The Collaroy Beach Ocean Swims

Off the golden crescent of Collaroy Beach, open water swimmers plunge into the breaking swell of the Long Reef Aquatic Reserve. The Collaroy Beach Ocean Swims are an open water swimming race held in the sea at Collaroy Beach, in Collaroy, New South Wales, Australia. This community-focused event is organized by the Collaroy Surf Life Saving Club, welcoming ocean lovers. The program caters to a broad range of ages and capabilities, offering race distances of 300 metres, 800 metres, and 1.5 kilometres. The 300-metre 'Mini's' swim is designed for young swimmers aged 8 to 10. Older competitors can take on the 800-metre course, open to ages 10 and older, or the 1.5-kilometre event for swimmers aged 14 and above.

The swim course unfolds across an open ocean environment exposed to swell and shifting sandbanks, where tidal shifts can alter conditions significantly. Before the start of the race, organizers dispatch a jet ski to guide swimmers around the course, allowing competitors to visualize the turns and direction through the breaking surf. Once underway, swimmers navigating the gutters and reef patches during the 800-metre and 1.5-kilometre swims are encouraged to look down for fish and reef life thriving along the sea bed. Safety and camaraderie define the day, overseen by the Collaroy Surf Life Saving Club, the second oldest in Australia. After the events, participants gather at the surf club to unwind in a warm social atmosphere filled with drinks and conversation.

Long Reef Aquatic Reserve: wave-cut platforms and cathedral caves

Long Reef headland connects to the mainland by a sandy tombolo and is fringed by an extensive wave-cut platform exposed to the surge of the ocean. Beneath the surface, the reserve conceals remarkable underwater diving sites, including 'the wall', a 200-metre-long structural drop-off, and 'the cathedral', an open underwater cave that attracts divers from across the region. The deep bedrock consists of the Bulgo sandstone, a Triassic geological layer made famous in 1986 by the discovery of a fossilized mandible belonging to a giant prehistoric amphibian named Bulgosuchus gargantua. In the middle of Cabbage Tree Bay, an old motorbike lies submerged on the seabed at a depth of approximately 8 metres, creating an unusual artificial habitat for marine creatures.

Nearby Fairy Bower is situated in close proximity to Shelly Beach and North Head, with a coastal walking path connecting Manly Beach to Fairy Bower and Shelly Beach along the water's edge. The surrounding Manly coastline supports the only mainland breeding colony of little penguins in New South Wales.

Maritime history of Collaroy: the SS Collaroy and Myola wreck

Collaroy Beach takes its name from a dramatic maritime mishap in 1881, when the S.S. Collaroy ran aground on the shore. The 1880s were an active era of coastal industry, when miners drilled a tunnel on the southern side of Long Reef to operate a copper mine. Maritime hazards claimed another vessel decades later when the SS Myola sank in 1919; its wreck was located in 1994 resting at a depth of 48 metres off the headland. These waters have witnessed centuries of maritime and human drama. To the south, North Head forms the northern portal of the entrance to Port Jackson, rising as a remnant of the Hornsby Plateau with steep sandstone cliffs that reach an elevation of 115 metres.

Indigenous heritage runs deep across the area, where archaeological evidence of Aboriginal occupation includes middens, rock art, and burial sites at North Head, as well as a shell midden near the Fairy Bower car park. Off Dobroyd Head, where coastal heath ecosystems are protected within Sydney Harbour National Park, Aboriginal people lived in caves at Wellings Reserve, Balgowlah Heights, as noted in 1788. In quieter times between 1923 and 1963, small timber cabins and shacks were erected around secluded Crater Cove as rustic weekend retreats.

Collaroy seafront: tidal rock pool and art deco dining

Collaroy Beach itself spans a 1.4-kilometre stretch of turquoise waves and soft sand framed by headlands. Locals flock to the water at dawn with surfboards to ride the morning sets, returning for evening jogs along the shore as twilight turns to night. Swimmers seeking calmer water after an ocean crossing can dip into the tidal rock pool at the southern end of the beach, whose irregular, rhomboid layout was designed to blend directly with the natural rock formations. The foreshore features an inclusive playground equipped with an accessible Liberty Swing, interactive water displays, and carousels, while The Collaroy Hotel, whose 1930s art-deco facade welcomes post-swim diners to plates of fresh local oysters and prawns, is nearby.

The surrounding coast offers striking contrasts between wild surf and sheltered coves. At Turimetta Beach, a 350-metre stretch of sand backed by steep bluffs, the headland is a renowned haunt for rock fishing. Professional lifeguards watch over South Steyne year-round and patrol North Steyne and Queenscliff from October to April, supplemented by the Manly Life Saving Club on weekends and public holidays between October and May. Visitors can stroll along The Corso, which connects the harbour beach to Manly Beach, or follow the seaside path to Fairy Bower and Shelly Beach, a walkway that was repaired after suffering significant damage in a severe storm on June 4 and 5, 2016.