10 Sydney gay beaches you need to know about
19 July 2022
Are you looking for an amazing Sydney gay beach to visit? Well after having lived in Sydney my whole life, it’s time we shared them with you!
When Charlie first moved to Sydney from the UK to spend our lives together, the first thing he wanted to do was spend loads of time at the beach. I took him to all the gay beaches in Sydney listed below, and he now loves it even more!
His favourite Sydney nude gay beach is number 1, and mine is number 7. Regardless, they’re all pretty epic.
A link to the location of each beach on google maps is provided that you can star and save to your maps for later.
Sydney Gay Beach List - The Eastern Suburbs
1. Little Congwong Beach (La Perouse Beach Sydney)
This is Charlie’s favourite nude beach in Sydney, otherwise known as La Perouse. We lived 10 minutes away from this spot for 2 years. Every day after work in the summer, Charlie would hop on his scooter and head over to Little Congwong beach to swim and watch the sunset. There’s a chance to see dolphins here too (which we have seen quite a few times).
Once, Charlie was attacked by a giant lizard at this beach too. It jumped out of the tree and onto his face, and then tried to claw him! This is super rare, but just goes to show that Charlie really loves this beach if it’s still his favourite.
Little Congwong is the most popular Sydney gay beach. It’s quite busy most of the time, and ~90% of the people that visit this beach are part of the LGBT+ community.
Little Congwong Beach – Google Maps
2. Lady Jane Beach
One time I went to this Sydney gay nudist beach, all three of my ex’s were there at the same time. They all came over at the same time to say hi, and they all ended up getting along. It was super awkward at first, and I will never forget that day. But for all my ex’s to be there at the same time, it just goes to show that this beach is actually a pretty good spot.
Whenever I go with Charlie, we always scramble across the rocks. It’s quieter and you’ll feel like you have a place of your own.
3. Murray Rose Pool (Redleaf)
This is the first gay beach in Sydney I took Charlie. He doesn’t remember it because he was jetlagged AF and slept as soon as we got there.
It’s such a beautiful spot though because it’s right on the harbour, has shark nets and a pontoon you can swim out to and relax on. It’s very popular with the LGBT+ community. It also took me 25 years to realise this beach existed… so you’re welcome!
Note: at low tide you can walk east along the beach to the boatshed and see the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
4. North Bondi Beach
Yes, there is a popular gay area in Sydney’s Bondi beach – the northern section – however Bondi beach is not a nude beach.
We never hang out here though. Yes, it’s Bondi Beach, one of the most iconic beaches in all of Australia. Yes, it’s beautiful AF. Yes, there is an outdoor workout area with loads of hot muscly men pumping iron right by the beach. But it’s also super touristy and crowded that it has less beach paradise vibe and more packed-like-sardines vibe in the summer.
It’s still very much worth the visit, but it’s not our number 1 go to gay beach in Sydney.
5. Milk Beach
My ex introduced me to this hidden gem. We went for picnic at sunset which I highly recommend doing.
Milk beach isn’t an exclusively gay-only beach, but you’ll usually find a lot of LGBT+ people love visiting this beach.
Below is what the actual beach looks like.
Milk Beach – Google Maps
Sydney Gay Beach List - Northern Sydney
6. Cobblers Beach
My favourite Sydney gay beach is Cobblers nude beach. Charlie and I would play naked frisbee at this gay nudist beach all the time. One time, we were approached by someone on the street saying: “Were you the naked frisbee guys?!” That is how I will be remembered.
Cobblers is best at sunset. The water is always super flat, and although it is a very popular beach with the gays, it’s more family friendly and you’ll see more straight people here than at Obelisk or Little Congwong nudist beach. It has a more inclusive vibe, which we absolutely love.
7. Obelisk Beach
Obelisk nude beach is the up-and-coming gay beach in Sydney. You see it everywhere now: TimeOut, blogs, and newspaper articles.
In the summer, you’ll often see boats pull up at this beach and people jumping from the boats to swim to shore. It’s such a special little beach, and right next to another popular nudist beach in Sydney – Cobblers Beach. If we’re having a beach day, we often to go Obelisk for the morning sun, and Cobblers for the afternoon / sunset.
This is another clothing optional beach, and below is a picture of Charlie swimming butt naked in the freezing cold winter. I am sitting on the rock, enjoying the warmth.
8. Washaway beach (& the speedos you should wear!)
I almost slipped and died on the rocks at this beach, yet it’s still one of my favourite gay beaches in Sydney.
Washaway beach is your closest gay beach to Manly, and it’s also one of the best on this list. It’s also only there half the time: when the tide is low. Hence the name Washaway.
To get here, you have to scramble down some rocks. But it’s very much worth it. If you’ve visited this beach, you are one of the very few people that know about it and are game to adventure to it.
Side note on our speedos: If you’re looking for a new pair of speedos to wear, you should 100% check out Gali Swimwear. They’re our favourite speedos not only because they’re made from recycled plastics that are comfy AF but they have another beautiful mission. The artwork on each speedo has been designed by an Aboriginal artist, and money from each sale made goes towards the artist and the Aboriginal community. Incredible. To check out the designs, click here.
Gay beaches just outside of Sydney
9. Birdie Beach south of Newcastle
Birdie beach gets a pretty bad rap. A lot of the locals want to reclaim this beach as a “family-friendly” beach. Literally, there was a petition a while back wanting to rid the beach of “sex offenders” and “anti-social behaviour”.
I’m not sure about the “sex offender culture” of this beach, or how bad it is. All we know is that the northern area of the beach is the nudist part of the beach, and we’ve been to this beach a few times and never an issue. We do love this NSW nudist beach because it’s HUGE, and it’s cool that you can be nude on a beach and see surfers go out into the ocean and do their thing.
If you’re a surfer that loves to be nude, that’s pretty special because there is no other gay surfer nude beach like it near Sydney.
10. Werrong Beach - Sydney's Royal National Park Nudist Beach
If you’re looking for the Royal National Park NSW nude beach, this is it! We tried to capture a picture of this beach for this blog, but the day we went with our drone and camera the track to the beach was closed. For now you’re just going to have to trust us when we say that you HAVE to visit the beach!
The only reason I can’t say this is my favourite gay beach in Sydney is because it’s not technically in Sydney. What I can say is that it is one of my absolute favourite nude beaches in NSW though.
We always take a tent so that we can spend the day here. The hike down is about 30 minutes and it’s super steep coming back up, so pack some water and food so you can spend as much time here as possible.
Travelling Soon?
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What's your favourite gay beach in Sydney?
Have you visited any of these beaches before? What’s your favourite? We have a lot of people visit these blogs who mention they love reading the comments – so help them decide which beach to visit while in Sydney!
One thing that’s for sure is that if Maslin nude Beach was in Sydney, it would definitely be on the top of this list. It’s definitely one of South Australia’s best.
Check out one of our related blogs too: our favourite nude beaches in all of Australia.
