Ettalong Beach is a

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...

of the Central Coast region of

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, Australia south of

Woy Woy Woy Woy is a coastal town in the Central Coast region of New South Wales, Australia, located on the southern reaches of Brisbane Water north of Sydney. It is a population centre within the local government area. Woy Woy is located in the nor ...

on Brisbane Water at the point where it meets

Broken Bay Broken Bay, a semi-mature tide-dominated drowned valley estuary, is a large inlet of the Tasman Sea located about north of Sydney central business district on the coast of New South Wales, Australia; being one of the bodies of water that separa ...

, about 80 km north of

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

. It is part of the

local government area A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a State (administrative division), state, province, divi ...

. Ettalong Beach is the natural eastward continuation of

Umina Beach Umina Beach is a suburb within the local government area on the Central Coast of New South Wales, Australia. By road, it is north of the Sydney CBD and south of the Newcastle CBD. Umina Beach is locally known on the Central Coast as bein ...

and Ocean Beach. The village is serviced by a small retail centre along Ocean View Road. The Mantra Ettalong Beach Resort (formerly operated by Outrigger) and Ettalong Beach War Memorial Club was completed in 2005.The Atlantis residential development on the corner of Memorial Avenue and The Esplanade was completed in 2018 and marks a new benchmark for mixed use development in the village centre. Rotary Brisbane Water is based in Ettalong. One of the Central Coast's largest service clubs, members meet fortnightly at Ettalong Beach War Memorial Club.

Demographics

According to the

2016 census Sixteen or 16 may refer to: *16 (number), the natural number following 15 and preceding 17 *one of the years 16 BC, AD 16, 1916, 2016 Films * ''Pathinaaru'' or ''Sixteen'', a 2010 Tamil film * ''Sixteen'' (1943 film), a 1943 Argentine film dir ...

of Population, there were 4,793 people in Ettalong Beach. * Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 3.3% of the population. * 76.5% of people were born in Australia. The next most common countries of birth were England 4.8% and New Zealand 2.3%. * 88.6% of people spoke only English at home. * The most common responses for religion were No Religion 27.6%, Catholic 25.6% and Anglican 24.1%.

Local features

The Ettalong Beach retail centre is represented by the Peninsula Chamber of Commerce which is affiliated with the

NSW Business Chamber Business NSW is an Australian independent, not-for-profit membership organisation that identifies the key issues impacting business and finds practical policy solutions to ensure businesses across New South Wales prosper and grow. The organisat ...

. The Chamber successfully introduced the Peninsula Mainstreet Program in 1995 which instigated the heritage upgrade of the village centre. This led to the main street footpath paving and street landscaping which were undertaken through Gosford City Council's 1998 Financial Strategy resulting in the rejuvenation of the village. The main employers in the village are the Ettalong Beach Club, Mantra Resort, IGA Supermarket and Ettalong Beach Hotel. Ettalong Beach is also renowned for the Ettalong Beach Markets at the eastern end of Ocean View Road. The market complex also includes a range of restaurants and cafés together with the ornate Cinema Paradiso operated by a local family.

Transport

Ettalong Beach is serviced by regular bus services (Busways) with connections to

Woy Woy railway station Woy Woy railway station is located on the Main Northern line in New South Wales, Australia. It serves the southern Central Coast suburb of Woy Woy opening on 1 February 1889. Platforms and services Woy Woy has one island platform with two fac ...

, the

retail centre,

Kincumber Kincumber is a south-eastern suburb of the Central Coast region of New South Wales, Australia, nested between the Kincumba Mountain Reserve and the Kincumber Broadwater and located north of Sydney via the Sydney-Newcastle Freeway (F3). It is ...

and

Erina Fair Erina Fair is a large shopping centre located in the suburb of Erina on the Central Coast. Transport Erina Fair has bus connections to The Entrance, The Entrance North, Ettalong Beach, Gosford, Matcham, North Avoca, Saratoga, Terrigal, ...

. The village is also serviced by the Palm Beach Ferry (operated by NRMA Marine) which connects the town to the north shore of Sydney and provides an important tourist route for visitors to the village and commuter link to the Northern Beaches. A "Fast Ferry" had been proposed from Ettalong to Circular Quay,

. If it had been established, the service was expected to take only 40 minutes, compared to 1 hour 15 min for the train journey from neighbouring Woy Woy to Sydney. However, the company behind this idea became bankrupt in 2008, and the Fast Ferry Proposal was abandoned. The ferry service was approved by Gosford City Council and remains with an active development consent so that a future operator could commence ferry services to Sydney.

Brisbane Water Oyster Festival

The Brisbane Water Oyster Festival is held annually in November, on The Esplanade and the foreshore reserve. The event attracts 20,000 people annually and is organised by the Peninsula Chamber of Commerce. The event showcases the local oyster industry which is one of the earliest marine industries in Brisbane Water. The first festival was originally held at Woy Woy in 2000 but quickly outgrew its venue and was relocated to Ettalong Beach in 2005. The highly successful community festival is run by a sub-committee of the Peninsula Chamber of Commerce and chaired from its inception by the Peninsula Mainstreet Co-ordinator Debra Wales.

Foreshore upgrade

The Ettalong Beach Foreshore Reserve upgrade was completed in early 2014 by Gosford City Council (now Central Coast Council) at a total cost of almost $5.4M including Federal funds of $2M. The works were a culmination of 15 years of lobbying by the Peninsula Chamber of Commerce for the upgrading of the foreshore and renourishment of Ettalong Beach. The upgraded foreshore includes children's play areas, barbecue facilities, cycle ways, landscaping and café/restaurant overlooking the beach area. The cycle way links Ettalong Beach with Umina Beach to the south.

References

{{Suburbs of Central Coast (New South Wales) Suburbs of the Central Coast (New South Wales)