Palm Beach is a dreamy little coastal suburb an hour north of Sydney, it’s also the real-life location of Home and Away’s Summer Bay, so if you’re lucky you might even see them filming!
While my parents were in town I was keen on ticking it off my ‘Sydney bucket list’, and I’m so glad we did!
It was such a relaxed and peaceful place to spend an afternoon, and felt world’s away from Sydney.
Driving from Sydney to Palm Beach
We started the day with brunch at the Grounds of Alexandria, and then made the hour-long drive up to Palm Beach.
There are a few beaches in the suburb, including the ocean-facing beaches; Whale Beach, and Palm Beach/North Palm Beach, and then the river-facing beaches that remind me of Sydney’s harbour beaches.
Visiting the Location of Home and Away
Naturally we headed straight to the main Palm Beach to visit the actual real-life Home and Away set (even though I was always more of a Neighbours gal).
The sand was much more orange than the beaches down in Sydney, and the waves were a bit too choppy to swim in.
I’m such a scaredy cat when it comes to waves – I had an ‘incident’ when I was 17 where I got stuck under a load of dumping waves and almost drowned.
Luckily my boyfriend at the time was there to save me, despite the fact he had a broken arm in a cast, and dragged me onto the beach with my bikini around my ankles, haha!
But anyway, since that incident I’ve always been terrified of waves and only swim in the water if it’s flat as a pancake.
Food at Palm Beach
Food-wise we found there aren’t that many choices of cafes and restaurants that actually look out over the beach.
The Boathouse is the main one, but it was so busy we couldn’t even get parking, let alone into the restaurant. I’d definitely recommend visiting on a weekday if you can rather than a weekend.
It’s a shame because there’s such an opportunity to have some little cafes and kiosks closer to the beaches with lovely views out over the ocean.
We ended up driving all the way down the coast to Dee Why just to get a drink and something to eat overlooking the water, and not overlooking a car park or main road, haha.
Palm Beach Lighthouse & America Bay Lookout
If you have more time than we did and a full day in Palm Beach, rather than just an afternoon, you can also walk up to the famous lighthouse.
You can also drive round to the nearby National Park and walk to the America Bay lookout which looks absolutely beautiful (this is about a 45min drive from Palm Beach).
Palm Beach FAQs…
Where is Summer Bay?
How long does it take to drive from Sydney to Palm Beach?
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Catherine Lux is a veteran travel blogger by night and the Head of Content Marketing at Amazon by day. Originally from Surrey, she spent four years living in Australia (2007-2009, and 2016-2018), and now lives in London. An ex-party girl sometimes prone to relapses, she loves nothing more than sharing her fine dining and luxury travel experiences with her loyal readers.
