Manly by Ferry From Sydney's Circular Quay
Part of the full Sydney's Harbour Foreshore: A Layover From SYD
Manly, a beach suburb on the northern side of Sydney Harbour 30 minutes by ferry from Circular Quay, fills a longer layover with snorkelling among blue gropers in Cabbage Tree Bay, a hired kayak on Manly Cove and the Corso, the pedestrian street that runs from the ferry wharf across to the ocean beach.
Snorkelling with blue gropers in Cabbage Tree Bay
Cabbage Tree Bay is the small bay tucked into the headland at the southern end of Manly Beach, and Shelly Beach sits at its far end, about 15 minutes’ walk from the Corso along Marine Parade. The whole bay, 17 hectares of rocky reef, seagrass and kelp, has been a no-take aquatic reserve since 2002, so nothing can be fished or collected, and it holds more than 160 species of fish. The one people come to see is the eastern blue groper, a large, slow-moving wrasse, the males bright blue, that swims in close to snorkellers.
A guided snorkel tour with a walk round the Shelly Beach headland, bookable through a tours and activities platform, includes an hour in the water. Shelly Beach itself is sheltered from the ocean swell by the headland, so the water there is usually calm even when Manly Beach has surf.
Manly Wharf, the Corso and the ocean beach
Manly Wharf stands on Manly Cove, the harbour-side beach where the ferries come in, and the water in the cove is the flat, sheltered side of Manly, facing back up the harbour rather than out to sea. The wharf building is a white pavilion with a clock tower over the entrance, with cafes and bars along its harbour edge.
Kayaks and stand-up paddleboards are hired by the hour from the wharf and from the West Esplanade just west of it, between 9am and 5pm every day; an hour’s kayak hire can be booked ahead through the same kind of platform. An hour is enough to paddle along the cove and look back at the harbour from water level.
The Corso is a pedestrian street about 450 metres long that crosses the neck of sand between Manly Cove and Manly Beach. It follows a track Aboriginal people had worn between the two shores; the developer Henry Gilbert Smith laid it out as a boardwalk in 1855 and named it after the Via del Corso in Rome, meaning it to be a promenade for day-trippers off the harbour steamers. It has been mostly car-free since the 1970s and is now paved and planted with palms, with shops and cafes the whole way.
At the far end the street opens straight onto Manly Beach, the long ocean beach backed by a row of Norfolk Island pines, with surf on most days and flags marking the patrolled stretch.
The ferry across Sydney Harbour, out and back
The regular ferry leaves from Wharf 3 at Circular Quay roughly every 20 minutes, takes about 30 minutes to reach Manly Wharf, and costs about A$8.40 with an Opal card or a contactless bank card; a separate, quicker fast ferry makes the same crossing and takes the same cards. The route passes the Opera House, Fort Denison and Garden Island before crossing the open water inside the Heads, where the Pacific swell is felt on board. The big ferries board over a gangway in a few minutes, and on a sunny weekend the queue on the wharf and the seats on the outside decks fill quickly, with nowhere to put a suitcase that is not an aisle.
Manly has no train, so the way to the airport starts with the same crossing in reverse. The ferry back to Circular Quay takes about 30 minutes, and Circular Quay station, directly behind the wharves, is on the T8 Airport & South Line, whose trains run round the City Circle and on to Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport (SYD) in about 20 minutes to the International Airport station under Terminal 1. With a wait at each end, allow about an hour and a quarter from Manly Wharf to the terminal. The airport stations add a station access fee close to A$19 for an adult on top of the train fare, and Sydney Airport suggests being at the terminal three hours before an international departure, so catching a ferry from Manly four and a half hours before your flight leaves room for a missed sailing.
The bag stays in the city, and the only thing that comes back across the harbour with you is sand.
Frequently asked questions
What should I do during a layover near Manly in Sydney?
Take the ferry across the harbour, which is half the point, then choose between a guided snorkel in Cabbage Tree Bay off Shelly Beach or an hour in a hired kayak on Manly Cove, both worth booking ahead. Walk the Corso from the wharf to the ocean beach either way; it is free and takes a few minutes. Allow five hours or more, since the ferry out and back takes an hour of it.
How long is the ferry from Circular Quay to Manly?
About 30 minutes each way on the regular Sydney ferry from Wharf 3 at Circular Quay, which runs roughly every 20 minutes and costs about A$8.40 on an Opal card or a contactless bank card. A separate fast ferry makes the same crossing more quickly and accepts the same cards.
Is Shelly Beach in Manly good for swimming with kids?
Usually, yes. Shelly Beach sits inside the headland at the end of Cabbage Tree Bay, out of the ocean swell that hits Manly Beach, so the water is normally flat and shallow at the edges. The whole bay is a no-take aquatic reserve, and eastern blue gropers and other reef fish come in close enough to see in a mask from the sand.
Does the Manly ferry pass the Opera House?
Yes. It leaves Circular Quay from the wharves beside Bennelong Point and passes the Opera House, Farm Cove and Fort Denison on the way out. If you would rather see those on foot, the harbour walk from The Rocks round the Opera House to Mrs Macquarie's Chair covers the same stretch of shore from land.