La Perouse
La Perouse is a South-Eastern Suburb of Sydney. It is known for its old military outpost at Bare Island and the Kamay-Botany Bay National Park. Congwong Bay Beach, Little Congwong Beach, and the beach at Frenchmans Bay provide protected swimming areas in Botany Bay and its great sunsets at Bare Island.
Understand
La Perouse was where one of the first European settlements in Australia in 1788, first by Arthur Phillip and then by the French explorer Jean-François de Galaup, comte de Lapérouse, where the town was named after.
La Perouse was known as "Gooriwal" to the Muruora-dial people of the area.
Get in
The suburb of La Perouse is about 14 km southeast of the Sydney central business district, in the City of Randwick and is five minutes away from Maroubra, a popular beach side area.
By car
La Perouse is on the extreme southern end of the former State Route 70 and ANZAC Parade; around 30 min from Randwick and also 10 min away from nearby Maroubra via Anzac Parade.
La Perouse is also only 10 min away from Botany, and 15 min away from the airport. It isn't uncommon to see a plane flying that low
By bus
La Perouse is served by the 394 from Central station to the 1 Anzac Parade Terminus. every 1/2 hour during normal times. Additionally, you can take the limited express service L94 from Circular Quay. Bus timetables are always written at the bus stop you are at. However, with frequent services, there's no need for you to look at the timetable.
By ferry
There is no ferry to La Perouse, but there is a plan to reinstate a ferry service (F10) to Kurnell which was ceased in 1974 due to a storm.
The ferry wharf proposal
As of 2021, there is a proposal to build a 100-m wharf at La Perouse. This should take about two years to build.
Get around
By walking
Once you're there at La Perouse, you'll most likely want to walk after. Considering most of the attractions there are within walking distance, you wouldn't want to take your car out anyway.
By car
Although you can take your car around La Perouse, you wouldn't exactly want to as most of La Perouse can be accessed within a mile's reach and the more important places within 300-m reach.
By golf buggy
Golf buggy (or golf carts) may be alright to use in Kamay-Botany Bay National Park, it certainly isn’t suitable for the roads outside the national park as it has no doors which isn't suitable for Aussie roads. And please don't strip on these buggys if your going for a nude swim at Little Congwong beach.
See
- 1 Bare Island Fort, Bare Island Rd. 7AM-7PM. The fortified Bare Island is linked by a footbridge. Containing former fortification facilities, Bare Island was a war veterans' home and museum, and is now a historic site that is significant as an almost completely intact example of late 19th-century coastal defence technology.
- 2 Old Macquarie Watchtower. La Perouse's 19th-century Customs tower, used to combat smugglers.
- 3 La Perouse Museum. A museum with a mixture of Aboriginal and French artefacts. The La Perouse Museum contains maps, scientific instruments and relics recovered from French explorers. A walking trail from the museum to the Endeavour Lighthouse has views across the bay to the site of Captain Cook's Landing Place. The museum was built as cable station to house the operation of the first submarine telegraph communications cable laid between Australia and Nelson in New Zealand. This cable also served as the first link in telegraph communications between New Zealand and the rest of the world. After the cessation of telegraph communications, the building served as a home for orphans run by the Salvation Army, with the children attending La Perouse Public School when this first opened in the early 1950s. Free.
- 4 La Perouse Monument. The large Lapérouse Monument is an obelisk erected in 1825 by the French and is close to the museum.
- 5 Molineaux Point Lookout. Sunrise-sunset. This lookout is private land and is bound by additional security measures. These include no photos, videos, rock fishing or flying drones. A breach of these rules will result in a $1600 fine.
- 6 Henry Head Lighthouse. A nice spot to sit and watch the sunset. Although a nice spot to sit and watch the sunset, the place is heavily touched by graffiti and can be easily called the Australian headquarters of graffiti.
- 7 Browns Rock.
- Cruwee Cove Beach.
- La Perouse Congwong Bay Beach. Little Congwong Beach is an unofficial and secluded clothing-optional beach at La Perouse, which is reached only by walking through the Botany Bay national park. Little Congwong Beach has been used peacefully by naturists since at least the early 1980s. Make your way to La Perouse on Botany Bay and park in the car park just north of Bare Island. Walk down the steps to Congwong Beach then left across the rocks to Little Congwong Beach, the second bay. This beach is very popular on summer weekends. Little Congwong is small, and has been described as the most beautiful beach oasis in Sydney. If you're a Victorian, make the most of it in New South Wales as this is illegal in Victoria.
- Little Congwong Beach. As above
- Cape Bank Beach. Another popular spot for nude swimming but not as popular as Little Congwong beach.
- Visitors can learn about the indigenous significance of the area from the Aboriginal people of the area, with boomerang-throwing demonstrations often held on weekends and Aboriginal guided tours operating from Yarra Bay House during the week. Aboriginal artefacts are produced and sold by locals or can be bought at the Eora shop.
