Manly Beach Report: Saturday 24 October 2026

Your daily Manly beach report, Saturday 24 October 2026. Walk with me from South Steyne to Queenscliff as the Bondi to Manly Ultra heads for the finish line, the Surf + Sound festival rolls into its second weekend, and the Queenscliff Boardriders juniors hit the water.

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Chapters

0:00 Intro & today’s top 3
0:45 Local news
1:42 On the walk: South Steyne
3:23 Bondi to Manly Ultra
4:06 Surf + Sound festival
4:40 Ghosts of Manly
6:15 North Steyne
8:30 Queenscliff
10:00 Spotted: junior surf comp
10:40 Coming up this week
11:08 Beach report: surf & weather
11:39 Question of the day

Transcript

Intro & today’s top 3 (0:00)

HELLO! Ozghosty here! This is your daily Manly beach report. Today is the 24th of October 2026. Here are today’s top three in Manly. Number one: the Bondi to Manly Ultra. Eighty kilometres of coast and harbour, and the finish line is right here on Manly Beach this morning. Number two: the brand-new Surf + Sound festival rolls into its second weekend, with Skegss playing Manly Wharf tonight. And number three: the Queenscliff Boardriders have their juniors out on the sand at the north end. I’ll tell you more about all of those on the walk, and stick around to the end for the surf and weather report.

Local news (0:45)

Now, the local news. Big music news for the Northern Beaches: Dee Why Beach is getting a new festival called Aloha, on Saturday the 6th of March next year. Organisers are expecting up to fifteen thousand people, which they say would make it the biggest music festival ever held on the Northern Beaches. Wolfmother, Ball Park Music and Yothu Yindi are headlining, and general tickets go on sale this Monday. A bit of glamour is coming too. Chanel is holding a private event at Shelly Beach on the 4th of November to show off its new cruise collection. Council has agreed to lift the alcohol ban for the night, so public access to Shelly Beach may be restricted that evening. And in sport, according to the ABC, this year’s Sydney Marathon winner, Peres Jepchirchir, has been provisionally banned after a positive test for EPO.

On the walk: South Steyne (1:42)

Speaking of finish lines, see those marquees and fences? That looks like the finish area for today’s ultra.

The building behind that green hoarding went up in 1919 as Manly’s original Beach House, a tea house and change rooms for day-trippers. Later it was an info kiosk and then a restaurant, The Pantry. Now it’s being done up and reborn as the Beach House again, apparently in time for summer.

And there it is, Manly Beach. That headland at the far end is Queenscliff, and that’s where we’re heading.

Remember that big construction site at the very start of the walk? That whole block is the Royal Far West site, being rebuilt as a project called Aurora. Royal Far West is a children’s charity that’s been here since the 1920s. Back in 1924, the Reverend Stanley Drummond started bringing kids from the far west of New South Wales to Manly, so they could see the ocean for the first time. The new buildings are by Glenn Murcutt and Angelo Candalepas, and the apartment sales fund health care for country kids. They had to pump out more than 922 megalitres of groundwater just to dig the basement. That’s about 370 Olympic pools.

Bondi to Manly Ultra (3:23)

Now, the Bondi to Manly Ultra. The solo runners left the Bondi Pavilion at half past four this morning, in the dark. They go round South Head and Watsons Bay, past the Opera House, over the Harbour Bridge, through the bush at Middle Head, along the Spit to Manly walk, do a loop of North Head, and then finish on this sand. There are relay teams too, and it sold out this year. The first finishers are expected from about half past ten, presentations are at one thirty, and the finish stays open until half past seven tonight. If you’re around mid-morning, come down and cheer them in.

Surf + Sound festival (4:06)

Surf + Sound is Manly’s brand-new festival, running over three weekends until the 1st of November, mostly down at Manly Wharf. Tonight it’s Skegss at the Felons Barrel Room, eighteen plus, doors at seven. During the day there’s a free art trail around the wharf by Jeremyville, with giant inflatables and sculptures, and five old Land Rover Defenders being painted live by Aussie artists at Manly Cove.

Ghosts of Manly (4:40)

Time for today’s Ghosts of Manly. Back in 1902, a local newspaper man, William Gocher, went for a swim right here in broad daylight, which was actually illegal at the time. Within a few years the ban was gone, and Aussie beach culture as we know it took off.

These huge trees are Norfolk Island pines, Manly’s trademark. They were planted along the beachfront from the late 1800s, and they handle salt spray that most trees can’t. Still to come: what’s on this week, and your surf and weather report.

North Steyne (6:15)

We’re up at North Steyne now. It’s a bit quieter up this end, and it’s popular with the surfers.

That lovely yellow building with the red roof is the North Steyne Surf Life Saving Club, one of the oldest surf clubs in the world. Those volunteers in red and yellow have been patrolling this beach for over a century. If you see them out today, say thanks.

And across the road, more scaffolding. Construction is everywhere along this stretch. Just up the road at 92 North Steyne, a new five-storey apartment building has just been approved.

Queenscliff (8:30)

Final stretch: we’re coming into Queenscliff, at the north end of the beach. Manly, North Steyne and Queenscliff are all one long beach, about one and a half kilometres, just with different names along the way.

Spotted: junior surf comp (10:00)

See the maroon tents? That’s the Queenscliff Boardriders Club, the local surf club, and today they’re running a Surftag event for the under-fourteens. Surftag is a tag-team format, so it’s fast, loud and great fun to watch.

These kids are the next generation of Manly surfers.

Coming up this week (10:40)

Coming up this week in Manly. Tomorrow, Babe Rainbow play the wharf, and the under-eighteens hit the water at Queenscliff. On Friday, Skunkhour play Surf + Sound. And next weekend is the big finale: the Boardrider Battle on Manly Beach, with a legends heat on Saturday featuring Joel Parkinson, Mark Occhilupo and Layne Beachley, plus free shows from Yolanda Be Cool and Winston Surfshirt. And it’s Halloween on Saturday too.

Beach report: surf & weather (11:08)

Now, your beach report. Clearing skies this morning, a top of twenty-four, with nor’easterly winds of fifteen to twenty-five k’s kicking in this afternoon, and a chance of a storm late in the day. The surf’s around a metre and a half to two metres from the east-nor’east and glassy early, so get in this morning. The water’s about twenty degrees. High tide was around seven thirty this morning, with low tide around one thirty this afternoon. And as always, swim between the red and yellow flags.

Question of the day (11:39)

Question of the day: would you ever run eighty kilometres? Tell me your longest run in the comments. Don’t forget to like and subscribe, and I’ll see you on the next one.