Surfers loses out to silvertails in battle of the beaches
IT’S enough to make Queenslander cringe.
Manly Beach in Sydney, that North Shore enclave full of millionaire snobs and silvertails, has stolen the mantle as Australia’s best beach.
Ending a seven-year run by the Whitsundays’ iconic Whitehaven Beach, Manly, fa- a
mous for a ferry and a mostly despised rugby league team, has been crowned the top
beach in a new survey from travel giant TripAdvisor.
However, the Gold Coast softened the blow, with Surfers Paradise at No. 2 and Burleigh Heads at No.9.
The rankings, assigned based on the quantity and quality of reviews on the travel bible’s website, left Tourism and Events Queensland board member Paul Donovan almost – but not quite – speechless.
“I think it’s absolutely outrageous,” he said.
“I can’t believe anyone in their right mind would have voted for Manly – and I used to live there.
“I can’t see 13 million people a year going to Manly Beach but that’s how many people go to the Gold Coast. It makes the research that came up with this look very dubious.”
Whitehaven slipped places to No.3. two