For the surf-averse, going to the beach isn't quite the glorious summer day experience that it is for those happily swimming between the flags. But Australia has some beaches where you don't need to get in the water to have a great time…
75 Mile Beach, Fraser Island
Photo: Matt Raimondo/Tourism QLD
Running most of the way up the eastern side of K'gari/ Fraser Island, 75 Mile Beach is world famous for four wheel driving adventures. Whether you take a tour or test out your own sand driving skills, 75 Mile Beach is the island's main highway. Highlights along the way include the Maheno Shipwreck – look, don't touch – and Eli Creek. Bring a rubber tube, and you can drift along the creek until it brings you out at the sand. See parks.des.qld.gov.au
Rainbow Beach, Queensland
Photo: Mark Fitz/Tourism QLD
Rainbow Beach on the Sunshine Coast is another one that's open to 4WD enthusiasts – although you need to be very, very careful with the tide times. There's a truly gorgeous lagoon at the top end of the beach, which is fantastic for paddling in. But the multi-coloured sands give the beach its name, and they should keep any budding artists happy. Break off a few different-coloured chunks of soft rock behind the beach, then take them to the wet sand to finger-paint your own temporary masterpieces.
The Coorong beach, South Australia
Photo: Adam Bruzzone/SATC
Australia's longest beach runs 194km from Cape Jaffa to the Mouth of the Murray River, mainly along South Australia's Younghusband Peninsula. You can drive along it, but you might be better off taking a cruise from Goolwa, walking over the peninsula's dunes, then using your feet to dig for pipis. There are so many pipis – or Coorong cockles – here that they are commercially harvested. See spiritofthecoorong.com.au
Mon Repos Beach, Queensland
Photo: Tourism QLD
14km north-east of Bundaberg, Mon Repos is one of the world's most important nesting sites for loggerhead turtles. Come between November and March, and special ranger-guided tours take you on to the sand to watch the turtle circle of life. Early in the season, mother turtles haul themselves up the beach to give birth. Later on, hundreds of tiny hatchlings fight through the sand and scuttle into the sea. See parks.des.qld.gov.au
Monkey Mia Beach, Western Australia
Tourists line up to see the bottlenose pod that visits Monkey Mia in Shark Bay. Photo: Getty Images
Dugong-spotting cruises leave from the beach at Monkey Mia, but the main reason to visit this Shark Bay beach is the dolphin-feeding. Over the years, wild dolphins have grown to trust humans here, and they come up to the beach for a strictly-regulated feed. Get lucky, and you'll be chosen to hand the fish over to the eager dolphin in the shallows. See parks.dpaw.wa.gov.au
St Kilda Beach, Melbourne
Photo: Christopher Hopkins
No-one's going to pretend St Kilda Beach is the prettiest in the world. But there's so much going on around it, that looks don't matter all that much. The rides and rollercoasters are the obvious alternative entertainment to going in the sea, but you've also got playgrounds, parklands, gardens, sea baths and restaurants competing for attention. Then, in the evening, there's the chance to watch St Kilda's penguin colony waddle to shore along the breakwater.
Palm Beach, Sydney
Photo: McCann Worldwide Ltd/Destination NSW
The northernmost beach in Sydney provides possibly the most beautiful beach walk in Australia. The beach gets quieter and quieter as you follow it along to the Barrenjoey Lighthouse at the top of the Barrenjoey Peninsula. Palmy also has the bonus of celeb-spotting – it doubles as Summer Bay in Home and Away and the cast are frequently spotted filming here.
Stockton Beach, New South Wales
Photo: Hugh Stewart/Destination NSW
32km long and backed by dunes that wouldn't look out of place in the Sahara, Stockton Beach is the extremely sandy bottom end to the Port Stephens region. It is also a quad biker's dream, with all-terrain vehicles merrily bobbing up and down the dunes. Sand Dune Adventures broadens the scope somewhat with a tour that combines quad-biking, Aboriginal culture and whizzing down the dunes on sandboards. See sandduneadventures.com.au
Cable Beach, Broome
Photo: Lauren Bath
Broome's most famous beach is another one that you can drive all over, but there's another way to get around – camels. Broome Camel Safaris is among several operators offering camel riding jaunts along Cable Beach.
The enormous Kimberley tides also make Cable Beach a bit different. If the tide is out when the sun is setting, the twinkling red-orange reflections in the pools of the tidal flats looks fantastic. See broomecamelsafaris.com.au
North Beach, Wollongong
Photo: Skydive Sydney-Wollongong/Destination NSW
North Beach is a pretty good beach by anyone's standards. But it depends how you get there. North Beach is one of several beaches around Australia – there are others in Mission Beach, Queensland, and Jurien Bay, Western Australia – that doubles as a skydive drop zone. In this case, Skydive Australia will chuck you out of a plane from up to 15,000ft, then bring you to earth on the sand. See skydive.com.au
Disclosure: David Whitley has been a guest of Tourism Australia and the state tourism boards
See also: The 10 places you need to visit before international tourists come back
See also: Twenty awesome things about Australia we take for granted
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