Hi guys!
Just a short presentation of myself: I am an engineering student in France and just got an internship in Sydney, planned to begin in February, until August.
I am really exicted about it as this should allow me to windsurf way more often than my I was able to in Paris! I am far away of being an advanced windsurfer but I can sail on my own, waterstart and planning are no longer issues but I am still working on my jibes (there is still a lot of work actually).....
But, to enjoy the most, I had to ask you guys the question: where should I rent a flat/house to be able to benefit from the best spots??
I will work right next to the circular quay (ferry station near the Opera House). I heard that Botany Bay is a great spot but it is quite far!
I was really considering living in Manly, as the ferry between there and my workplace only takes 30 minutes! But is it a great place to sail?
What's your opinion guys?
Thanks in advance for your help!
Peace
If you are an intermediate windsurfer looking for flatter water then your best bet is to sail at Kyeemagh on Botany Bay over summer. Sydney's eastern suburbs will be the best bet for you as there is a fair bit of accommodation around there, its halfway between your work and Kyeemagh and its a pretty happening place to live. Check out suburbs like Randwick and Bondi Junction. However the rent is very expensive in this area.
Hey Mobydisc, thank you for your answer!
sSadly I can't really afford an expensive rent. That's why I was considering Manly.
However, I learned to sail with a lot of waves (atlantic coast in France and also some sessions in the Canary islands) so I am not really especially looking for flat water (it is less fun by the way!) and I don't really mind falling often (I noticed that the worst the waves were, the fastest I learned..)
Are there any viable spots in Manly?
Hi Alex,
Manly ain't exactly cheap either. Hell nowhere in Sydney these days is cheap. As far as sailing is concerned some people sail in Southerly directions on the harbour side of Manly. I guess you could sail the ocean side in a NEer but you'll have to compete with a million and two people in the water and the wind is never really that strong.
As far as flat water is concerned I think Kyeemahg is the most universal spot in Sydney. It works great in a summer North Easter and the Southerlies can be fun as well. During Winter westerlies La Perouse is good. Kurnell is great in NW directions but it's a long drive unless you live in Cronulla.
You really need a car to get around. Public transport is a pain and taxies are too expensive.
BTW Manly and Bondi / Easter Suburbs are quite different in feel although both are overrun with people from the UK. I would recommend you see if you can find something temporary for a couple of weeks. Rent a car and check out both places. Go there both during the day and at night then see which you like better.
Hi !
Thanks for your answer. Actually I am talking so much about Manly because my cousin who is actually in Sydney for his studies wants to move there. However, he is a surfer, not windsurfer.
I would really like to be able to sail every week-end as soon as there is wind!
I fell like it will be complicated to live near the spots! Are there groups of windsurfer that do car sharing in the week-end to go sail? Maybe it will be the easiest solution!
This or buying a car. I checked and there is a lot of used models between 500 and 100$ which should do the job!
no worries , pas de soucis, je vais t'aider dans tes recherches, je navigue sur Manly assez souvent.
I'm a froggy myself.
Wolli creek.
Near the Airport
25min train to Circular Quay
5min drive to Kyeemagh for your windsurfing needs.
heaps of apartments.
Wolli Creek could be good, also the inner west around Marrickville would be fine too. I'm not sure of the rents in these areas but I guess its cheaper than Manly, Randwick or Bondi Junction.
Basically anywhere you pick has to be reasonably close to public transport, preferably trains though major bus routes are okay too.
Select to expand quoteMobydisc said..
Wolli Creek could be good, also the inner west around Marrickville would be fine too. I'm not sure of the rents in these areas but I guess its cheaper than Manly, Randwick or Bondi Junction.
Basically anywhere you pick has to be reasonably close to public transport, preferably trains though major bus routes are okay too.
Expect to pay $450 a week for a very average one bedder in Manly.
Select to expand quoteBenKirk said..Mobydisc said..Expect to pay $450 a week for a very average one bedder in Manly.
Wolli Creek could be good, also the inner west around Marrickville would be fine too. I'm not sure of the rents in these areas but I guess its cheaper than Manly, Randwick or Bondi Junction.
Basically anywhere you pick has to be reasonably close to public transport, preferably trains though major bus routes are okay too.
with $450, you can afford 2 hours of Parking at Bondi Beach. And that s if you book on internet 6 months in advance
Select to expand quoteDavMen said..
