Bondi Beach
Bondi Beach is a beach and the surrounding suburb in Sydney, Australia. Bondi Beach is located 7 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Waverley Council, in the Eastern Suburbs. In the 2021 Australian census it had a population of 11,513 residents. Its postcode is 2026. Bondi, North Bondi and Bondi Junction are neighbouring suburbs. Bondi Beach is one of the most visited tourist sites in Australia, and the location of two television series, Bondi Rescue and Bondi Vet.
Toponymy
The name "Bondi" is derived from the Dharawal language, spoken by the Aboriginal clans who lived further from Sydney Harbour southwards to Shoalhaven. The word Bondi, also spelt Bundi, Bundye, and Boondye, originates from the word for a loud thud, such as the sound of waves breaking over rocks, but is also associated with nulla nulla, or fighting sticks, which make a loud noise when they hit something. The first record of bondi by European-ancestry Australians was made between 1899 and 1903.History
Before the arrival of Europeans in the Port Jackson area, the Waverley and Bondi areas were inhabited for tens of thousands of years by Aboriginal Australian peoples, who left evidence of their habitation in the form of paths, rock carvings, artefacts, and shelters. The eastern beaches were home to the Bidjigal, Birrabirragal, and Gadigal people.19th and 20th centuries
In 1809, the road builder William Roberts received a grant of land in the area. In 1851 Edward Smith Hall and Francis O'Brien purchased of the Bondi area that included most of the beach frontage, which was named "The Bondi Estate". Hall was O'Brien's father-in-law. Between 1855 and 1877 O'Brien purchased his father-in-law's share of the land, renamed the land the "O'Brien Estate," and made the beach and the surrounding land available to the public as a picnic ground and amusement resort. As the beach became increasingly popular, O'Brien threatened to stop public beach access. However, the Municipal Council believed that the Government needed to intervene to make the beach a public reserve. In mid-1882, Bondi Beach became a public beach. The first tramway to the beach was established in 1884. The Waverley Council was responsible for building the first surf bathing sheds on the beach in 1903. By 1929 an estimated 60,000 people were visiting the beach on a summer weekend day. The opening of the pavilion in the same year attracted a huge crowd of 200,000.On 6 February 1938 five people drowned and over 250 people were rescued or resuscitated after a series of large waves struck the beach and pulled people wading on a sandbank into the sea, a day that became known as "Black Sunday".
Bondi Beach was a working-class suburb throughout most of the twentieth century with migrant people from New Zealand comprising the majority of the local population. Following World War II, Bondi Beach, and the Eastern Suburbs became home to Jewish migrants from Poland, Russia, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and Germany. A stream of Jewish immigration continued into the 21st century and the area has some synagogues and a kosher butcher.
The multicultural migration funded and drove the growth of the suburb throughout the 1990s into the turn of the century, moving it steadily from its working-class roots towards an upper/middle-class enclave similar to its neighbours of Rose Bay and Bellevue Hill which was listed as the most expensive postcode in the country from 2003 to 2005.
Bondi Beach was long a centre for efforts to fight indecency in beach attire. The beach was a focal point of the 1907 Sydney bathing costume protests, organised to oppose proposed dress standards for beachgoers. The Local Government Act, Ordinance No. 52 governed the decency of swimming costumes and was in force between 1935 and 1961, which resulted in public controversy as the two-piece "bikini" became popular after World War II. Waverley Council's beach inspectors, including, were responsible for enforcing the law and were required to measure the dimensions of swimwear and order offenders against public decency off the beach. While vacationing in Australia in 1951, American movie actress Jean Parker made international headlines when she was escorted off the beach after Laidlaw determined her bikini was too skimpy. The rule became increasingly anachronistic during the 1950s and was replaced in 1961 with one requiring bathers be "clad in a proper and adequate bathing costume", allowing for more subjective judgment of decency. By the 1980s topless bathing had become common at Bondi Beach, especially at the southern end.
Sydney's Water Board maintained an untreated sewage outlet not far from the north end of the beach until the 1960s when a sewage treatment plant was built. In the mid-1990s the plant was upgraded and a deepwater ocean outfall was completed to meet water quality standards.
