Beach Number:

nsw467

Includes Beaches:

Narrawallee

State/Region:

NSW - Narrawallee

Post Code:

2539

General Beach Hazard Rating:

6/10 (Moderately hazardous)

Beach

Narrawallee Beach (NSW 467) fronts the community of the same name. The 1.4 km long east-facing beach commences at Preservation Rock, a 25 m high conical headland composed of 250 million-year-old sedimentary rocks, with a smaller island 200 m offshore. It trends due south past some central rocks on the beach to the southern base of Bannisters Point, which then protrudes 1.5 km to the southeast (Fig. 4.350). The beach is accessible from a northern car park, which also provides access to Narrawallee Inlet, while the southern half contains a large picnic area and car park. A vegetated foredune runs the length of the beach giving the whole beach a natural appearance. Waves are higher north of the reef averaging over 1 m, while they decrease slightly to the south. Consequently the northern beach usually has an attached bar cut by 4-5 rips including a permanent rip against the rocks. The southern beach usually has an attached bar cut by smaller rips with some rocks in the surf. The southern end of the beach is patrolled during the Christmas school holidays.

The southern beach road terminates 200 m around the southern rock at the beginning of beach NSW 467S. This is a northeast-facing 130 m long high tide boulder beach fronted by a low tide sand bar, with usually low waves breaking across the bar and surging up the rocks. Eight hundred metre along the rocks is Jones Beach (NSW 467E), a 40 m long north-facing cobble and boulder high tide beach, together with several large boulders on the beach and some sand exposed at low tide. It is tucked in lee of Bannisters Point and usually receives low refracted swell. There is car park on the point with a steep track leading down to the beach, which also provides access to the rock platform that extends around the point. The remains of a jetty are located at the eastern end of the beach. It was used from 1921–1941, when BHP operated a silica quarry behind Buckleys Beach, with a narrow railway crossing the inlet and running along Narrawallee Beach, then along the rocks to the jetty.

Swimming

Narrawallee has persistent rips north of the rocks with the best conditions in the south, where lifeguards patrol in the summer holidays. The rocky beaches are unsuitable for swimming.

Surfing

Narrawallee is a popular surfing spot offering beach breaks with waves usually higher up the beach. The southern end is more suited for learners.

Fishing

Most fishing is done in Narrawallee Inlet, while the northern half of the beach can have good rip gutters following high seas.

General

Narrawallee Inlet marks the beginning of a near continuous 10 km long section of developed coastline, which includes the communities of Narrawallee and Mollymook, the large town of Ulladulla, and to the south the communities of Burrill Lake and Dolphin Point. The 15 km of indented shoreline that fronts this section contains 13 beaches. The first three (NSW 467-469) are located between Narrawallee Inlet and Bannisters Point, 2 km to the southeast.