Forty Baskets Beach — Attraction in Sydney

Forty Baskets Beach is usually a secluded little beach in Balgowlah with a netted tidal pool in the middle, but on a hot Invasion Day morning it was far busier than usual.

Before colonisation it was used by original custodians the Gai-marigal people and there is a midden deposit under the grassy area at the back of the beach. According to historic sources, this midden even yielded skeletons, the last of which were removed in the 1970s. I read that they ended up in museums. Typical.

The name? It commemorates an epic fishing catch hauled in there in the late 19th Century, which was used to feed a group of soldiers who were detained in the nearby Quarantine Station after returning from the war in Sudan.

The echoes of the history of British settler colonialism linger here in other forms too, from the trees that were poisoned by some of the residents to improve their view, to today’s land grabs of public space by rows of blue and white cool cabanas. Sydney’s obsession with real estate writ small.

It’s a tough day to feel positive about anything much, but we could tell that on any other day we would have thought this was a pretty place with all the things: outdoor showers, change room BBQs and free parking on the adjacent streets.

The crowd were mostly local white families, interspersed with Fijian and other Pasifikan First Nations families who were having great fun. Seeing the latter enjoying their day in and around the pool made us smile...

Quiet little beach located off Beatty Street in Balgowlah Heights. Great spot to rest or have a picnic if you are doing the Spit to Manly walk. Seat's and tables, enclosed pool, free electric bbq's, toilets and change room's available nearby. Safe spot for families with kid's, and there's some swings too. Fresh water available from bubbler's, if you wish to purchase coffee,drinks or food, the Forty Beans Cafe in Lower Beach St. (on the way to Manly)is the closest, being a lesuirely 15 minute walk away. Opening hours...

Lovely little beach, but I suspect most of its fame is due to the legend of its namesake rather than the actual quality of the beach.

🐟 Forty baskets gets it's name because of a day in 1885 when a group of men caught, you guessed it, 40 baskets of fish.

❗ This beach is difficult to pass at high tide (at the southern rocky end), so follow signs for the alternate route if you're doing the Spit to Manly walk.

Pleasant place to hang out, distant enough from Manly that it's not...