North Narrabeen is a National Surfing Reserve for good reason — it's rarely flat, and it's not just one wave. Within a few hundred metres you've got a serious left-hand point, a separate right-hand beach break, and Collaroy stretching south from there, with Long Reef sitting just around the corner. Treating "Narrabeen" as a single spot means missing most of what's actually on offer.
North Narrabeen Point: the left
This is the wave North Narrabeen is actually known for among surfers — a long, rocky-bottomed left point that holds real size and rarely goes properly flat. It needs a reasonable swell to start working (this isn't a knee-high novelty wave) but repays it with some of the longest rides on this stretch of coast.
The Alley: the right, around the corner
A short walk from the Point, the Alley is a completely different wave: a right-hand sandbar break that takes groundswell and windswell alike, holds shape through all stages of the tide, and gets crowded on its day. It's the spot that turns on when the Point wants more swell than is actually in the water.
Collaroy: the beach the point leads into
Collaroy runs south from Narrabeen as one long, reasonably exposed beach and point setup. It wants the same northeast swell with a southwest offshore that works the Alley, offers both left and rights off the sandbars, and is rated as reliable rather than spectacular — a solid, consistent option on a stretch of coast that rarely goes fully flat.
Long Reef: exactly what the name says
Long Reef sits just north, taking swell from the southeast and holding surfable size roughly four days out of five. As the name suggests, it's a reef setup rather than a sandbar — a different proposition from the beach breaks at Collaroy and the Alley, and one that rewards knowing the lineup rather than paddling out blind.
Also in the stretch
Dee Why, Curl Curl, Freshwater, Avalon, Newport, and Bilgola all sit along the same run of Northern Beaches coastline and share a broadly similar beach-break character to Collaroy, picking up the same swells with their own local variation in exposure and sandbank shape.
Related reading: Point Break vs. Reef Break vs. Beach Break: What's Actually Different and How Tide Affects Wave Shape, Not Just Timing.
Closest spot guides
- Dee Why, about 6 km away
- Curl Curl, about 7 km away
- Avalon, about 8 km away
- Freshwater, about 9 km away
Or browse every break we cover in our Australian surf spot guides by region.
We track the Point, the Alley, Collaroy, and Long Reef separately.
Four different waves on one stretch of coast — know which one is actually on.
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