Wolli creek.
Near the Airport
25min train to Circular Quay
5min drive to Kyeemagh for your windsurfing needs.
heaps of apartments.
Wolli Creek is fine if you are a family and look for a "cheap house". I wouldn't move there if you are a student and want to have a life.
This should help:
nswwavesailing.org/spot-guide/
It provides a good guide to windsurfing in NSW.
I really don't see the attraction in Manly, neither cheapness nor worthy NE sailing spots.
Not a great suburb to live in, and one quickly gets tired with the perpetual fair on weekends.
The ferry ride is fun at first, but that drolerie wanes after a week or so.
Plus the Steyne sucks.
Since everything is dead expensive anyways, consider in-between CBD and B-bay.
The closer to the workplace, the more hassle to go sailing after work.
How about Dolls Pt - ride to the train at Hurstville, a bit less expensive than Manly.
Longer ride to work, but right near water for NEs. Good if you can leave work early.
Plus Kyeemagh and Kurnell not far for weekend winds..
Whatever you do just get a car... I have come to the conclusion that if you live in Sydney not having a car is just no fun.
I'm pretty certain the best place to live in sydney for a windsurfer is Cronulla! Wanda beach for wavesailing, kurnell for flat water, kyeemagh not to far either, the countless other cool spots like boat harbour, darook park and your still only a 45min train trip to sydney CBD. Cronulla is almost always windier than anywhere else in sydney and your also a very short drive to places like Gerroa and Windang for some epic wave sessions. Rent in cronulla is cheap compared to manly or bondi. I just moved back after living in the inner west and forgot how good we have it here. I wouldn't consider Manly at all for a windsurfer, my list would be cronulla, eastern suburbs, inner west and then manly/lower north shore.
Alex,
For flat water intermediate sailing, very hard to beat Kyeemagh on Botany Bay for summer NE seabreeze action.
I think you're gonna need a car anyway, so no need to live right on the beach. It's too expensive anyway.
You need to go to work everyday, but only sail once or twice a week, so you might be better off living close to a train station for convenient travel to the city, and then driving to the Bay on weekends to sail.
Check out the Illawarra line (blue one on this map- transportnsw.info/). You could pick anywhere from Wolli Creek to Oatley and have between 15 to 30 minutes train to city, and 10 to 20 minute drive to Botany Bay. An alternative is to live closer to Cronulla beach for surfing. Still only 15 to 20 minutes drive to Kyeemagh to sail, but the train trip to the city will then be around 50 minutes.
Two bedroom unit will be maybe around $400 to $500 rent per week near Mortdale or Penshurst, Kogarah, Rockdale, and get more expensive as you move closer to the city.
In a big southerly, the water isn't too flat on Botany Bay either!
You'll might find living at Cronulla more fun though, more cafe culture, etc., the rest of the blue line is more quiet family suburbs.
Regards,
Harrow.
Cronulla and Culture in the same sentence! You don't read that very often Harrow! 
Select to expand quoteroberto said..
Cronulla and Culture in the same sentence! You don't read that very often Harrow!
LOL, might not quite be the Parisian experience.
Since moving back to cronulla from the inner west im really quite suprised at how much it has changed. Definitely as Harrow noted it really does have a thriving cafe culture. I was greeted this morning to an newly opened artisan bake house, rather than the old bakery with coffee. Cronullas night life still has next to no appeal and after living a few minutes from Newtown, I cant get the same enthusiasm up for going to northies! I would almost prefer spending an hour of travel to go drinking in the inner city somewhere localy. There are a few ok places for a few drinks and a feed though.
Another great thing about cronulla is all the keen local sailors, theres almost always someone on the water when its on.
Hey man, the above posts have outlined some sweet ideas, cronulla is a great place ( Im assuming you dont look Lebanese and enjoy a little poo in your icecream
), I thought you mentioned you were maybe looking for cheaper options rather than renting a single place yourself, if so, there is heaps of boarding houses at randwick, which is very close to city, bondi and pretty close to botany, about 200 a week for a biggish room in a cleaner boarding house, if not i recommend sharing with people, there is always people renting a room, you wont need furniture, and if you make the right choice, the people in the house will be helpful, Sydney is expensive man, make sure you get up to speed on your mandarin
, good luck
Select to expand quoteMilsy said.. about 200 a week for a biggish room in a cleaner boarding house,
Might as well share a two bedroom unit for about the same price though (ie. $450 split 2 ways), especially if you can get one with a garage to store your gear.
