signs.  Upper Gledhill Falls is a popular and beautiful waterfall that offers some amazing Instagram-worthy photos.  The pool at the bottom of this waterfall also offers amazing Instagram-worthy photos.  McCarrs Creek Reserve is a waterfront reserve that is a 20-minute-drive away and offers many amenities including barbecue areas, a wharf, picnic tables, drinking water facilities, and benches.  Barrenjoey Lighthouse is a beautiful historic sandstone lighthouse in the nearby suburb of Palm Beach that was built in 1881 and the area around it also offers amazing views of the Pacific Ocean and the northern Sydney shoreline.  If you are looking for another attraction near the beach, The Bible Garden – also called the Palm Beach Bible Garden – is a garden that is also located in Palm Beach and offers grassy lawn terraces and it has plants mentioned in the Bible.  This garden also has a pond and it also offers amazing views of the suburb of Palm Beach.

If you get hungry, there are many great restaurants near West Head Beach.  Shed Akuna has a relaxed ambiance and it also offers a variety of excellent dishes including calamari, tacos, waffles, salads, and croissants.  Dunes Palm Beach is in the nearby suburb of Palm Beach and has a Mediterranean-inspired decor – it also offers many amazing dishes including seafood, roast lamb, focaccia, pasta, and beef dishes.  Barrenjoey House Palm Beach is a hotel with a restaurant that is also in Palm Beach – it also offers amazing dishes including seafood, steak, chicken supreme, flatbread, and eggplant.  Palm Beach Golf Club is a golf club in the nearby suburb of Palm Beach that has a restaurant that offers many delicious dishes for lunch and dinner including salads, chicken thighs, duck leg, and pork belly.  If you are looking for another good and affordable nearby restaurant, Chargrill Charlie’s offers amazing barbecued chicken –  it also offers other delicious dishes including burgers, salads, Asian dishes, and chicken wings.

For those looking to extend their stay, there are several hotels in the vicinity offering a range of accommodations. The Mirage Hotel, with its comfortable rooms and excellent service, ensures a restful night’s sleep. Another option is the Seaside Stay Hotel, which, as the name suggests, offers stunning seaside views and easy access to local attractions, combining convenience with natural beauty. Both hotels provide a pleasant base from which to explore West Head and its surroundings, catering to all preferences and budgets.