Tuggerah Beach (NSW 275) is an exposed southeast to east facing beach, which runs for 8.2 km from Pelican Point to Karagi Point, the sand spit that forms on the north side of the natural entrance to Tuggerah Lake (Fig. 4.159). The beach consists of three parts, the very northern Pelican beach, partly sheltered by reefs off Pelican Point; the longer exposed Tuggerah Beach, and the southern North Entrance beach that receives some protection from reefs extending off the entrance to Tuggerah Lake. The entire beach is backed by a barrier system, which widens from 300 m in the south to 2 km behind Pelican Point, with Tuggerah Lake behind. The northern vegetated dunes are located in Wyrrabalong National Park, with a new coastal development occupying 2.5 km of coast south of the park, then the small settlement of North Entrance, wedged between the beach and lake. The beach can be accessed via two gravel roads in the national park, that provide parking and walkways to the beach; through the new development; and in the south street access is provided in The Entrance North residential area, at the North Entrance surf club, and the caravan park and park on Dunleith Point. This area was a quiet backwater until the road from The Entrance to Norah Head was put through in 1970s. The North Entrance SLSC, the youngest on the Central Coast, was formed in 1978, the newer coastal development completed in 2006. The entire beach picks up most swell, particularly out of the east and southeast, resulting in an energetic surf zone averaging 1.6 m. This maintains a double bar system running the most of the beach, with the inner bar usually being detached from the beach and cut by rips every 300-400 m (Fig. 4.160). As a result a continuous trough often runs the length of the beach occupied by rips and their feeder currents. At the southern end south of the surf club the bar tend to attach during periods of lower waves and rips diminish in size. However on Karagi Point the tidal currents from Tuggerah Lake can run along the beach resulting in an additional hazard. read more

Beach Length: 8.2km