Avalon Beach is a suburb on the Barrenjoey Peninsula facing the Pacific Ocean, about 2km north of Newport Beach and about 1 km from Clareville.

The name Avalon is said to have been coined by Arthur Small, an estate agent in the early 1920s after Avalon in Somerset, England. According to Celtic mythology Avalon was the final home of the heroes of Chivalry.

Pittwater and the Northern Beaches area was the land of the Garigal and Cannalgal people, part of the Guringai Aboriginal group. Some traces of Aboriginal heritage remain today including middens, cave art sites and rock engravings.

The first land grant in the Avalon area was of 60 acres given to John Farrell in 1827.

For decades the area was isolated and access was mainly by ship to Barrenjoey and by 1880 to Newport. The earliest land explorations followed Aboriginal tracks through the bush. Gradually, a rough bush road was established from Manly, which ran close to the coast as far as Narrabeen. In 1880 as bridge spanned the ford at Narrabeen and the route extended to Mona Vale.

By 1913 trams had replaced coaches and ran as far as Narrabeen. After The Spit (1925), Roseville (1925) and Sydney Harbour (1932) bridges were opened, the Pittwater peninsula was more easily reached.

From the 1950s Pittwater became predominantly residential, but still retains the beauty for which it was celebrated in the early days of European settlement.

Today, the area is blessed with a unique contrast of lush bushland and beaches of golden sand, enveloped by the pristine blue waters of the Pacific Ocean and the calm waters of Pittwater.

It’s rich in natural beauty with stretches of open beach and rock platforms bursting with marine life, rugged headlands and sandstone sea cliffs. There are also inviting and tranquil waterways for boating, native bushland with pockets of rainforest and wetlands providing sanctuary to a myriad of bird species.

The laid-back atmosphere of the northern part of the peninsula, the green canopy and, of course, the sybaritic pleasures of the beach are luring young families and professional couples from the inner west and inner city who see the distance from the city as a blessing rather than a curse. It’s a popular suburb for telecommuters who work from Avalon cafes or from home instead of the office.

Locals have fought hard to prevent overdevelopment and buyers are realising that for the price of a unit in the eastern suburbs, you can buy a house near the beach.

The area has some quaint fishermen's cottages, homes with character and street appeal, which are great buys.

It’s a unique environment blending breath-taking views with quaint cottages and spacious contemporary family homes and affords a lifestyle of relaxed and casual affluence.

Much of the architecture reflects the natural surroundings with use of wave-shaped roofs and large outdoor living spaces and verandahs with billowing sailcloths.

There’s a very relaxed village atmosphere to the area and several blocks of welcoming shops including the celebrated Bookoccino bookshop complete with its own café. The local homeware stores encompass the casual and sleek lifestyle that is associated with Avalon Beach, while the local shopping district also caters for the Australian surf culture and can provide products from local brands such as Quicksilver, Billabong and Rip Curl, to name a few.

The shopping village is comprehensive so you won’t have to venture out from this beautiful seaside suburb to find what you’re looking for.

Warriewood Square is the closest local shopping centre with supermarkets, K-Mart, chemist, bookstore, fashion shops and food outlets. The next closest shopping area is Mona Vale with a comprehensive range of stores.

If you are wanting to plan a big shopping day out, then Warringah Mall is next in line, being the largest shopping centre in the Northern Beaches. It is comprised of some of Australia’s biggest brands, including David Jones, Grace Bros, Big W, Target and Target Home, Australia's No. 1 Woolworths, Coles and over 260 specialty stores. It’s Sydney's only open air centre and provides a casual atmosphere reflective of the unique northern beaches lifestyle.

This is Sydney’s surf country where the air smells of sea salt and coconut oil and every second car has a surfboard strapped to the top.

Ku-ringai Chase National Park is a popular family recreation area with many picnic spots and an extensive network of walking tracks.

Avalon is definitely the place for Sailing enthusiasts, with Avalon Sailing Club catering to every junior boating need. For the more advanced sailors or motorboat enthusiasts, Careel Boat Services at Careel Bay is the place.

The Hawkesbury River is also a popular weekend escape where families can spend afternoons or days exploring the river's many secrets bays and beaches in Pittwater and Broken Bay.

