Tamarama is in the middle of the "Bondi to Bronte Ocean Walk" which is the most popular coastal walking route in Australia.
The first recorded name for the area we now know as Tamarama was in the 1830s when it was identified on a military map as Gamma Gamma, an Indigenous word. It is believed that this word means ‘storm’. In recent years the beach has attracted more than its fair share of A-list celebrities the media has also jokingly referred to Tamarama as ‘Glamarama’.
Rock carvings on the coastal walk at Mackenzies Bay depict various fish species and were probably formed with sharp stones or shells. The age of these engravings is not known however they are estimated to be up to 2,000 years old.
From 1887 the Royal Aquarium and Pleasure Grounds occupied the northern headland of Tamarama where the Surf Life Saving Club now stands and Tamarama Park behind the beach.
During this time the beach was known as Aquarium Beach.
Aquarium – Tamarama Beach
In 1906, William Anderson, a theatrical entrepreneur, leased the land formerly occupied by The Royal Aquarium and Pleasure Grounds (generally referred to as the 'Bondi Aquarium') in Tamarama Park.
He also leased further land in Tamarama Gully, then known as Tamarama Glen or simply 'the Glen', and constructed his 20-acre outdoor entertainment masterpiece, Wonderland City
Wonderland - Tamarama
Its most notable residents include ‘Alice’, the only elephant to ever reside in the area.
Alice in Wonderland – Wonderland City, Tamarama
Tamarama Surf Life Saving Club Tamarama is known as one of Australia’s most dangerous patrolled beaches. Despite this, for 100 years no lives have been lost while Tamarama surf lifesavers and lifeguards have been on patrol.
The Tamarama Surf Life Saving Club was formed after winning a long battle with the owners of the amusement park Wonderland about public access to the beach.
It had a barbed wire perimeter fence, built to stop visitors sneaking into the amusement park without paying, by coming in via the beach front. But this fence also cut off access to the beach, making local swimmers angry and caused on-going friction with the owner of Wonderland.
Despite the protests, the Wonderland management insisted the fence was staying. One Sunday the surfers produced bolt cutters and cut the barbed wire fence and Wonderland owners responded by calling the police. The fence was repaired. The following weekend the local swimmers returned, the fence was cut again – and down came the Waverley police.
Wonderland City – Tamarama
This stand-off continued. Their fight went all the way to the NSW Parliament where the Minister declared that Tamarama Beach was public land. Some of these victorious locals formed a new club to protect swimmers at the beach, it became the Tamarama Surf Life Saving Club.
Tamarama Beach is only 100 metres long, and has been variously described as an embayed beach or a long inlet. But it is most notorious for its permanent rips, with the first recorded fatality at the beach in 1889.
Tamarama Surf Life Saving Club
In 1939 the President of Tamarama Surf Life Saving Club, claimed Tamarama was no more dangerous than Bronte or Bondi, but conceded that, ‘nearly all the year round the undertow, both north and south side where the rocks are partly submerged, is strong.’ Surf Life Saving NSW describes Tamarama as NSW’s most hazardous patrolled beach, warning that its ‘energetic wave climate ensures that at least one and often two rips are present on the beach. This means the surf zone is essentially all rip but well protected.
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