Clontarf Beach

Half way on our walk from the Spit to Manly is this awesome little beach — half for dogs, half for only people with shallow water, stacks of sand and no trash.
Whether it’s early morning or in the evening, we’ve never been alone here. Instead, we find friendly dog walkers with equally friendly dogs, raring to socialize. The dog beach is at the end of a cul-​de-​sac with minimal traffic — most cars are driving ridiculously slowly so you needn’t worry (too much) about your dogs running on the path/​road.
If you walk a little further along the beach, you’ll find Clontaff Reserve. On a sunny day, this place is packed with families BBQing and kids climbing on anything they can find.

I discovered this hidden harbor beach while hiking along the Spit to Manly bushwalk path. The beach is about 15 – 20 minutes from the Spit Bridge. Like most other harbor beaches, this one is very family oriented. When I was there, a wedding reception and birthday party were both taking place, albeit at separate ends of the beach. The stretch of sand is a bit narrow, so if there are kids, you’ll definitely be hearing them. Thankfully, they tend to stay on the reserve behind the beach. But worry not, Clontarf is not composed entirely of raucous children. It’s mostly locals, so you will see young couples and singles looking to stray away from beaches with a ‘scene.’ Both the water and the sand are very clean.
For me, the craziest memory I have at Clontarf was when I saw a mini tugboat pull up to the shore that sold coffee, ice cream, and other refreshments. I’d never seen anything like this before! Great concept if you ask me, since I like to stay put at the beach once I arrive. Here, the coffee comes to you! Clontarf Beach really is the perfect place to go for some serenity along the Northern side of harbor.