21st century
In March 2007, Waverley Council started proceedings to evict a hermit who was living in squalor on a cliff overlooking the beach. Peter James Paul Millhouse, calling himself Jhyimy "Two Hats" Mhiyles, came to the beach during the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games and became a local celebrity for his lifestyle and poetry recitals to visitors. Residents and tourists put together a "save the caveman" petition to allow him to continue residing but under certain rules. In 2009, he was arrested and charged with the rape of a tourist. While he was in custody, Waverley Council under then-mayor Liberal Sally Betts removed his belongings from the cliff. In September 2011, charges against Jhyimy were dropped by the Director of Public Prosecutions over concerns about the reliability of the witness. Waverley Council has not offered recompense for his eviction from his home or loss of belongings.In March 2020, the Government of New South Wales closed Bondi Beach after several people there exceeded Australia's outdoor-gathering limit imposed to slow the spread of the coronavirus in New South Wales.
2025 mass shooting
On Sunday 14 December 2025, a mass shooting occurred at Bondi Beach. The attack was aimed at the Jewish community in Sydney, with an alleged father and son duo targeting a Jewish celebration on the first evening of the Hanukkah festival. The attack commenced at approximately 6:47 pm when the first call to emergency services was made. After six minutes and more than 100 shots were fired, the father was reported to have been disarmed by an unarmed bystander named Ahmed al-Ahmed. The attack ended by approximately 6:58 pm; the father was killed, and the son was taken into custody in critical condition. Two "rudimentary" and "fairly basic in terms of their construction" improvised explosive devices, which failed to detonate, were located.A total of 15 people were killed and 42 people injured by the gunmen. The ages of those who died ranged from ages 10 to 87. It was the second-deadliest mass shooting in Australian history, behind the 1996 Port Arthur massacre, and the deadliest terror incident in Australian history.
Heritage listings
Bondi Beach has several heritage-listed sites, including:- 20 Hall Street: Bondi Beach Post Office
- Queen Elizabeth Drive: Bondi Beach Cultural Landscape
Beach features
Bondi Beach is the northernmost ocean beach to the south of Port Jackson and also the closest one to the Sydney CBD. It is about long and—untypically for beaches in Sydney—it faces south. The northern end of the beach is sheltered by a headland known as Ben Buckler Point, which is the beginning of a line of sea cliffs extending to South Head.The beach receives many visitors throughout the year. Surf Life Saving Australia gave different hazard ratings to areas of Bondi Beach in 2004. While the northern end has been rated a gentle 4, the southern side is rated as a 7 due to a famous rip current known as the "Backpackers' Rip" because of its proximity to the bus stop. Many backpackers and tourists do not realise that the flat, smooth water is a dangerous rip current, and tourists can be unwilling to walk the length of the beach for safer swimming. The south end of the beach is generally reserved for surfboard riding. Yellow and red flags define safe swimming areas, and visitors are advised to swim between them.
There is an underwater shark net; however, it does not stretch the entire beach, it is made up of overlapping sections. Many other beaches along the same stretch of the coast have similar shark nets. Pods of whales and dolphins have been sighted in the bay during the months of migration. Fairy penguins, while uncommon, are sometimes also seen swimming close to shore or amongst surfers in southern line-ups.
In 2007, the Guinness World Record for the largest swimsuit photo shoot was set at Bondi Beach, with 1,010 women wearing bikinis taking part.
In 2011, Waverley Council implemented Wi-Fi for Bondi Beach users. Service is free with limits on access periods and downloads per use. The cost of setup was estimated to be between $34,000 and $50,000 with annual costs of $25,000. Local businesses as well as The Bondi Chamber of Commerce supported the notion that locals and visitors can connect with local businesses, events, and other community and council events. In 2012 the Mayor of Waverley Sally Betts said that for the 2 million visitors annually, Wi-Fi offers access to local events and business information.
Sport and recreation
Bondi Beach is represented in one of the most popular sporting competitions across Australia, the National Rugby League competition, by the local team the Sydney Roosters, officially the Eastern Suburbs District Rugby League Football Club.Bondi Beach is the end point of the City to Surf Fun Run which is held each year in August. The race attracts over 63,000 entrants who complete the run from the Sydney central business district to Bondi Beach. Other annual activities at Bondi Beach include Flickerfest, Australia's premier international short film festival in January, World Environment Day in June, Sculpture by the Sea in November, and the Winter Magic Festival that attracted 60,000 visitors in 2016. In addition to many activities, the Bondi Beach Markets is open every Sunday, and a food market every Saturday, at Bondi Beach Public School. Many Irish and British tourists spend Christmas Day at the beach.
An Oceanway connects Bondi to South Head to the north and other beaches to the south up to Coogee.
Bondi Beach hosted the beach volleyball competition at the 2000 Summer Olympics. A temporary 10,000-seat stadium, a much smaller stadium, 2 warm-up courts, and 3 training courts were set up to host the tournament.