Having grown up and surfed Sydney’s northern beaches since I was about 15 years old. (Holy crap that is 30 years ago), a couple of weeks ago I decided to spend a whole Sunday with my wife and three daughters stopping at every beach on Sydney’s Northern beaches for a swim and of course an obligatory “group selfie”.

The goal of this quest was to show my kids the beauty of all the beaches in Sydney’s north which I regard as some of the most beautiful beaches in the world.

On the morning of our journey we arose to a magnificent summer’s day with a North Easterly wind predicted to kick in early. It was clear the southern facing beaches or at least those with a big Northern headland were going to be the pick on this particular Sunday.

After the usual wait in my beloved ute for my wife and daughters whilst they packed everything except the kitchen sink, we were on our way to Manly for the start of our Northern Beaches adventure.

It didn’t take too long to realize that 5 people in an old ute, on a hot day, in traffic, looking for an ever elusive car park can cause tension. “Holy weevers, I was only at North Steyne with 15 beaches to go and I was already questioning my decision to make this journey.”

The beaches we stopped and swam at were the following in this order…..

• Manly

• Freshie

• Curly

• Dee Why

• Long Reef

• Collaroy

• Narrabeen

• Warriewood

• Mona Vale

• Bungan

• Newport

• Bilgola

• North Avalon

• Whale

• Palmy

The whole trip took us a staggering 9 hours and 42 minutes including a compulsory stop at the burger shop at Avalon which draws me like a moth to a flame.

Despite the amount of time spent in the ute going from beach to beach, it was an awesome day with lots of great photos and memories. We were blessed with a perfect Sydney summers day.

But what was the best beach I hear you asking????

OK here are my top five Northern Beaches on this particular day. Keep in mind the wind was a Nor Easter so if you are thinking of checking these beaches out make sure the wind is right.

No 1: North Avalon – was perfect, really clean water, unbelievably beautiful beach and perfect in a Nor Easterly wind

No 2: Bungan – if you can take the long walk down to the beach (or more the tough walk back) this beach is worth a visit, no crowds and feels like you are no longer in Sydney but on holidays

No 3: Mona Vale – really surprised on the upside. We were on the northern end near the surf club and the water was perfect, good little reef break and some flat water sections for the little kids

No 4: Curly – We were at North / Mid Curly and as always had lots of fun waves and perfectly clear water

No 5: Freshie – Apart from the 2 million people on the beach, Freshie is hard to beat on a beautiful Sunday morning in a Nor Easter. Lots of mums and dads and kids enjoying kiddies corner on their foamies

I hope you enjoy the recommendations and get to visit these awesome beaches sometime soon.

STUART FREEMAN – MANAGING DIRECTOR AT KENNEDY REID