My Coast – Forresters Beach

The A-Z of the Central Coast, NSW, Australia

Welcome to the sixth instalment of my fortnightly photo blog exploring my local area, the Central Coast. This week’s destination is Forresters Beach.

F-Forresters Beach

Forresters Beach is a small coastal suburb located between Wamberal and Bateau Bay. It is the northerly most suburb in the City of Gosford area and is situated 15km (9 miles) northeast of Gosford. There are approximately 2,500 residents who call Forresters Beach home. The suburb was named after Robert Forrester who purchased 50 acres of land there way back in 1861.

---

 

The offshore reef creates awesome surf breaks

 

---

The majority of the population is made up of families and retirees, many of whom reside in the Forresters Beach Retirement Village. This is a purpose built village constructed over 10 years ago and provides villa accommodation in landscaped surroundings, offering plenty of entertainments for its residents.

---

 

Dawn on the rocks

 

---

The rest of the suburb is a mix of residential, there are some truly amazing properties sat in elevated positions on clifftops, and retail. The small retail centre is made up of several shops and places to eat. Di Matteo’s is my favourite. I can vouch for the quality of their breakfast and lunch options. This is the cafe that is the choice of photographers after a weekend sunrise shoot! We also went there for my birthday family lunch recently.

---

 

Early morning sunflare looking out over the rock shelf

 

---

For people travelling through or staying in the area, there is accommodation at the Forresters Beach Resort. As well as being a hotel it is also a wedding and conference venue, boasting a 9 hole golf course, gym and a heated pool, perfect for swimming throughout winter!

---

Path leading down to the beach

---

The reason most people are attracted to the suburb is the beach. As a photographer, I love it because there is a rock shelf at the southern end of the beach, which on the right morning captures sunlight reflections perfectly. The beach sweeps up to the north with the properties perched on the cliffs enjoying spectacular views out to the Pacific Ocean. There is a lookout point by the beach car park that gives elevated views looking over both ends of the beach.

---

Looking north up the beach from the lookout

---

There is a reef just offshore which serves up some spectacular breaks for the local surfers. After the recent fierce storms we encountered a few weeks back, you can see the shape of the beach has changed as the sand got relocated en masse by the huge 4-5m swells that were battering the coastline over a couple of days. Coastal erosion is a real problem on the Central Coast and the lower lying residential properties in the next suburb down in Wamberal bore the brunt of the recent storms. It certainly makes you think twice about owning an absolute beachfront property, even if you can afford it!

---

Onshore wave breaks

---

The northern side of Forresters Beach is part of  Wyrrabalong National Park. Wyrrabalong meaning “headland looking over the sea” is a word of the Darkinjung people who used to occupy the coastal strip between Bateau Bay and Forresters Beach many years ago. This forms the southern section of the park which is made up of sandstone cliffs and rock platforms, ideal for fishing and exploring when the tide permits. Animals native to the park include Goannas, which are a favourite of me and the kids, Bandicoots and Fantails. The park is vast and is split into two sections. The northern section of the park stretches all the way up the coastline from The Entrance up to Norah Head, which I will cover in a later blog post.

---

Thank you very much for reading. If you would like to be notified of my next post in 2 weeks time, where the destination will be Gosford, please click the link on the right.

---