Bilgola Beach

Bilgola is easy to miss if you’re not looking for it, which is exactly how locals like it. The turn-off is the famous Bilgola Bends, a sharp bend off Barrenjoey Road that winds down through rainforest-covered headland to a small crescent of golden sand you wouldn’t know was there from the main road.

There’s a rock pool at the southern end for calmer swimming, a surf club that runs a proper local carnival calendar, and a kiosk that does a decent coffee without ever feeling like it’s trying to be anything more than that. Tucked between the busier villages of Avalon and Newport, Bilgola stays quiet on its own terms — one of the true hidden pockets of the Northern Beaches.