Summer Bay
Summer Bay is the fictional coastal town featured in the Australian soap opera, Home and Away, located in rural coastal New South Wales. Palm Beach, the northernmost beach in Sydney, is used for the show's exterior scenes to depict the Bay. Between 2010 and 2014, the Lane Cove River Tourist Park in Macquarie Park was used as the location for filming of scenes involving the Summer Bay Caravan Park.
Locations in Summer Bay
Summer Bay Surf Lifesaving Club
As with many real life Australian beaches Summer Bay has its own Surf and Lifesaving Centre. It was first seen on screen in 1989. Over the years as well as serving its purpose as a centre for sea and land rescues it has been a place for the young people of the Bay to relax and socialise. Town meetings are often held in the Surf Club. It has also been used as a polling station and a private party/formal venue and has housed various food outlets, most notably the ill-fated Bonza Burger in 1998. Several characters have been trained as lifeguards over the years and surf competitions take place occasionally. The club has undergone renovations in 1992, 1996, 2004, 2010, and 2023, respectively.Salt
Salt is a restaurant located upstairs in the renovated SLSC. It replaces Noah's Bar as the only licensed premises in Summer Bay. It was initially a business venture by Angelo Rosetta after he was discharged from the Police force and it was always his dream to own his own restaurant after growing up with his parents running a restaurant. Indi Walker worked there, but was fired by Angelo after she sold alcohol to Ruby Buckton without his permission. Darryl Braxton buys into the business and helps turn it into a successful pizza restaurant. Angelo and Darryl employ Xavier Austin and Casey Braxton to deliver pizza. Darryl eventually buys Angelo out after Angelo left the Bay in 2011. Heath briefly works there in 2012, and so does Liam Murphy. Indi returned working there briefly in 2012, but left. Xavier left the job in 2012, Kyle started working there in late 2012. Casey and Heath left their jobs in early 2013, to start working at the Body & Soul gym. Liam was then fired by Brax for stealing money at the restaurant. Tamara Kingsley worked there in 2013, but left in 2014 to return home to her family. Matt works there as a pizza deliverer in 2014. Josh Barrett works there as a pizza deliverer in 2014, but left in 2016 to go to university. Martin Ashford works there in late 2014. Brax left the job in 2015, while on the run. Then, Maddy Osborne started working there in mid 2015. In 2016, Ash left the job to start his own company and Kyle left the job after being sent to jail. Matt left the job in 2016 and Maddy leaves the bay on the same year. After Ricky leaves the Bay, Phoebe is placed in charge and Brody Morgan becomes the new chef. He later buys the restaurant and renames it Salt. He employs various Bay residents as waiting staff. Brody briefly loses the restaurant after he has to sell it to fund his time in rehab, but buys it back a few months later. The restaurant is sold to Mackenzie Booth following Brody's departure. That same year, Ryder Jackson starts working at the restaurant, but he got fired by Mackenzie in 2021, but later rehired again a few months later. Chloe Anderson starts working there, but was fired by Mackenzie after she gets into feud with Chloe's mother, Mia Anderson and the Parata family, and even fired Ryder, later rehires him weeks later.JP's Juice Bar
JP's Juice Bar is a small kiosk selling gelato, juices and smoothies located downstairs in the SLSC. The set was originally known as Noah's Bar when it was established in 2005. Producer Julie McGauran said the location would be "a new get-together area for the younger residents during the day and will attract the older members of the Bay at night when it reopens as a bar." Noting that it would a place for adult issues to be discussed, McGauran called the set versatile. The kiosk was later renamed Gelato. There was also a small workout area tucked in the corner replacing Summer Bay Super Bods, as well as a boutique selling magazines and surf, skateboard and fashion items and a pool table in the centre of the area. The kiosk is owned and run by John Palmer. Alf Stewart, Dallas Phillips and VJ Patterson have all worked there. Alf's grandson Ryder Jackson later replaced VJ. The kiosk underwent a revamp in 2023 and is renamed JP's Juice Bar.Summer Bay Fit
Summer Bay Fit (previously Summer Bay Body & Soul is a gym located downstairs in the Surf Club. It is initially owned by Romeo Smith and Indigo Walker. Shortly after it opened in March 2013, Romeo departed the Bay, leaving Indi to run the business alone. She left the business to Casey and Heath after she departed in November 2013. Spencer Harrington worked as an employee in 2013, and left to return home in 2015. Andy started to work there in early 2014, so he could pay for his brother Josh Barrett's school bills. Heath left in 2014 to move to the city with his family. Casey dies in late 2014 and Brax bought the gym after his death. Maddy Osborne works there until late 2014, but was fired by Brax for stealing the business' money for buying new clothes and shoes. Billie Ashford works there in early 2015, but left to recover her burns. But she returned to the job in 2016. After Casey's death in 2014, his brother Darryl Braxton bought the gym in his memory. In 2016, Billie was raped by Irene Roberts long lost son, Mick Jennings during the end of the night shift. Kyle Braxton sells the gym. Andy leaves to go on the run, and left Billie to run the business alone, until she goes to maternity leave. In 2018, Willow Harris starts working, and is the only employee ever since. Mason Morgan works there until he gets his internship at the hospital. The gym has been owned by Robbo since 2018. After Robbo dies in 2020, he left the business to his wife, Jasmine. In 2021, Jasmine sold the gym to Ari Parata and Mia Anderson.Manta Ray Boards
