Bondi Beach

Bondi Beach - the most important information

Bondi Beach is the most iconic beach in Australia and one of the most famous in the world. It is located in the Bondi suburb of Sydney. It has been featured in the tv shows Bondi Vet and Bondi Rescue.

History Bondi Beach

The Aboriginal people named the beach Boondi which has the same meaning as the word surf in English, or noise made by sea waves breaking on the beach. Bondi Beach was a private beach until 1882 when it became a public beach after the owner O’Brien threatened to stop public beach access. The first surf bathing sheds on the beach were built in 1903.

Bondi Beach was the center of the fight for the decency laws that were active from 1935 to 1961 and that stated what people could or could not wear at the beach. There were people at the beach who were measuring the length of the swimming costumes. Today, this beach is visited by an estimate of 2.6 million people each year.

What to see at Bondi Beach?

Since Bondi Beach attracts a lot of people every year, it’s surroundings offer more than swimming, sunbathing, surfing, and sand sports. Here are some things you can see at Bondi Beach:

Iceberg - a public pool at the southern end of the beach. Bondi Icebergs Club is a famous winter swimming club whose members swim on Sundays between May and September. They have a larger lap pool and smaller kid’s pool, as well as a sauna.
Bondi Skate Park - this skate park has amazing views of the beach. It is one of the biggest skateparks in Australia and it has been host to several largest skateboarding competitions in Australia.
Bondi Beach Graffiti Wall - this wall features graffitis from famous artists from all around the world. There were graffitis on this wall ever since the 1980s, but today artists need to submit an application to Waverley Council to be able to put their art on the wall.
North Bondi Outdoor Gym - this outdoor gym has equipment designed for strength training. It is only steps away from Bondi Beach so you can sweat it out first then go for a swim to cool yourself.
North Bondi Children’s Pool - this pool is a perfect option for families with smaller children. Close to this pool is an additional rock pool that gets filled with water when there's a tide so kids can enjoy tiny sea creatures.

Tickets and opening hours of Bondi Beach

Tickets - you don’t need a ticket to enter the beach. However, some pools may require an entry ticket.
Opening hours - the beach is open at any time, but you shouldn’t go for a swim if there’s no lifeguards. The lifeguard tower opens at 6 AM.

How to get to Bondi Beach?

You can get to Bondi Beach by bus numbers 333, 362, 380. The stop is called Bondi Beach.

What should you know before visiting Bondi Beach?

Here are some tips and things you need to know before visiting Bondi Beach:

Things you should bring - sunscreen, a towel, a swimsuit. You can leave everything else at the luggage lockers near the beach.
Food and drinks - there are plenty of restaurants nearby, but you can also bring your own food and drinks to the beach. However, alcohol is prohibited.
What should you watch out for? - you should respect the flags that tell you where it’s safe to swim. You should only swim between the red and yellow flags, never outside of them. If there are no flags, the beach is closed. There are also sharks, the bluebottle, the blue-ringed octopus, and the sea urchin, so be careful and obey the lifeguards.

Bondi Beach Trivia

Here are some interesting facts about Bondi Beach:

The beach is about 1 kilometer long and it has an area of 1.22 square kilometres.
An estimated number of people on Bondi Beach exceeds 40,000 on hot summer days.
The surf waves can reach 4 metres.
There hasn’t been a fatal shark attack.
Bondi Beach was the set of the Guinness World Record for the largest swimsuit photo shoot in 2007.