Bherwerre Beach (NSW 449) is the longest, highest energy beach on the south coast. The 7 km long beach occupies much of Wreck Bay, a 9 km wide south-facing bay bordered by St Georges Head to the east. Sailing ships heading up to Sydney were wary of this beach as they endeavoured to stay far enough seaward to clear the bay and its eastern heads. The beach is bordered by a 30 m high rocky headland in the north and the mouth of Sussex Inlet to the south, while it is backed by the largest transgressive dunes south of the Myall Lakes. These now vegetated dunes extend up to 4 km inland, to heights of 50 m and are largely backed by St Georges Basin. The beach can be reached on foot via a 400 m long track from the Cave Beach camping area, and in the south off gravel road that leads to the small camps at Christian Minde and Lumeah. The long beach in between can only be accessed on foot.
The beach receives all swell out of the east and southeast with the waves averaging 1.6 m. These combine with the fine to medium beach sand to produce a double bar system the length of the beach. The inner bar is usually attached and cut by rips every 200-300 m (Fig. 4.341), resulting in up to 30 rips along the beach, while the outer bar has more widely spaced rips and a deep trough. There is a permanent rip against the northern rocks, while at the southern end the shifting tidal shoals and channels of Sussex Inlet create additional variations in the surf.
Beach Length: 7km
General Hazard Rating:
7/10
Patrols
There are currently no services provided by Surf Life Saving Australia for this beach. Please take the time to browse the Surf Safety section of this website to learn more about staying safe when swimming at Australian beaches.
Click here to visit general surf education information.
SLSA provides this information as a guide only. Surf conditions are variable and therefore this information should not be relied upon as a substitute for observation of local conditions and an understanding of your abilities in the surf. SLSA reminds you to always swim between the red and yellow flags and never swim at unpatrolled beaches. SLSA takes all care and responsibility for any translation but it cannot guarantee that all translations will be accurate.