Introducing Australia’s new wave of accessible beaches

At the Basin on Rottnest Island, Dad and two kids snorkel around the natural pool. The difference this time is that Mum is on the sand, rather than semi-abandoned on the clifftop, parked wherever’s suitable for the wheelchair.

On the surface of it, this island off the coast of Perth in Western Australia is not ideally suited to visitors with disabilities. It is car-free, and even hiring a golf buggy requires a driving permit, obtained weeks in advance.

Being able to hire out a beach wheelchair, free of charge, changes the equation, though. A normal wheelchair can navigate the island’s paths, spotting ridiculously-cute quokkas on the way, but with a Sandcruiser, the beaches are no longer insurmountable obstacles.

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For a family that usually ends up separated during beach time, this is a marvel. Mum can dip her feet in the water for the first time in years, and the kids can play in the sand around her.

In Australia, this is not a one-off. Making beaches accessible is a growing phenomenon.

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The Sandcruiser, with its polyurethane balloon-style wheels, is one of several brands of beach wheelchair found in council offices and surf clubs around the country.

Company owner Drew Valentine first encountered beach wheelchairs when working as a lifeguard on Long Beach Island, New Jersey. “I injured my shoulder, so they put me on the beach wheelchairs programme,” he says. “People were crying, saying they hadn’t been on the beach for 20 years. To see the change in people when they get back, and how excited they are, it’s incredible.”

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Valentine then began distributing the balloon wheels in Australia, with Sandcruiser originally one of his clients before he took over the business in 2011.

Since then, there has been a shift from selling the beach wheelchairs to individuals to selling them to councils. Under Australian federal law, public places must be made accessible to all. In recent years, there has been a growing acknowledgement that this means beaches, too, even though the law doesn’t specifically cover them.

“Some councils are more active about this than others,” says Valentine. “But councils tend to network and share ideas and it gets a bit competitive.”

And it doesn’t mean just providing a token beach wheelchair. Councils across Australia have been widening doors in changing rooms and beach pavilions to accommodate. Some have added ramps down to the beach; others have reconfigured parking arrangements to ensure there are disabled spots next to the key facilities.

But the major change is beach matting. Early in the morning at the Burleigh Heads Mowbray Park Surf Life Saving Club on Queensland’s Gold Coast, a team of surf lifesavers rolls out a long blue mat towards a shade tent near the water line.

The matting, made out of recycled plastic bottles, is clearly a pain in the backside to unfurl. But it allows users of normal wheelchairs, not just the specially-adapted beach wheelchairs, to make their way onto the beach.

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The beach at Burleigh Heads was something of a trailblazer, and was the site of the first Accessible Day arranged by the Accessible Beaches charity in 2016. “Hundreds of people came,” says Accessible Beaches founder Shane Hryhorec. “And we started getting enquiries from councils around Australia.”

Hryhorec is a former surf lifesaver, but he broke his neck in 2007. “I loved the beach before, and it was suddenly stripped away from me,” he says. “I thought it was just something I’d have to accept.”

He later stumbled across an image of a wheelchair on a beach mat, and a crusade was born. “Fifty per cent of people over 65 in Australia have disabilities. A lot can’t walk over sand, and most just want to be on the sand with friends and family,” Hryhorec explains.

Accessible Beaches now works with local governments and surf clubs to improve beach access around the country. It also maintains an online directory of beaches with accessible facilities. “At the last count, there were 70 to 90 beaches that have them,” says Hryhorec. “But there are 10,000 beaches in Australia, and if anything, we’re a bit behind.”

One problem is that theoretically accessible beaches are not accessible all the time. “A great example is Bondi Beach in Sydney,” says Hryhorec. “You have to request for the mat to be rolled out. You call a number and no one answers it.”

He also wants the federal government to do more. “It currently contributes zero dollars, and the responsibility lies with local rate payers,” adds Hryhorec. “But there are some councils – maybe a third to a half of them – that are doing an amazing job.”

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There’s certainly enough of them to make beach-hopping around Australia a realistic prospect for visitors who have long seen sand as an impassible barrier. And, yes, that probably does mean a few happy tears when toes are finally dipped in the ocean.

The beach matting is out on weekends, and reaches the hard sand. Two beach wheelchairs are available free of charge from the Burleigh Heads Mowbray Park Surf Life Saving Club.

The beach wheelchairs are available every day, the Surf Club is fully accessible and the beach matting goes down whenever conditions allow.

The mat goes out Thursday to Sunday between October and Easter, and there are six accessible parking spaces by the beach.

Arguably the best bet in Sydney, with three beach wheelchairs, matting and parking directly in-front of the beach.

On the calm waters of Port Phillip Bay, there’s a hoist available on top of the matting, beach wheelchair and accessible changing rooms.

Several airlines offer one-stop flights between the UK and Australia. Emirates, Etihad, Qatar Airways and Singapore Airlines go from Manchester as well as Heathrow, flying to multiple Australian cities.

The Solnamara Apartments opposite Burleigh Heads Beach offers family-friendly two bedroom apartments.

Visit australia.com and accessiblebeaches.com.

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