A remote, car-free beachside settlement of about 50 residents (2021 Census, SAL11751) on the western shore of Pittwater, surrounded on the land side by Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park and roughly 43 km north of the Sydney CBD. Commonly called just 'Mackerel Beach', it has no roads and no vehicles — every arrival is by Palm Beach Ferry, water taxi or private boat — and about 111 private dwellings, most of them weekenders and holiday homes occupied 'by many people not listed as residents during school holidays and weekends'. Settled as a dairy farm in 1823 and subdivided from 1920, it has grown from fibro fishermen's cottages into a mix of original shacks and waterfront mansions, giving it an isolated, bush-and-beach holiday-haven character rather than a conventional commuter suburb.
At a Glance
| Field | Details |
|---|---|
| Region | Northern Beaches |
| Council (LGA) | Northern Beaches Council |
| Postcode | 2108 |
| Distance to Sydney CBD | Travel to the Sydney CBD is multi-stage: roughly a 10-minute ferry crossing from Mackerel Beach to Palm Beach Wharf… |
| Median house price | See price map article |
Transport
Great Mackerel Beach has no road access and no roads or vehicles; access is by the Palm Beach Ferry (Fantasea Cruising's Palm Beach Ferry service, route PLMB, which crosses Pittwater from Palm Beach Wharf and calls at Mackerel Beach en route to Currawong and The Basin), by water taxi, or by private boat. Cars are left parked near the ferry terminal at Palm Beach, and the trip to the rest of Sydney is 'a short boat trip to Palm Beach, then a 43km journey by car or bus'. There is a public wharf at the beach, but visiting recreational boats may not tie up at it and no visitor moorings are available.
Schools
There are no schools of any kind in Great Mackerel Beach. School-age children from the settlement travel by ferry and road to schools on the eastern shore of Pittwater (e.g. the Palm Beach/Avalon area), which lie outside this suburb.
Shopping & Amenities
Essentially none: Northern Beaches Council states 'there are no public facilities at Mackerel Beach' — no shops, public toilets, barbecue or picnic facilities, or drinking water; there is a public telephone booth near the wharf and residents' rubbish is collected twice weekly. There is no reticulated water supply or sewerage — houses rely on rainwater tanks and septic systems — while electricity and telephone/internet are connected. Community life centres on the Mackerel Beach Association (MBA), a body of about sixty-five property owners that represents the community to Council.
Parks & Outdoors
Great Mackerel Beach itself (also called Mackerel Beach) is the suburb's heart — a soft, golden-sand Pittwater beach at the foot of bushland, with a creek running from subtropical rainforest and mangroves out through a sand delta at its northern end. The settlement sits inside/beside Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park, which surrounds it on the land side, and Pittwater provides swimming, kayaking, sailing and fishing. Bushwalking tracks link to neighbouring beaches — the scenic Basin-to-Mackerel walk connects Mackerel Beach to The Basin campground via the national park (Wildwalks) — and Little Mackerel Beach (often called Currawong Beach) lies just south along the shore. The area is a Wildlife Protection Area with a history of dog restrictions; a leash-free dog area operates at the northern end of the beach near the wharf.
Property Market
For a comparison of Great Mackerel Beach against the rest of Sydney, see our Sydney property price map. EXTREMELY thin market — data must be treated with caution. The suburb has only ~111 private dwellings, many held as weekenders/holiday homes, so sales are few and medians are statistically unstable: Wikipedia notes the median 'fluctuates (statistically, due to the small number of properties)', citing ~A$550,000 in 2013. Recent recorded sales on Domain span a huge range — $1,200,000 (22 Monash Avenue) to $4,100,000 (8 Ross Smith Parade) and $5,370,000 (7 Ross Smith Parade) — while listings in Sep 2026 were guided around $1.2M–$1.8M. Buyer motivation is lifestyle/holiday — Domain's 2017 story framed Great Mackerel Beach as a remote alternative for buyers priced out of the eastern suburbs, with only about 30 of the houses permanently lived in. 2021 Census profile: population 50, median age ~57, roughly 76.7% of homes owner-occupied, many dwellings unoccupied at census time. Any single-figure 'median' for this suburb should be read as a rough guide, not a robust statistic.
New Developments
Minimal — development is effectively constrained to nil: the land was subdivided from 1920 (over 100 houses have been built since), there is no road access and the settlement is hemmed in by Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park and Pittwater, so there is no room or approval pathway for new subdivisions or large projects. Recent change consists of renovation and extension of the original fibro fishermen's cottages and weekenders into permanent and holiday homes, including waterfront mansions. No new developments are recorded for the suburb.
Jobs & Local Economy
Effectively none locally — with a population of only 50 (2021 Census), dominated by older age groups (median age ~57; largest group 70–79 at 2021) and with no shops or businesses, local employment is negligible. Census data shows employed residents mainly in trades-type occupations, and the suburb's economy is water-based — ferry and water-taxi services, private boating and holiday-home caretaking/letting are the only local activity. Working residents effectively commute by ferry to Palm Beach and then by road to jobs elsewhere on the Northern Beaches or in Sydney.
Nearby Suburbs
Currawong Beach, Palm Beach
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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