Australia has NO private beaches

There are no private beaches in Australia. Any land that the high tide touches is Crown Land. This means that people can use the beaches for recreational and social uses.

If you are building a beachside property, your land ends at the high water mark, meaning you cannot block the beach access to the public.

In some countries land owners can block off parts of their beach and restrict its use to people. In the USA I was visiting a beach and was surprised to see that a resort had built a 1.8 metre tall (6 foot) fence that extended from their buildings into the water. All the beach in front of the resort was private for the resort guests. Whilst this may seem normal in some countries, Australians are fortunate in that they get to enjoy some of the most beautiful beaches in the world, without the hindrance of private ownership.

More than 85% of Australians live within 50 kilometres of a beach. All seven of the capital cities are situated on the coast. The coastline stretches for 25,760 kilometres, with over 10,000 beaches.

Here are the top ten countries with the longest total coastlines, Australia is number 7.

1. Canada – 202,080 kms (125,567 miles)

2. Indonesia – 99,083 kms (61,567 miles)

3. Norway – 58,133 kms (36,122 miles)

4. Russia – 37,653 kms (23,396 miles)

5. Philippines – 26,289 kms (22,549 miles)

6. Japan – 29,751 kms (18,486 miles)

7. Australia 25,760 kms (16,007 miles)

8. United States – 19,924 kms (12,38 miles)

9. New Zealand – 15,134 kms (9,404 miles)

10. China – 14,500 kms (9,009 miles)

Living in Perth, Western Australia it is wonderful to be able to sit at the beach and watch the sun set over the ocean.

This morning I rode my bike to the beach, ordered a coffee and sat drinking it on the sand, listening to the waves, and trying to make shapes out of the clouds in the sky. Paradise in Springtime!