If you are an intermediate windsurfer looking for flatter water then your best bet is to sail at Kyeemagh on Botany Bay over summer. Sydney's eastern suburbs will be the best bet for you as there is a fair bit of accommodation around there, its halfway between your work and Kyeemagh and its a pretty happening place to live. Check out suburbs like Randwick and Bondi Junction. However the rent is very expensive in this area.

Hi Alex,

Manly ain't exactly cheap either. Hell nowhere in Sydney these days is cheap. As far as sailing is concerned some people sail in Southerly directions on the harbour side of Manly. I guess you could sail the ocean side in a NEer but you'll have to compete with a million and two people in the water and the wind is never really that strong.

As far as flat water is concerned I think Kyeemahg is the most universal spot in Sydney. It works great in a summer North Easter and the Southerlies can be fun as well. During Winter westerlies La Perouse is good. Kurnell is great in NW directions but it's a long drive unless you live in Cronulla.

You really need a car to get around. Public transport is a pain and taxies are too expensive.

BTW Manly and Bondi / Easter Suburbs are quite different in feel although both are overrun with people from the UK. I would recommend you see if you can find something temporary for a couple of weeks. Rent a car and check out both places. Go there both during the day and at night then see which you like better.

no worries , pas de soucis, je vais t'aider dans tes recherches, je navigue sur Manly assez souvent.
I'm a froggy myself.

Wolli Creek could be good, also the inner west around Marrickville would be fine too. I'm not sure of the rents in these areas but I guess its cheaper than Manly, Randwick or Bondi Junction.

Basically anywhere you pick has to be reasonably close to public transport, preferably trains though major bus routes are okay too.

BenKirk said..

Mobydisc said..



Wolli Creek could be good, also the inner west around Marrickville would be fine too. I'm not sure of the rents in these areas but I guess its cheaper than Manly, Randwick or Bondi Junction.



Basically anywhere you pick has to be reasonably close to public transport, preferably trains though major bus routes are okay too.

Expect to pay $450 a week for a very average one bedder in Manly.

with $450, you can afford 2 hours of Parking at Bondi Beach. And that s if you book on internet 6 months in advance

This should help:
nswwavesailing.org/spot-guide/
It provides a good guide to windsurfing in NSW.

Whatever you do just get a car... I have come to the conclusion that if you live in Sydney not having a car is just no fun.

Alex,

For flat water intermediate sailing, very hard to beat Kyeemagh on Botany Bay for summer NE seabreeze action.

I think you're gonna need a car anyway, so no need to live right on the beach. It's too expensive anyway.

You need to go to work everyday, but only sail once or twice a week, so you might be better off living close to a train station for convenient travel to the city, and then driving to the Bay on weekends to sail.

Check out the Illawarra line (blue one on this map- transportnsw.info/). You could pick anywhere from Wolli Creek to Oatley and have between 15 to 30 minutes train to city, and 10 to 20 minute drive to Botany Bay. An alternative is to live closer to Cronulla beach for surfing. Still only 15 to 20 minutes drive to Kyeemagh to sail, but the train trip to the city will then be around 50 minutes.

Two bedroom unit will be maybe around $400 to $500 rent per week near Mortdale or Penshurst, Kogarah, Rockdale, and get more expensive as you move closer to the city.

In a big southerly, the water isn't too flat on Botany Bay either!

You'll might find living at Cronulla more fun though, more cafe culture, etc., the rest of the blue line is more quiet family suburbs.

Regards,
Harrow.

roberto said..
Cronulla and Culture in the same sentence! You don't read that very often Harrow!

LOL, might not quite be the Parisian experience.

Hey man, the above posts have outlined some sweet ideas, cronulla is a great place ( Im assuming you dont look Lebanese and enjoy a little poo in your icecream), I thought you mentioned you were maybe looking for cheaper options rather than renting a single place yourself, if so, there is heaps of boarding houses at randwick, which is very close to city, bondi and pretty close to botany, about 200 a week for a biggish room in a cleaner boarding house, if not i recommend sharing with people, there is always people renting a room, you wont need furniture, and if you make the right choice, the people in the house will be helpful, Sydney is expensive man, make sure you get up to speed on your mandarin, good luck

You're be pushing it to get a 2 bedded with a garage in the east.

AlexFR said..



I have to say that I am a bit lazy and would rather take my car on week ends to go sailing than speding an hour a day in a train to go to work!

Don't limit yourself to the weekend. You'll finish work at maybe 5.00pm, the summer seabreezes are sailable until 8.30pm. A 35 minute power-napping train ride from work to a beachside home leaves a better option for a quick sail than a 5 minute trip home and then the prospect of maybe an hour of peak hour traffic with your gear on the roof?

Firstly I would like to say that I agree with Krusty and also think that Cronulla would be the best place to live for a windsurfer. However I have just re-read your post and noticed you where coming from Feb to August. The sea breezes on the northern beaches are always weaker than Cronulla way normally by about 10 knots, but they will start to die out in March and finish in April. (Still plenty of warm weather but the temp difference between the water and the land gets closer together and the wind weakens). You will probably find that during the period you are staying there will not be a lot of wind and when there is it will be from the South and occasionally from the West during the later part of your stay. North Harbour (where the Manly ferry pulls in) can be sailed in a Southerly but you may need a large slalom board to do it with as launching can be tricky. Quite a few guys also sail off Clontarf in SE which is the prevailing wind for the period of your stay. Manly is a great place to live however and the ferry trip very stress free. The surfing at Manly is pretty good however a bit crowed a lot of time, but not much agro that I have witnessed. I would not place too much emphasis on windsurfing as the winds are likely to be light. If you see a big Southerly coming on the weekend it may be worth a trip South to Sanctuary Point where there is waist deep water and learner friendly place. For prices on real-estate have a look at realestate.com.au and share accommodation on gumtree.com.au There are two ferry services the fast ferry (18min trip) and the Manly ferry (30min trip) to Circular Quay.

So basically I'll be able to really enjoy for two months and then it will be only occasional sailing?

Well that seems fair enough to buy a gear!