Sails Pearl Beach, an architect-designed holiday house 250 metres from the sand
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Pearl Beach sits at the quiet end of the Central Coast: five hundred people, streets named after gemstones, national park on three sides and Broken Bay on the fourth, ninety minutes from Sydney. Sails is one of its houses: light-filled, lofted ceilings, glass walls and timber floors, built for long lunches, sandy feet and doing very little.
The beach is a flat 250-metre walk, with the rock pool at the calm end. The Arboretum is five minutes on foot, the coffee van sets up at the hall on weekends, and Patonga’s pub is five minutes over the hill.
Rated 4.88 from 26 Airbnb reviews
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three bedrooms and a wall of glass
Soaring ceilings, floor-to-ceiling glass and timber throughout, with an open-plan living room that spills out to a lit deck under the palms: a table for ten, a lounge for six and a barbecue. Three bedrooms with their own balconies, six beds' worth of sleep, and nothing between you and the beach but a flat 250-metre stroll.
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where the day ends
A pub on the sand at Patonga five minutes over the hill, prawns straight off the boats at Woy Woy, the Saturday markets at Ettalong, and a kitchen and a lit deck under the palms built for the long lunch. Pearl Beach is a self-catering place at heart, and that is most of the charm.
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between the park and the water
A quiet village at the end of the road, framed by national park and looking across Broken Bay to Lion Island and Palm Beach. A calm beach with a rock pool at the southern end, an arboretum in the bush, a headland track to Patonga and whales from May to November. About ninety minutes from Sydney and a long way from anywhere.
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Things to do
Most of it happens outside: the calm end of the beach, the rock pool, Green Point, the Arboretum, the headland track to Patonga, whales from the lookout between May and November. Here is how a few days tend to go.
Where to swim, the rock pool, Green Point, the Arboretum, the lookout, the walk to Patonga, whales.
No café in the village right now: here is what that means, and the five-minute drives that fix it.
Ninety minutes by car with the turns spelled out, the train and the 54 bus, or the ferry across Broken Bay.
the best days start at the front gate
Ninety minutes from Sydney by car. A train and a taxi if you would rather not drive. And, in the right season, a ferry across Broken Bay that turns the journey into the first hour of the holiday.
Ready when you are.
The house is managed by HolidayCo, Pearl Beach's local holiday team. Booking direct with them is usually the cheapest way to stay; the same calendar is on Airbnb and Stayz if you'd rather book there.