Nine Mile Beach (T 192) is one of the longer beaches on the east coast curving for 13.1 km (8.6 miles) from sandy Point Bagot at the entrance to Great Swanport to the usually blocked mouth of the Meredith River in the west. It faces due south into Great Oyster Bay and usually receives low swell waves averaging about 1 m, which maintain a low tide terrace along most of the beach. During periods of higher swell numerous rips are cut across the bar, with the rip holes often persisting for weeks afterwards. Closer to Point Bagot the extensive ebb tidal shoals of the inlet dominate the beach, with waves breaking along the edge of the shoals to produce a long left-hand break. At the other end between Meredith River and the boundary rocks waves decrease and reflective conditions usually prevail. The western end of the beach borders the town of Swansea, with the Tasman Highway running 1 km to the west. Much of the beach is part of the Dolphin Sands subdivision, including beachfront allotments, some of which have been developed. The Dolphin Sands access road runs the length of the beach to Point Bagot, with public beach access points spaced about each kilometre along the road. The beach is backed by a 1 km wide barrier, the Great Swanport lagoon and wetlands. The barrier is composed of up to 25 low foredune ridges. Some of these ridges have been blown out in the past and in the 1960s and ’70s some were transgressing as transverse dunes along a 6 km long central section, called the Yellow Sandbanks. However by the 1990s these were beginning to stabilise and are now being slowly developed for housing, with some houses sitting in amongst the still active dunes. read more

Beach Length: 13.1km