Wreck Beach is named after the wreck of the ship Marie Gabrielle in 1869 and sometimes also goes by that name. It is located below the 80 m high Moonlight Head car park and immediately west of Cat Reef. Wreck Beach is 1.2 km long and consists of a continuous strip of sand arranged in six semi-circular bays, with rock platforms forming the boundary of each bay and reefs offshore. Moonlight Beach continues on past a small headland for another 400 m. The two beaches face south-west and are backed by steep, 20 to 80 m high bluffs, with a large rotational slump behind Moonlight Beach. Patchy reef occupies the surf off Wreck Beach and becomes more continuous along Moonlight Beach. The waves average over 1.5 m and combine with the reefs and sand to produce four large, permanent rips along Wreck Beach, and one off Moonlight Beach. All the rips flow out through gaps in the reefs. read more

Beach Length: 1.2km