Bondi to Coogee coastal walk cliffs: carvings, sculptures, whales

Everything on this walk starts with the rock. The path runs for 6 km along sandstone cliffs, cut into them in places, with the ocean open in front of you the whole way.¹ The Bondi to Coogee coastal walk cliffs are not one wall but a series of headlands and bays, so the view changes every few minutes: a beach, a point, a pool, then another beach. That rhythm is why the route photographs so well.

Bondi itself sits between a pair of these headlands, Ben Buckler to the north and Mackenzies Point to the south.⁷ Walk out onto the southern one and you get the classic picture of the whole beach in a curve, with the city behind it. According to the National Heritage listing the beach stretches about 1.5 km and is more than 100 m wide, sitting in a basin between those sandstone headlands; from the point you can see why.⁸

Sandstone is soft rock, and the council library notes that the stone of this coast is relatively easy to work, which is why people carved into it and why those carvings fade.^9,10 Look down as well as out: on the flat rock shelves you will see honeycomb patterns, pools left by the tide and, in a few places, much older marks made by people. Stay on the path near the edges, since the rock crumbles and the drops are real. After rain the sandstone turns dark and slick, and the shelves near the water stay wet long after the path has dried.

For a few weeks each spring the Bondi to Coogee walk sculptures are the main event. Sculpture by the Sea puts more than 100 works along 2 km of clifftop between the southern end of Bondi Beach and Tamarama, and Destination NSW calls it the largest free outdoor sculpture exhibition in the world.^4,24 It is free, and no tickets or bookings are needed.^25,26 The works change every year, from huge steel forms on the rocks to small pieces you could walk past, so each show is a new reason to come back.

In 2026 it ran from 16 October to 2 November, its 30th year, with up to half a million visitors expected over the run.^24,27 The organisers have announced 22 October to 8 November for the 2027 show at Bondi, and ask visitors to check with their office before making travel plans.²¹ Outside those weeks the clifftop is empty again, so if the art matters to you, plan the trip around it. The dates move a little from year to year, which is why the organisers' own page is the one to check.

Crowds are the catch. The tourism board says weekends are generally very busy and suggests a weekday visit to avoid the crush.²⁸ A free app guides you through the works, with a map and details about each piece.²⁹ Early morning on a weekday is when you can photograph a sculpture with the sea behind it and nobody in front of it. Late afternoon is the other good window, when the light turns warm and the walkers thin out.

Between Bronte and Clovelly the path runs past a strikingly placed burial ground. Waverley Cemetery is heritage-listed and spreads across the clifftop, rows of white headstones with nothing beyond them but ocean.¹² You can walk past on the coastal path or wander through it on the cemetery's own paths. The upper paths are steeper, but they give the best views over the headstones to the sea and back north towards Bronte.

It is the resting place of many prominent Australians. Destination NSW picks out the literary figures Henry Lawson and Dorothea Mackellar, along with Lawrence Hargrave, a pioneer of aviation.⁶ For a photographer the appeal is the contrast: carved angels, iron railings and weathered stone against a flat blue horizon, especially in the low light of early morning or late afternoon. A wide lens takes in the rows of graves and the ocean in one frame; a longer one picks out single angels against the sky.

Remember that it is still a cemetery. Keep your voice down, do not climb on monuments, and give space to anyone visiting a grave. Shoot the setting rather than individual headstones with family names on them, and keep drones away. Treat it as a place of rest first and a view second, and it rewards you with some of the quietest minutes on the walk. Many walkers rush past without looking, so even on a busy day you may have it almost to yourself.