The Coogee to Maroubra coastal walk is a world-class trek with magnificent coastal scenery and is jam-packed full of historical sites. It stretches for 4.9 kilometres and can be added onto the
Bondi to Coogee or the Malabar Headland walks for an extended hikes.
It is not as busy as the Bondi to Coogee track and it is paved for the majority of the way making it the kind of walk you can saunter along for a relaxed couple of hours, looking out for whales and dolphins
and wildlife along the way. It passes many of Sydney’s beautiful ocean baths if you want to take a dip on route. There are public toilets at Grant Reserve, Coogee, at Jack Vanny Reserve
at Maroubra (above Mahon Pool) and at Maroubra Beach. There are some sections with steps: 10, 16, 3, 38, 32, 60 and 40 steps.
Start at the southern end of Coogee Beach near the surf club – a modern building, once described by former New South Wales Premier Dominic Perrottet as looking “like a massive microwave” oven,
that replaced earlier iterations of the Club building. Coogee Surf Club was founded in 1907, one of the earliest surf clubs, and gained its first wooden club building a few years later in 1912.
Coogee Surf Club, overlooking the Ross Jones Pool
Continue south through beautiful Grant Reserve with its shaded picnic areas, huge childrens’ playground, and rolling lawns. Read more about Grant Reserve
and its history here. Continue along the path and you will come across two of Coogee’s iconic ocean baths. The first one is McIvers Ladies Baths (aka Coogee Womens’ Bath).
Nestled below on the rocky platform, this beautiful pool is the sole “womens only” institution of its kind. Read more about it at here. A little further on you’ll come across the entrance
to Wylie’s Baths, one of the most famous ocean rock pools in the world. Read more about Wylies Baths and the famous Australian Olympic swimmer, Mina Wylie
here.
Just past the entrance to the Ladies Bath are public toilets. These will be the last available public toilets until you reach Mahon Pool, Maroubra - about 4 kilometres on.
Just skirting south of the junction of Neptune Street and Wolseley Road, the path will take you along the ocean side of Trenerry Reserve, and takes in the spectacular views to
the north over Coogee Beach, Wedding Cake Island, and north towards Bondi.
The concrete path winds onto the boardwalk that meanders over tiny rivulets taking water down from the nearby "hanging swamp". This is a naturalists' delight and you can observe many different
birds, lizards, plants and insects.
This rocky inlet is known as Batty Bay, named after the Batty family who built an impressive weatherboard house above it in the 1880s known as Battysberg. Walter Batty built this house onto
an existing cottage which featured lattice-work arches and wide verandas overlooking extensive terraced lawns and an elaborate fence. Statuary, urns and plaster busts of important historical
figures adorned the lawns. Only the bust of Shakespeare has survived, and now restored, is on display at Randwick and District Historical Society.
Batty Bay looking north towards Coogee
At the junction of the boardwalk and Alexandria Parade, a set of pedestrian stairs leads up to
the surrounding highland. Much loved by fitness enthusiasts, they have been given the colloquial term “Death Stairs". Read more about them here.
If you are feeling energetic, you might like to try walking up their 205 steps and take in the view at the top.
Continue along the path adjacent to Alexandria Parade until you come to the junction with Crana Avenue. Here is a small park with benches and a water bubbler known as
Jack Dillion Rest Point which was named after a former Randwick City Councillor (a small plaque on one of the seats commemorates his was Noela). Enjoy the fantastic ocean views
to the north.
From Crana Avenue to Cuzco Street there is a series of steps and stairways (10 steps, 16 steps, 35 steps, and 38 steps). Real Estate-wise, an ocean view is valuable and the houses along the walk's route
sell in excess of $10 million, $20 million and more. Now and then, you will come across signs annoucing the installation of closed circuit television cameras - a few fearful property owners concerned a
wayward hiker might wander onto prrivate property.
The path continues along for a short distance, hugging the coastline, over the end of Pearce Street, until it reaches Bunya Parade. A set of stone steps near a pocket park with seating leads
down to the rock shelf and to a small ocean rock pool known as the Ivo Rowe pool named after a past local resident who helped maintain it. Signage misspells it as "Ivor Rowe". Read more about
Ivo Rowe here. Signage also shows the number of drowning deaths that have occurred at this spot, so if you take a dip in the pool, take care and make sure it is not
on a day of big seas.
