Warriewood To Mona Vale Swim (& Family Swim) 2026

In the summer of 1977, twenty swimmers plunged into the surf between Warriewood and Mona Vale to test a point-to-point coastal passage that would become one of the earliest organized ocean swims on the Australian coast. Today, the Warriewood To Mona Vale Swim is an open water swimming race held in the sea off Mona Vale Beach on the Northern Beaches of Sydney, New South Wales. What began with that small pioneering group has grown into a cornerstone fixture of the Pittwater Ocean Swim Series, drawing swimmers to these Pacific waters every season. The main event is the 2.26-kilometre point-to-point course, named the Don Jenkin Memorial Swim in honour of the founder and Mona Vale Surf Club life member Don 'Doc' Jenkin.

Swimmers launch directly from the sand at Warriewood Beach, working through the shore break before finding their swimming rhythm in the open sea. The route follows the coastline until it enters Bongin Bongin Bay, where the finish line awaits competitors on the sheltered beach. The swim is open to anyone aged twelve and older who wants to experience a genuine point-to-point ocean journey. For swimmers seeking a shorter distance, the event also stages the 1-kilometre Janice Mason Family Fun Swim. Dedicated to the memory of Mona Vale Surf Life Saving Club member Janice Mason, this event follows a course marked around buoys off Mona Vale Beach. Open to swimmers aged twelve and older, it has earned a reputation among organizers and locals as an inclusive, family-friendly morning in the water. During summer staging windows in January or March, the sea along this coastline typically offers mild, comfortable conditions under the watchful care of the Mona Vale SLSC.

From Warriewood to the Basin: the swim itself

From Warriewood, swimmers go out to sea, turn left and make their way to Mona Vale basin through the surf. Bongin Bongin Bay, known as the Basin, is a calm, protected pocket of water. The 35th Warriewood to Mona Vale Ocean Swim, then 1.6 km long, was held on Sunday 20 January 2013. At the 36th edition, Chris Fydler of Turramurra was first home in 20 minutes 49 seconds, and Alexandra Lee of Mosman was first woman back to the beach at Mona Vale in 23 minutes 49 seconds.

Turimetta and the open ocean swells south of Warriewood

Turimetta Beach is a 350-metre strip of sand backed by steep bluffs. The rock headlands bordering this cove are a frequent location for rock fishers casting into the sea. From Manly, an oceanway path runs south to Fairy Bower and Shelly Beach within easy walking distance.

Shelly Beach is a reflective beach approximately 100 metres long that faces west, sheltered from ocean swells by a reef on its right side. Resting on the seabed near the middle of the bay, an old motorbike lies submerged at a depth of about 8 metres. Cabbage Tree Bay Aquatic Reserve is located about twelve kilometres from the race area. Covering seventeen hectares on the northern side of North Head, the reserve was established as a no-take marine park on March 31, 2002, following nine years as an Intertidal Protected Area from 1993 to 2002. Fishing and any removal or disturbance of marine life are strictly prohibited. Within this sheltered haven, sandy beaches, rocky reefs, kelp forests, and seagrass meadows support over 160 fish species and 50 invertebrate species, alongside a colony of Pocillopora aliciae hard corals typically found in tropical seas.

Bilgola Beach and the Barrenjoey Peninsula headlands

Bilgola Beach is situated on the Tasman Sea side of the Barrenjoey Peninsula. Behind the sand, the coastal landscape climbs steeply toward the Bilgola Plateau, framing the bay in a natural amphitheatre. The slopes flanking the cove are covered with native cabbage palms that give the pocket beach its distinctive character.

Pittwater estuary and the western shore of Barrenjoey

Pittwater is an expansive estuary system that offers an entirely different aquatic environment. For thousands of years, Kuringgai peoples used this waterway for food gathering and coastal trade. The estuary nurtures rich and diverse marine habitats, ranging from dense mangrove wetlands and saltmarshes to shallow sand flats and underwater seagrass meadows. The western catchment of the waterway is largely protected within the wilderness of Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park. Pittwater flows northward, eventually meeting Broken Bay between West Head and Barrenjoey Head. Barrenjoey Lighthouse is a solid sandstone structure constructed in 1881.

Scotland Island: drowned river valleys and ancient middens

Scotland Island took form roughly 18,000 years ago when rising sea levels following the last ice age inundated a coastal river valley, leaving the higher ground isolated by water. Sandstone crowns the top of the island, while its lower slopes are composed of sedimentary rock belonging to the Narrabeen group, with small caves weathered into the upper rock faces. Human history on the island stretches back millennia, attested by Aboriginal shell middens dating back 3,500 years along its sheltered foreshores. During early colonial times, Andrew Thompson established a salt works on the island in the early 19th century.