- The 8 Snake Man of La Perouse. has an outdoor reptile show is also a tourist attraction in the pit, at The Loop, on Sunday afternoons and public holidays at 1:30PM. The reptile shows were begun by the legendary Professor Fox in the late 19th century and resumed by George Cann just after the Great War in 1918. The tradition was continued by members of the Cann family, and other snake handlers since.
- 9 Kamay Botany Bay National Park. At La Perouse has a museum explaining the interesting history of the area. The Kamay Botany Bay National Park takes its name from the Kamay people (the Spear people) of the nearby Cook's river and Botany Bay. There are walks and great views over the ocean and the bay. The park contains rich marine environments and remnants of the heathland vegetation which Banks and Solander, Cook's botanists, first studied in 1770. You can explore the Banks-Solander track, with its fascinating insights into the once-widespread vegetation communities that Cook's botanists explored in 1770. Or learn about Australia's Aboriginal history and European Colonisation, told in the Lapérouse Museum and the Visitor Centre. Enjoy the Cape Baily Coast Walk, with its windswept heaths, historic sites and spectacular coastal views. All easily accessible by car or bus.
- Frenchmans Beach at La Perouse. This is a swimming spot on Botany Bay. It is a fairly average beach, but has an interesting westerly outlook which allows you see the sun setting over the bay, which is very unusual in Sydney, where looking over the water usually means you are facing east. Accessible by car or bus.
Do
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Walk
La Perouse is home to four walking trails, all in Kamay-Botany Bay National Park
- Congwong Walking Track.
- Henry Head Walking Track.
- Jennifer Street Boardwalk.
- Cape Banks Firetrail.
Golf
La Perouse is home to the most golf courses in Sydney as a ratio; the overall is about 4:1. However, you will need a pass to enter these clubs
- New South Wales Golf Club. A links–style golf course facing Botany Bay and the Tasman Sea.
- St. Michaels Golf Club.
- 1 Cullen's Driving Range, 2 Jennifer St, Little Bay. You will need a membership to play golf here, like any other golf course.
Scuba diving
The area around the La Perouse peninsula is considered to be one of the best scuba diving sites in NSW. Bare Island has a number of dive sites, some of which extend to over 19 metres in depth. The reef around the area is extensive. There are also a number of dives around the mainland at La Perouse. Little Congwong too is popular for snorkelling. This beach has been an often contested site for nude bathing.
Scuba divers here can see the common (weedy) sea dragon, red Indianfish, pygmy pipefish and big belly sea horses as well as fish normally found on dive sites in the Sydney-Botany Bay area.
Buy
- 1 Eora Shop, 1585 Anzac Parade, ☏ +61 2 9066 8075. A proudly female-led Aboriginal art shop for all the art lovers.
However, you can buy other Aboriginal items by locals including boomerangs
Eat
- 1 The Boatshed La Perouse. Like the seaview? Like ships? Like eating? This is the place. On the weekend, you will want to go early though as it does get crowded after 12:30PM, and especially on public holidays.
- Battered at the Bay.
- Danny's Seafood La Perouse. 11AM-9PM.
- 2 Geovanni La Pizza. The only French pizza shop in the area.
- Bear Grill and cafe. The one and only café in La Perouse. You have no choice but to come for your coffee. But it served in a French way
Drink
There are no bars or pubs in La Perouse. The closest bars are either at the Bayside restaurant (in La Perouse, which is also a restaurant) or at nearby Maroubra.
Sleep
At this point in time, there are no hotels or any sort of accommodation in La Perouse. The nearest hotels are in Maroubra, 5km away from La Perouse.
- 1 Southend Hotel Maroubra, 32 Curtin Cres, Maroubra. Southend hotel is the closest hotel from La Perouse at 4.57 km away. It's advisable that you bring a car into the eastern suburbs and once here, bring your car to La Perouse.
Connect
Telstra, Optus and Vodafone all have either 3G or 4G whilst Telstra has 5G in the area
Go next
North
- Bondi Beach is only a mere half an hour away from La Perouse. Be aware that parking can be a problem in Bondi, so it's better off going by public transport.
- Vaucluse is on the opposite side of the eastern suburbs, again with a French name.
- Manly is a must-go in Sydney
- Sydney Harbour National Park
East
- Go out sailing east, until you hit South America, specifically Peru or the Galapagos Islands.
West
- Sans Souci is another town/suburb in Sydney with a French name and just north of the Captain Cook Bridge.
- Mascot – A popular spot for plane spotting.
South
- Royal National Park – Australia's oldest national park
- Kamay-Botany Bay National Park – the southern part is where Sydney's desalination plant is, and was particularly used during 2019 when in drought.
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