If you’re a keen swimmer, you can swim laps in the salt water pools year round. The popular Avalon Surf Life Saving Club celebrates 75 years’ of operation this year.

For golfers, you’ll find excellent courses in the area including Avalon Golf Course, Bayview Golf Course, Mona Vale Golf Course, Elanora Golf Course, Monash Golf Course and a golf driving range and mini golf at North Narrabeen Reserve.

There are beachside parks and playgrounds and numerous reserves in the area.

You can also take in movies at the Avalon Cinema, something of an institution with surf movie’s being premiered here in the past.

Nearby, you can catch the Palm Beach ferry to Ettalong on the Central Coast. Ferries run from 6.30am weekdays and 9.00am on the weekend returning at around 5.40pm. The return trip costs $15.

Avalon is 34.5km from the CBD and has both general and express bus routes. For commuters, the E88 is an express bus, running only mornings and evenings, and taking only 1 hour to reach the Sydney CBD. General Bus routes, the L90 and the L88 run every 30 minutes, and are an approximate 1 hour 15 minute journey.

Avalon Beach is approximately 500m long, facing south-east, and bordered by high sandstone cliffs and the rock platforms of Bilgola Head and Hole in the Wall. Originally, Avalon Beach had a large littoral rainforest, backed by a freshwater swamp. Now, the Avalon Dunes coastal vegetation is being actively restored by volunteers.

Pittwater is a sheltered waterway around 5.5km long, which offers safe harbourage and recreational boating. It’s also a popular fishing spot with recreational anglers. It was named by Captain Arthur Phillip on 2 March 1788 when he declared it "the finest piece of Water I ever saw". He "honoured [it] with the name of Pitt Water", after William Pitt, the Younger, who was Prime Minister of England.

Nearby Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park, the second oldest National Park in New South Wales, conserves some 15,000 hectares of sandstone bushland. It is rich in Aboriginal sites, European history and native flora and fauna.

And of course, the famous Palm Beach is nearby, where you can enjoy a terrific walk to the Barrenjoey Lighthouse, designed by colonial architect James Barnett, at the end of the peninsula or rub shoulders with the rich and famous. The Barrenjoey headland commands the entrance to Broken Bay, the Hawkesbury River and Pittwater. It serves as a reminder that during the nineteenth century most access to Pittwater was by ship and that Barrenjoey became a focal point during this period.

Avalon is a popular suburb for artists, actors and architects. It’s also famous for surfers, swimmers and sports-minded people.

Avalon is home to a string of cafes such as Ibiza and Chelsea, as well as many new establishments, providing restaurants with a coastal, relaxed atmosphere and smart urban food. A favourite is Swell Cafe where sandy feet are de rigeur and there’s a whiteboard full of tantalising food such as coconut bread with honeycomb butter. Avalon Beach Cafe with its sun-filled sleek polished wood environs and communal table serves up chic and comforting food. For fresh juices and salads with crunch eaten in happy beach-house surroundings try Alive Food and Juice. There’s also Avalon Chinese, Avalon Fine Wine and Food and many more tempting food outlets and delis. The local RSL club is also a popular local haunt.

A little further afield is a hidden treasure - the relaxed Clareville Kiosk, a weatherboard cottage on the Pittwater shoreline. It’s popular with families for Sunday lunch and with the well-heeled enjoying a glass of champagne.

The area has a number of well-regarded child care centres and preschools including Avalon Playtime Kindergarten, St Marks Preschool, Barrenjoey Montessori School, She Oaks Kindergarten, Casa Carlos Kindergarten, Bear ‘n Joey Long Day Care and Palm Beach Memorial Kindergarten.

Local government schools in the area include Avalon Public School, Barrenjoey High School and Bilgola Plateau Public School.

Private schools include Maria Regina Primary School, Hamazkaine Arshak & Sophie Galstaun School, Mater Maria College, Loquat Valley Anglican Preparatory School, Sacred Heart Primary School, St Josephs Primary School, Pittwater House Grammar School, Pittwater Girls College, Pittwater House Preparatory School and Pittwater Junior Girls College.

Nearby tertiary institutions and community colleges include Northern Sydney Institute of TAFE (Brookvale and Seaforth), International College of Tourism (Manly) and Manly Warringah Community College.