ACCESSIBLE COASTAL WALK SYDNEY

Accessible walks with a view are hard to come by, particularly by the ocean. Most have loads of stairs but we revisited a lovely accessible coastal walk in Sydney today and think it deserves its own blog post. Yes, that’s how good it is.

There is much hype around the Bondi to Coogee walk and for good reason, it’s stunning. Unfortunately, it isn’t accessible. However, there is an accessible walk along Coogee’s coastline. We started at Coogee Beach and worked our way as far south as we could go before hitting stairs. It is a decent walk which is just the way we like it. If you want to avoid all inclines I suggest you start your walk further along (try parking in Neptune Street to avoid hills altogether.)

You’ll need to imagine the incline pictured above in reverse and you’ll have an idea of the start to the walk if you park at Coogee Beach. It is a bit of a push.

Aside from the steep start at Coogee Beach the rest is a breeze.

We love being beside the ocean and this walk delivers spectacular coastal views. On our last visit (in winter) we spotted an abundance of animal life. Whales were breaching in the water, we spied a turtle swimming close to the coastline and the birds  were more exotic than your usual suburban birds.

Walks prove extremely social for the extrovert in our family. BJ high fives, responds to the smiles of others and loves those that engage with a “Hi mate” as they go by. This walk seems particularly popular for people walking their dogs and he is not a fan of seeing so many four legged friends but there is little we can do about that.

The boardwalk is gentle and the inclines well ramped.

There is a small gap in the boardwalk where there is exposed rock. It’s the only part of the walk which is not easy going with a wheelchair but we had no problem.

 

If you are visiting with young children you may like the playground. It is easy to  get around the playground area but there are no particular wheelchair accessible features.

When we finished the walk we had morning tea at Coogee Beach. Coogee has ramp access to seats in the shade on the lower boardwalk and there is also great people watching to do.

Coogee Beach seems an obvious place to have a beach wheelchair but alas they are yet to get one. The lifeguard on duty said they are always happy to help out by taking people to the water’s edge in the beach buggy but that doesn’t help those needing a chair once down at the water. BJ would be totally up for a ride in the lifeguard’s buggy!

TIPS

There is a unisex disabled toilet facility near the playground at the Coogee Beach Surf Club end of the walk. It requires a MLAK key and is a bit awkward to get into due to a lack of circulation space around the outside.

There is disabled street parking behind the Coogee Beach Surf Club. There is more in Neptune Street and also on the corner of Wisdom and Alexandria Parade.

There are plenty of benches along the way if you want to stop and have a picnic lunch or just rest if you are walking.

Take binoculars for nature spotting, particularly when the whales are migrating.

If you are feeling particularly energetic there is a paved walk at the northern end of Coogee Beach but it is steep. The views are fairly similar but I was keen to see the sculpture on the hill. It is a memorial to the NSW victims of the Bali bombings in 2002.

Do you know of a wheelchair accessible coastal walk you’d like to share? We’d love to hear of any, no matter where it is in the world.