Hey guys!
Just came back from my christmas holidays and saw all your posts! Thanks a lot for all those information. I'll just need to fix an Excel file with all that stuff or I'll never remember it!
Anyway, thanks for the help, I really feel like I'll meet some cool people in Sydney.
Concerning the living, I would actually rather live in a roomate than on my own!
I understood that my two options are Bondi / Randwick, which are great because quite near my workplace or the south like Cronulla which seems to be reaaaaally far.
I have to say that I am a bit lazy and would rather take my car on week ends to go sailing than speding an hour a day in a train to go to work!
Anyway, my salary will be 1250$ (btw, what is the tax rate in Sydney?), do you think this could cover a flat in Bondi? With a parking spot?
Also, I saw a lot of cars between 500-1000$. This is quite affordable (moreover, your dollar is cheaper everyday for an european :) ), but does it seems realistic to you? I really don't care having a rusty car, I just don't wanna pay twice the price to get it fixed!
Also, what is the kind of budget for the insurance in Australia?
Select to expand quoteAlexFR said..
I have to say that I am a bit lazy and would rather take my car on week ends to go sailing than speding an hour a day in a train to go to work!
Don't limit yourself to the weekend. You'll finish work at maybe 5.00pm, the summer seabreezes are sailable until 8.30pm. A 35 minute power-napping train ride from work to a beachside home leaves a better option for a quick sail than a 5 minute trip home and then the prospect of maybe an hour of peak hour traffic with your gear on the roof?
Yeah that's for sure! 2hours sailing per day would be a dream!
But I was told that Bondi is sailable in S wind. Does it happen often?
Firstly I would like to say that I agree with Krusty and also think that Cronulla would be the best place to live for a windsurfer. However I have just re-read your post and noticed you where coming from Feb to August. The sea breezes on the northern beaches are always weaker than Cronulla way normally by about 10 knots, but they will start to die out in March and finish in April. (Still plenty of warm weather but the temp difference between the water and the land gets closer together and the wind weakens). You will probably find that during the period you are staying there will not be a lot of wind and when there is it will be from the South and occasionally from the West during the later part of your stay. North Harbour (where the Manly ferry pulls in) can be sailed in a Southerly but you may need a large slalom board to do it with as launching can be tricky. Quite a few guys also sail off Clontarf in SE which is the prevailing wind for the period of your stay. Manly is a great place to live however and the ferry trip very stress free. The surfing at Manly is pretty good however a bit crowed a lot of time, but not much agro that I have witnessed. I would not place too much emphasis on windsurfing as the winds are likely to be light. If you see a big Southerly coming on the weekend it may be worth a trip South to Sanctuary Point where there is waist deep water and learner friendly place. For prices on real-estate have a look at realestate.com.au and share accommodation on gumtree.com.au There are two ferry services the fast ferry (18min trip) and the Manly ferry (30min trip) to Circular Quay.
As a Foreign Resident, you'll be paying 32.5% tax on your entire income up to $80,000 per annum, and then 37% after that. If you are sharing rent with someone else, you'll should be able to live comfortably.
Dean is right, the seabreezes die in April, so then it is gusty Westerlies, and Southerlies.
www.ato.gov.au/Rates/Individual-income-tax-rates/
So basically I'll be able to really enjoy for two months and then it will be only occasional sailing?
Select to expand quoteAlexFR said..
So basically I'll be able to really enjoy for two months and then it will be only occasional sailing?
Sometimes the autumn Westerlies and winter Southerlies will come just as often as the summer sea breezes, (maybe even more often). But the summer sea breezes are simply really enjoyable to sail in. Doesn't mean you won't get some good, semi-regular sailing the rest of the time.
Select to expand quotedan berry said..
You're be pushing it to get a 2 bedded with a garage in the east.
I'd second that... I don't think I have seen a 2 bedder with a garage anywhere near the east in almost 10 years. I used to live in Coogee in a 2 bedroom apartment with garage and ocean views around 2007. It rented for $540 a wekk and that was considered expensive by the locals at the time. Coming from the Inner West I thought it was a steal.
Hate to think what something similar would cost these days.
