A tiny, remote, road-inaccessible beach settlement on the western shore of Pittwater, 42 km north of the Sydney CBD, at the edge of Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park, beside Great Mackerel Beach and north of The Basin, with Coasters Retreat and Palm Beach nearby. Originally Little Mackerel Beach, settled from 1823; in 1949 the Port Jackson & Manly Steamship Company sold it to the Labor Council of NSW, which ran it as the Currawong Workers' Holiday Camp — the heritage core of today's settlement. Sold to developers in 2007, the site was bought back by the NSW Government in 2011, declared 'Currawong State Park' in 2015, and its heritage-listed 1950s cottages are today operated by Northern Beaches Council as Currawong Beach Cottages holiday accommodation, 'accessible only by water'. A group of local residents, led by actor Shane Withington, fought through the Friends of Currawong to protect the site from development.
At a Glance
| Field | Details |
|---|---|
| Region | Northern Beaches |
| Council (LGA) | Northern Beaches Council |
| Postcode | 2108 |
| Distance to Sydney CBD | The suburb is 42 km north of the Sydney CBD. Reaching the city means taking the ferry from Currawong wharf (~25 minutes) to Palm Beach… |
| Median house price | See price map article |
Transport
No road access — the suburb is water-access only: Northern Beaches Council says Currawong 'can only be accessed by water', via a 25-minute ferry ride from Palm Beach Wharf on Barrenjoey Road, or by barge or water taxi. Palm Beach Ferries' timetable serves Palm Beach – Bennetts – Bonnie Doon – The Basin – Currawong – Mackerel on its Pittwater route (Palm Beach Ferries; Fantasea). Wikipedia categorises Currawong Beach among road-inaccessible communities in Australia, and 2007 state government assurances included that no road would be built through the national park to link the site with West Head Road.
Schools
None — Currawong Beach has no school, preschool or childcare centre within the suburb; it is a holiday-cottage settlement with no significant permanent residential population. Childcare directories list the nearest facilities, such as Palm Beach War Memorial Kindergarten, across Pittwater in Palm Beach (Careforkids).
Shopping & Amenities
There is no shop, cafe or commercial precinct — the settlement consists essentially of the heritage Currawong Workers' Holiday Camp cottages (NSW State Heritage Register, listed 2009) run by Northern Beaches Council as self-contained holiday accommodation, with shared BBQ facilities, a tennis court and volleyball courts and a small five-hole golf course, plus a managers' residence.
Parks & Outdoors
The key draw is the beach itself: a roughly 300 m stretch of sandy shore on Pittwater with an untouched, serene character and a tidal creek at its northern end. The suburb is enclosed by the bushland of Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park — the park forms the suburb's western boundary and surrounds the settlement on its landward sides, with walking tracks such as the Coasters Retreat to Currawong Beach trail through the park, and the neighbouring beaches of The Basin and Great Mackerel Beach reachable along the shore. The cleared holiday-cottage precinct, known as Currawong State Park, is the only developed area, with sandstone cliffs of the adjacent national park rising behind the grassy settlement.
Property Market
For a comparison of Currawong Beach against the rest of Sydney, see our Sydney property price map. No reliable property medians exist: onthehouse records Currawong Beach as having just 1 property, with median house/unit value, growth and rent all 'N/A', and no properties listed for sale or rent. The suburb is almost entirely government- and heritage-owned holiday-cottage estate within the Currawong State Park / Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park setting, so there is no meaningful private housing market — the occasional private cottage trade is too thin for any tracker to publish a median. Suggested '$1.5–2.4M' style figures could not be verified from any data source and should not be stated as fact.
New Developments
Development is minimal by design: following the state government's 2011 purchase, the site was declared Currawong State Park (2015) and restoration of the 1950s-era cottages and the 'Midholme' homestead has been the main activity — including a $1 million NSW Government grant announced in 2017 for restoration and modernisation of the heritage cottages, carried out with Northern Beaches Council. Earlier development proposals, including a 1990s plan to lease the land to Maharishi TM Incorporated and the 2007 sale to developers Allen Linz, were aborted or reversed.
Jobs & Local Economy
Employment is minimal and local/water-based: tourism and hospitality around the Currawong Beach Cottages holiday operation, with caretaker/management roles on site; there is no retail or office base in the suburb. Residents and workers otherwise rely on Palm Beach and the wider Pittwater/Northern Beaches economy across the water, or the city.
Nearby Suburbs
Great Mackerel Beach, Coasters Retreat, Palm Beach (across Pittwater), Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park (to the west)
Sources & method
Researched 5 September 2026 from named public sources — census and government records, transport authorities, council and planning documents — plus published sales data. Where sources disagree on a figure, the guide says so rather than picking one.
Sources cited in this guide:
Corrections are welcome — if something here is out of date or wrong, tell us and we will fix it.
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