My Coast - Pearl Beach
The A-Z of the Central Coast, NSW, Australia
Welcome to the fifteenth installment of my photo blog exploring my local area, the Central Coast. This week I have broken with tradition and skipped a letter. I will return to "O", but this week's destination is Pearl Beach.
P-Pearl Beach
Pearl Beach is a picturesque suburb at the southern end of the Central Coast. It is located south of Umina Beach, which it is separated from by the ridge on which Mt Ettalong sits upon. It is a very small, exclusive suburb with a population of around 500.
Looking north up Pearl beach to Mt Ettalong
Pearl Beach is steeped in indigenous history, but this is not reflected in the commemorative plaques, which bear reference to the white settlers Captain Arthur Phillip and Captain James Cook back in the 1700's. The houses in the area are a mix of holiday homes and luxury residences, with the average house price coming in above the $1m mark.
“Pearls on the Beach” Restaurant
There is a cafe and general store to cater for the locals and holidaymakers. If you fancy eating more upmarket food, there is Pearls on the Beach. This is a fine dining experience in a beach house. The menu looks amazing and I want to go and try the food one night with my wife. It specializes in seafood and meat, as well as having some mouthwatering sweet treats for dessert.
Looking back to the beach from the rocks
The main feature of Pearl Beach, as the name would suggest, is the beach. The golden sands stretch up to the foot of Mt Ettalong on the north side and round to the calmer south end by the swimming pool, which is protected by Lion Island.
The ocean pool at Pearl Beach
The north end of the beach is used by bodyboarders, as the waves are bigger. You have to be careful swimming at the beach as it can be dangerous for small children as there is a bit of a shelf not far out from the shore which can cause waves to break unpredictably. The best bet is to use the ocean water pool.
The rocks by the pool
I arrived at Pearl Beach to take the shots for this post at 5am as I wanted to photograph sunrise from the rocks so as to get an unobscured view. It is a really invigorating way to start the day. I walked out on the rocks past the swimming pool and found my ideal spot, only to find that as it was a perfectly still morning I had plenty of mozzies for company! Unperturbed I managed to get a couple of decent shots despite it being a cloudless morning. There was some good colour in the sky about 30 minutes before sunrise. After the sun came up I had an explore around the rocks before I packed up and headed home for breakfast.
The glow before sunrise looking out to the ocean
Thank you for taking the time to read this and my previous posts. I really appreciate all your kind comments and likes over the course of the year.
I am very excited as we are going away on our family summer road trip to Victoria in a couple of weeks time, so this will be my last post for the year. I hope you all have a safe and happy Christmas and I look forward to talking to you all again in the new year.