Most people go to Bondi, take a photo at the lifeguard tower, swim for an hour, and leave saying it was nice but expensive. They missed the whole thing.
Here's what Bondi is actually about.
The walk, not the beach. The Bondi to Coogee coastal walk is the single best free thing you can do in Sydney. Six kilometres along the cliffs, five beaches (Bondi, Tamarama, Bronte, Clovelly, Coogee), and four ocean pools you can actually swim in along the way. Two to three hours at an easy pace. Pack water and sunscreen. Start at Bondi, finish at Coogee, get the bus back.
The ocean pools. Bondi Icebergs is the famous one with the photo-op infinity pool, $10 adult entry. Bronte Baths at the south end of Bronte Beach is free. The Bogey Hole, a natural rock pool also at Bronte, is free. Clovelly is a sheltered cove with a flat lap pool cut into the rock, free.
Food off the strip. Funky Pies at 144 to 148 Glenayr Avenue does excellent vegan pies for $10 to $14. Lox Stock and Barrel at 140 Glenayr Avenue bakes its own bagels and rye, sandwiches around $20. Both are a few blocks back from Campbell Parade where the prices halve.
The market. Sundays at the Bondi Markets behind the school. Vintage clothes, jewellery, bric-a-brac, food trucks. Better browsing than spending.
Bondi at sunrise. If you can drag yourself out at 6am, the beach is empty and the surfers are out. It's the only time it feels like the locals' beach.
The thing first-timers miss is that Bondi works better as a long morning than as a destination day. Sunrise swim, walk to Coogee, lunch in Coogee, bus back. You'll spend $30 and have one of the best days of the trip.
By the way, Bondi is around 25 to 30 minutes by bus from our central Sydney locations. Either way, do the walk early.