Manta Ray Boards is a surfboard and surfing accessories shop. It was originally owned and run by Ben Astoni, with the help of Dean Thompson. Following Ben's departure from the Bay, he leaves the business to Dean. In August 2021, Ryder Jackson takes over the business temporarily while Dean recovers his injuries from a car accident, but later quits and Nikau Parata takes over. Dean's girlfriend, Ziggy Astoni helps out with surfing lessons. Following the departures of Dean and Ziggy, Mali Hudson took over the business and renamed it Manta Ray Boards as part of a revamp of the Surf Club in the show.Pier Diner
The Pier Diner is a restaurant used by the local residents and tourists. It is connected to the Summer Bay Pier. The Diner is currently owned by Leah Patterson-Baker and Irene Roberts. The Boathouse in Palm Beach is used for exterior filming of the Diner and Alf Stewart's bait shop, while interior scenes are filmed at Technology Park in Redfern. In June 2021, a report in the Manly Daily confirmed that The Boathouse was set to be demolished to make way for a new café on the site. A tenant of The Boathouse said Home and Away would have to carry out some prerecording or write a dramatic storyline, such as "some sort of explosion" to explain why the bait shop no longer exists. This led writers to create the Pier Diner Coffee Cart, a new outdoor location while the redevelopment took place.The original diner was the Bayside Diner run by Bobby Simpson and Ailsa Stewart and later Ailsa's husband Alf. For a while this diner included a Beauty Salon set up in a back room, this was run by Marilyn Fisher. This Diner was given a makeover in 1998 when it was revealed a Bonza Burger outlet was being set up in Summer Bay.
In 2000, the kitchen of the Bayside was badly damaged by fire, due to Colleen Smart mistakenly pouring water onto the flames of a chip-pan fire, making it worse and instead of repairing the building Alf and Ailsa decided to relocate the diner to an existing building in front of the beach, subsequently the diner became known as The Beachside Diner. Prior to the original diner fire Alf and Ailsa's home had been destroyed by a landslide and fire, as the new diner had a flat attached upstairs this is where Alf and Ailsa lived with their son Duncan, and Mitch McColl. Alf continued to live here following Ailsa's death. Alf sold his share of the business to Irene Roberts in 2004 but continued to live in the flat until 2006, when he moved back into Summer Bay House and the flat became home to many other Summer Bay residents for the next few years.
In 2008, the structure of The Beachside Diner became unsafe as result of aftershocks from the 1996 earthquake and the building was condemned. The Diner was relocated to its current location as The Pier Diner; originally this Diner was located in a room to the left of the Kitchen which was central to the building with a room to the right being used as a youth centre known as The Den, this was started by Leah as a tribute to her late husband Dan. As The Den struggled to survive financially Leah made a decision to close The Den with The Pier Diner then moving to the location of The Den. The room used for the original Pier Diner was then used only as an additional store room. Belle Taylor and Aden Jefferies previously worked at the Diner before Belle's death and Aden's departure. Roman Harris, who owned a third of the business also left the Bay to serve a prison sentence.
On Australia Day 2010 a riot took place outside the Diner, which resulted in the Diner being badly damaged by fire. The Diner was given a major makeover inside with there now being two sets of sliding glass doors leading onto a terraced area overlooking the pier and one set of sliding glass doors on the opposite wall reflecting the real life location of the Pier Diner. The kitchen is now located to the left of the building and toilets on the right with the dining area central to the building, scenes can be filmed facing all walls as it is a 4-walled set unlike the previous set.
Leah scales back her work as she is employed at Summer Bay High School, however, she does some casual shifts and continues to own her half of the diner. Chris Harrington unintentionally poisons some diners, as well as Alf and Leah, when he uses Death cap mushrooms in a risotto. Irene considers closing the diner permanently when there are no customers, but business soon picks up. Employees since then have included Olivia Fraser Richards, Skye Peters, Brody Morgan, Gemma Parata and Chloe Anderson.