Tasmania has incredible beaches and even the most popular ones are rarely crowded. Venture to the lesser-known beaches and you’re often likely to have them to yourself. What they lack in the way of chic cafes, fish and chip places and icecream shops, they more than make up for in scenery, tranquility and, in all likelihood, solitude.
Related post: Ten more secret beaches near Hobart
1 Tinderbox
Tinderbox Beach sits on a small peninsula about half an hour’s drive south of Hobart, at the confluence of the D’Entrecasteaux Channel and Storm Bay at the mouth of the River Derwent. It offers a sheltered spot for sailing or swimming and an underwater marine reserve.
2 Five Mile Beach
This peaceful beach on a lagoon near Hobart Airport is a popular place for walking and photographing sunsets. The nearby Seven Mile Beach faces the ocean and sometimes has surf.
3 Hinsby Beach
Hinsby Beach is a secret spot of which even many locals are not aware. It sits, slightly hidden, at the shore of the riverside suburb of Taroona, near the mouth of the River Derwent.
4 Crescent Bay
Accessible via a short walk from Remarkable Cave, the crystal white sands of Cresent Bay on the Tasman Peninsula near Port Arthur offer views of the Southern Ocean and Tasman Island.
5 Snug Beach
Snug is a small township about half an hour’s drive south of Hobart. Most people pass through on their way to Bruny Island or the D’Entrecasteaux Channel, but hidden away off the main road is a magical little beach offering sheltered waters for swimming and boating.
6 Mortimer Bay
A long, sheltered beach laying off the beaten track on the way to the South Arm peninsula, which offers it protection from the open ocean. Birdlife is plentiful and there are trails for walking, cycling and horseriding nearby.
7 Goat Beach
There are numerous ocean beaches around the South Arm peninsula, about half an hour’s drive south east of Hobart. Fine sand and big waves make them popular with surfers.
8 White Beach
Around an hour and a half’s drive from Hobart, on the Tasman Peninsula, White Beach is a popular spot for holiday homes and for local residents. Although it faces onto the well-named Storm Bay at the mouth of the River Derwent, it is a deep bay and fairly sheltered, offering pleasant walking and swimming.
9 Roches Beach
Overlooking Frederick Henry Bay just north of the suburb of Lauderdale, about fifteen minutes’ drive east of Hobart and not far from Hobart Airport, Roches Beach is a peaceful and picturesque spot.
10 Mary Anne Bay
The South Arm peninsula is shaped like a fishhhook at the southern end of the eastern shore of the River Derwent near Hobart. The very tip of the hook is Arm End, near the hamlet of Opossum Bay. It’s a nature reserve only accessible on foot or by boat. Mary Anne Bay is a sandy little cove on the Western side of the Arm, with views across to Taroona, kunanyi / Mount Wellington and north up the river back to Hobart.
Mary Anne Bay, Arm End