It is not just the tourists that love the Sydney bay area but also the whales and dolphins who visit the place in large number during their annual migration. Some even call it their home and stay the year long.

Imagine yourself just a little distance away from a giant Pacific Humpback whale in the wild or surfing along playful dolphins. This sure seems like a treat for all the nature lovers.

With its cobalt blue water Sydney is the top destination for whale and dolphin watching.

Watching these breathtaking whales and dolphins and listening to them is an awe-inspiring adventure in itself for any animal or nature enthusiast. Whale watching tours are conducted daily from the Sydney Bay during the season. The ultimate experience of watching a Humpback frolic in the vast ocean is a dream for all nature lovers and Sydney is a place to be to be a part of it.

Approximately 3,500 humpback whales and Southern Right Whales migrate north to warm waters of the Great Barrier Reef from late May to July and then return to the Antarctic by late November. They are easily sighted on the shoreline along with the playful dolphins.

Whales and dolphins are members of the same biological family, and the two groups of animals are often seen with each other. The best places to sight them are Sydney’s Manly beaches. Some species of Dolphins hang around the same place for a considerable period of time and one can see them all the year round while the whales are perpetually on the move.

To mark the passing of the migratory whales, the whale watching community organizes the Sydney Whale Festival, a yearly event held in Darling Harbor. During spring and winter whale watching is a popular pastime with many of the tourists and the locals.

Common and graceful bottle nose dolphins are often friendly and come close to the shore while false killer whales and sperm whales and the minke whale can be sighted in deeper waters.

Though whale and dolphin watching is done in many other parts of Australia, the Sydney Harbor offers the most spectacular sights. One can watch small pods of these majestic creatures in their natural habitat breaching, spy hopping, pectoral and tail slapping from a close distance.

A whale and dolphin watching expedition helps you truly understand the human connection with these mammals. Along with these awesome creators one can watch the Dolphins that are often seen off many spectacular Sydney beaches, they love frolicking in the waves along with the surfers. There are many tour operators that offer day boat trips to places where you get to see the dolphins from a close distance.

Many operators offer whale and dolphin watching tours operating from Darling Harbor and Circular Quay. One can also do whale watching by sail boats. Whale Watching by Sail yachts depart from Darling

So if you are looking for an experience of a lifetime with these oceanic wonders, visit the Sydney beaches.

Address: Approx one hour north of Sydney

Directions: Accessible by bus, car and a 10 minute walk from the Mona Vale shopping area.

The commercial area or the heart of Sydney city is known as the CBD (Central Business District) and all distances are measured from this point. The Warriewood Beach is located approximately 30 kilometers from the Sydney CBD, and is accessible via road by car or bus, or one can even fly & skim across in a sea-plane.

Sunrises, mellow sunsets, golden sand, and water seem to go together and there is a lot of this in Sydney. Sydneysiders make the effort to be out all the time. They are outdoor people and this is not surprising since Sydney as many world class beaches. Even the relatively unknown beaches are wonderful and scenic.

The Warriewood Beach is a relatively unknown beach comprising of 500 metre long stretch of sand with a natural curve. Located at the base of Turimetta Head, the beach is protected at the southern end by rocky cliffs. This is amongst the ideal beach-fronts for a good swim or even body surfing, and especially for surf-board surfing. This beautiful stretch of sand is linked to the more known beach, Mona Vale when it is tide. I think it is highly under rated, and deserves a little attention.

As is true of most of the northern beaches of Sydney, this beach too is delightfully uncrowded and has a long stretch of clean gold colored sand. It is a great spot for swimming, great for kids, great for surfing and great just to hang out, enjoy the sun, the scenery and good friends.

To visit this beach you just need to go south from Mona Vale. It is accessible by the beach during low tide and by road at all time

The most spectacular feature of the Warriewood Beach is the ‘blow-hole’, a tunnel in the cliff head that collects water and at regular intervals, spews it back into the ocean. Very akin to the way a whale spouts water.

Since it is just south of the Mona Vale Beach, if the tide is low, one can get to it from Mona Vale, and it can be reached by road too. It is calm, peaceful and it is accessible. So if you are looking for a relatively lonely beach where you can spend some time away from the crowd, you can definitely visit this beach, hang out, enjoy the sun, the swim and quality time with friends and family.

If one is not inclined to take a dip in the ocean waters and still has the whole day to spend, the Warriewood Beach has a host of facilities that makes it a fun-site for all. There is a Rock Pool to enjoy a care-free swim, a raised platform that provides a magnificent view of the entire curved nature’s spectacle, a secluded spot for a quiet picnic, or enjoy fresh hot food on the electric BBQ. For children, there is the fun-facility playground. The beach is also equipped with separate toilet & shower facility for males and females, including the exclusive disabled toilet facility that would require having the MLAK (Master Locksmith Access Key). They also have a Surf Lifesaving Club

The Warriewood Beach has all the required infrastructure and facilities to make the day truly a worth-while experience near the open ocean. So if you have a day to spare and would like to spend it at a beach which is relatively unpopulated, you could visit Warriewood beach.

The Blue Mountains are the favorite destination for Sydneysiders who want a respite from the sweltering heat of the plains. The Blue Mountains are a world heritage site just one and a half hours drive away from Sydney. Katoomba is a busy tourist town located in the Blue Mountains and is famous for the Three Sisters, a rock formation that is situated at Echo Point. They are the focal point of all the guided tours to the Blue Mountains and are subject of many amateur and professional photographs. This is unsurprising since from spring time, i.e. September onwards, Katoomba and the Blue Mountains are spectacular as flowers bloom and the hills acquire lush green foliage.

The Three Sisters, named Meehni, Wimlah and Gunnedoo are actually three pillar formations created through erosion. As per Australian archeologists, the sandstone rocks date from the Triassic age and wind and rains eroded it till it formed into the three pillars that one can see now. Of course the aborigines have a more romantic explanation. As per the aborigine legend three beautiful sisters named Meehni, Wimlah and Gunnedoo of the Katoomba tribe fell in love with three young men of the Nepean tribe, but could not wed them due to some tribal law. A war ensued, and the lives of the sisters were under threat. A Katoomba witchdoctor turned them into sandstone pillars, but died before he could undo his spell and make them human. Whatever the explanation may be, The Three Sisters standing at 922, 918 & 906 metres tall, respectively are impressive and a great draw for visitors from all over the world.

Katoomba is a popular area for bushwalks, and adventure tours and bushwalks are organized for the supremely fit visitors. The rainforests, the scenic panorama, the waterfalls, the flora and fauna make for unsurpassed beauty. What is unique to this area is the blue mist which is formed by droplets of oil exuded by the Eucalyptus trees that gives the mountains their name, The less agile can opt for adventure tours and bus tours for the faint hearted. One can even find accommodation at Echo Point and stay for a few days to take in the scenic splendour and the spectacular view of the Three Sisters, at any time of the day or night. The Three Sisters are floodlit till 10:30 p.m. every night. The view of the Three Sisters in the morning is very scenic; they almost look as though they are emerging out of the clouds.

The Three Sisters are well connected with Sydney. They are 1 ½ drive along the Great Western Highway from Sydney. Trains run from Sydney’s Central Station to Katoomba. Many tour operators offer all day tours from Sydney to Katoomba daily. All the bushwalks, hikes and busses to Three Sisters start from Echo Point which is the central place in Katoomba.

Blue Mountains Visitor Information Centre Echo Point
Echo Point
KATOOMBA NSW 2780
Ph: 1300 653 408
Fax: 02 4780 5729