Nielsen Park

Offering a peaceful escape with its beautiful beach, crystal-clear waters, and shady picnic spots. It’s perfect for taking a scenic walk along the coastline. The park is also close to Milk Beach and Shark Beach, making it easy to explore more stunning spots nearby. The views are breathtaking, and even though it can get busy on weekends, the relaxed vibe makes it a perfect spot to enjoy nature and unwind. A must-visit for a tranquil day out!

Lovely renovated beach! With great cafe and restaurant. Lots of parking and beautiful views to the harbour. The water was clear and no waves! Definitely recommend a visit. Specially during weekdays!

The views from this park are spectacular. Beautiful park and place for a harbour swim. Lots of families enjoying a day out. Awesome little beach. Very picturesque. Beautiful walk, stunning views and interesting landscapes. Pleasantly quiet and many Bays to visit. Nice place to watch the boats go by. Water looked inviting and clean - but too cold at this time of year for me!

The only downside is the parking really. Lots of shady trees and grass to laze on. There are some good walks through the park, and of course the proximity to the beach is a huge bonus. There are some nice views from up the hill. But do expect to struggle to find a carpark during the holidays, especially on hot beach days.

After a few years of being completely closed to the public for reconstruction, Shark Beach aka Shark Bay aka Nielsen Park has finally reopened, so we thought a return visit was justified to see what they’ve done with one of our favourite Sydney Harbour swimming spots. Heck, this was where we got engaged all those years ago! What was going to be a big job, putting in a wheelchair accessible ramp and more seating, turned into a much bigger one, when the council discovered thousands of tonnes of asbestos contaminated material that needed to be safely removed. Anyway, that’s all done, and what we’ve ended up with is a fancier version of the previous beach with some designer monumental concrete touches that are a bit imposing but kinda work. The gorgeous 1912 kiosk has been freshened up and reopened as The Nielsen: I will review on Does My Bomb Look Big In This? soon. The generously proportioned 1932 Dressing Pavilion is unchanged, the adjoining park is untouched and fundamentally, it’s the same gorgeous place that it’s been for generations. I’m sure we’ll keep returning for years to come.

Nielsen Park has been a popular beach spot for decades. The new retaining wall is completed and provides ample room for bathers to sit, sun bake and leave belongings. It has enhanced this popular harbour beach.

The park is really pretty, as well as the beach at the end of it. Good for a nice walk around the park and picnic around the beach as well.

This used to be one of the most lovely spots in Sydney due to its natural beauty. Now with the redesign in progress, it’s evident that a huge out of scale high wall and grandstand is being built atop the narrow beach that has washed away, which is so high that it obscures the view to where the water hits the beach. Very sad. Hard to imagine how adding the sand back to this now sandless eroded beach with concrete only might be a sustainable solution . Botched government mismanagement in both design and construction has kept this treasure closed for years and ruined it.

This is such a great location for a sunny day! It's by a smaller beach and also has a cafe nearby. There is free parking available close by also and a bus stop which makes it more convenient. Absolutely beautiful, would recommend for a picnic or a swim in the summer!

This has to be one of my favourite beach parks in Sydney. Tucked away in the back of Vaucluse this is a hidden gem. The park is gated by enormous trees and only once you're a good couple of hundred meters inside do you get to the beach. The park is a great area for picnics with lots of space and shade. There are also lots of walks that you can take from Nielson Park which offer spectacular views of Sydney Harbour. The best in my mind is the 3km Harbour Foreshore walk, which is stunning at any time but particularly in the morning. The beach is just beautiful - white sand and crystal clear blue water. Unlike some of the smaller harbour beaches this beach seems to remain pretty clear of washed up rubbish from boats. There is also a netted swimming area, which is great for anybody who is reluctant to do laps in the ocean for fear of sharks!!

Nielsen Park and Shark Bay are such seminal parts of Sydney for me. A harbour that has crystal clear water and a mix of bush and beach all in the one area, and for a suburb of Sydney to still have a little kiosk I just love it. This park is popular on hot days, and I can see why, there seems to be a kids and and a hipster end. Nice eye candy here too...

One of our favourite Sydney parks and great cafe. Get there early as parking is at a premium