The path then continues through an opening between numbers 12 and 14 Bunya Parade including up a set of wooden and stone steps (38) until it reaches Cuzco Street.
The two houses featured prominently in the television mini series Prosper, especially number 14 which Goolge Maps names as Crypto Castle.
Break in the Coastal Walk. At this point, there is a break in the coastal path, with the way blocked by residential development. You will need to turn right (west) and walk
up Cuzco Street, (290 metres) turn left (south) into Malabar Road and walk along until you come to Liguria Street (205 metres -second on your left). Turn left (east) into Liguria Street
and follow the street down until you come to a small pocket park that divides the upper and lower parts of the street (235 metres).
Liguria Street, at the bottom of the hill, is interrupted by a small pocket park. Towards the left (near No. 36) is a set of 32 concrete steps that lead down
to the continuation of Liguria Street. Turn right and follow the stairway accessed by a narrow laneway between numbers 35 and 37 Liguria Street down to the rock shelf on the northern side of
Lurline Bay. There are a mixture of 60 concrete and wooden stops all up. Once down the steps, turn right (west) and climb along the rock shelf towards the centre of Lurline Bay.
Stairway leading down from Liguria Street to Lurline Bay
Lurline Bay, once known as Lilli Pilli Bay, is named after the Sydney Harbour tug (nearby Udine Street is also named after another Harbour tug). This is a very pretty little inlet but only
suitable for swimming by experienced and expert surfers. The rocky platform, there is no beach, is interesting to explore, but you do need a level of fitness to scramble across it. As an older gent,
I find it a relatively easy climb across what is mostly level ground, but if you do have any health concerns or if it has particularly big seas, consider making your way around nearby streets and rejoining
the walk on the southern side of Lurline Bay.
Percy Bates (1870-1949) experiemented with generating electricity using power derived from the motion of waves at Lurline Bay, To conduct his experiments in the 1920s, he hand cut a channel in the rocks near his shed-like workshop.
He cut a narrow channel into the rock ledge and as the waves moved up the channel , they moved baffles that turned over his turbine machinery to generate electricity.
In 1925 he cpi;d produce enough electricity to light his workshop. In August, 1920 he had submitted his drawings to the Patent Office under the title “Improvements in and relating to the utilisation of wave motion”,
and in 1928 he assigned the subsequent patent to “Wave Water Co Ltd”. By 1930 this small and unique experiment was producing 5,000 watts at high tide.
He was also a man of many parts, having been a singer with his own quartet which is recorded as having entertained at the Millions Club. Whilst he was working on his experiments, his wife supported the family
with voice lessons.
Path leading up from the south side of Lurline Bay
The pathway at the southern end of Lurline Bay leads up to Marine Parade (including 44 steps) and after about 300 metres you will come to Jack Vanny Reserve, on Maroubra's northern headland. It was named after a
former Randwick Council Alderman. From this open, grassed and rocky reserve, there are spectacular views of Maroubra Beach to the south and Lurline Bay and beyond to the north. The site of one or two
murders, suicides and accidental deaths by falling from cliffs, the rocky outcrops are fascinating to explore, but don't get too close the cliff faces.
One hundred metres along, steps lead from the middle of the reserve to Mahon Pool which is a popular swimming location and generally a safer and calmer option for children than Maroubra Beach. It was
built in 1937 and named after Randwick Council Alderman Patrick Mahon who advocated for its construction to promote recreation and as an aid to Depression era employment.
There is an off street parking area, toilets, change rooms, showers and water bubblers. Read more about Mahon Pool.
The long crescent shaped path alongside Marine Parade continues south down to Maroubra Beach. Maroubra is a long, open beach. You know you have arrived near the end of the trek when you
see the top of the cement stormwater channel painted as a giant Rubik Cube.There are patrolled areas for swimming, but Maroubra beach
is best known as a favourite of surfers with its big, rolling surf.
Maroubra Beach
Along Marine Parade at Maroubra Beach and into McKeon Street are cafes, bars and restaurants where you can rest after the trek from Coogee. There are also toilets, change rooms, showers and water bubblers
at the beach centre at the middle of the beach along the main promenade.
Five Star Experience
