Are you up for a whole day affair of hiking and snorkeling? If you answered yes, then this hike is for you! This track ticks off Arthur, Florence, Radical, Balding and Horseshoe Bay, each offering beautiful scenic beaches and opportunities to snorkel.
Last visited: June 2021
Difficulty: 3.5/10
Reward/ Effort: 8.5/10
What you need to know:
Rochelle and Sarah have both done this hike on separate occasions and tackled this in different ways.
This hike can be started from either the Forts Walk Car park or Horseshoe Bay.
It doesn't have to be undertaken in one go either-> I (Sarah) hiked with my friend Bec from the Fort Car park to Arthur Bay and Florence Bay on one day and the next day completed the rest of the route from Horseshoe Bay to Radical and Balding Bay. Rochelle attacked it in one day and found it to be a whole day affair!
We also found the distances on the signs quite inaccurate. We don't know whether they took into consideration the return trips to the actual Bays, or whether the distances were from the main track/ roads, so don't take our reported distances as absolute. They are merely estimated distances. You will get very little from the walk if you don't cut in to each bay. Otherwise you won't see much and just be walking on a gravel path-> sounds boring hey? Keep in mind this does add quite a bit of time to your trip though.
Bring some lunch! One of the reasons we ended up splitting up the hike over two days was because we didn't have food with us- rookie error! We felt if we had some lunch or at least some quality snacks we could have spent much longer out but our appetites became too big to ignore!
Day one
From the Forts Walk car park, follow a narrow sealed road downhill towards Arthur Bay. We didn't realize at the time but you can actually drive down this road if you have a high clearance car. The Mazda CX-5 would have easily made it. We aren't people to shy away from a walk but if you are only going to hit up a couple of bays on this walk and will have snorkel gear and wet togs in tow, it would be nice to avoid the uphill grind on the return to your car. It's about 1km to Arthur Bay and is one of the top rated snorkel spots on the island. There weren't a huge array of fish but the coral was spectacular-> so many different colours and textures to observe!
Next stop, Florence Bay! There is a short side trip you can do to the Searchlight tower which is a 1.1km detour off the main track you will be following. Here you will be rewarded beautiful views over Florence and Arthur Bay and involves a short ladder limb to a viewing platform. There is also a picnic table with plenty of shade which would be an opportune time to have some lunch. I found a couple of big boulders to put my snorkeling equipment behind to avoid carrying everything there and back.
Florence Bay itself it beautiful! To your right there are massive boulders you can climb over to elevate your view over the Bay. This is also a great spot to snorkel and there is a route you can follow in the water which is evident by yellow tags that are numbered in the suggested sequence.
From here we turned back and followed the same route back to Forts Walk Car park, minus the detours which tallied about 7 km total distance, or you could continue your journey on to Radical Bay, Balding Bay and Horseshoe Bay.
Day Two:
Horseshoe Bay, Balding Bay and Radical Bay return is 4.8 km. If you start from Horseshoe Bay, walk south on the beach/ footpath until you reach the end of the bay and look rightward to find a well signed track which takes you the route towards Balding Bay. If the tide is in, you can either get your feet week or bypass the shallow water by walking behind the main street of Horseshoe Bay on Henry Lawson Street and cross the wooden bridge over the mangroves.
The track then elevates through a steep gully and forest to a ridge with eucalyptus woodland. From here the track branches off towards Balding Bay for about 1km which traverses over small rocky boulders so care should be taken. Balding Bay is a nudist beach (no nudists here when Sarah walked through however there were some people enjoying the freedoms so be mindful of not taking photos if this is the case!)
Once you soak in the views of Balding Bay, make your way back along the same route, now with a slight uphill gradient, towards the main track. From here, follow the sign and head south towards Radical Bay which is another 1.2km. Keep your clothes on here (or at least your togs!) and enjoy a swim and snorkel at the beautiful beach. This can also be accessed by 4WD but why drive when you can walk, right?
From here, if you are doing the full circuit, the next stop is Florence Bay. Sarah didn't walk this small section between bays but by all accounts, it looks like a fairly flat, easy track/road to follow
This portion of the map was cut from the main National Parks Hiking Map and is the 'green route'. (Apologies for the poor quality!)
Arthur Bay: the first stop on our epic five Bay hike. This was a little vantage point you can check out before entering the actual Bay. make sure you bring your snorkeling gear here-> the coral is pretty spectacular!
Views of Florence Bay from the Searchlight Tower. There is a shorter ladder to climb to the viewing platform and a picnic table that would make for a picturesque backdrop for lunch.
Even with the tide going out, Florence Bay is still beautiful! This is the second bay we snorkeled at and there is a 'snorkel route' that is marked by numbered yellow tags under the water.
Horseshoe Bay: I must admit this picture was taken earlier in the week but as Horseshoe bay is rated one of the top places to view the sunset I couldn't resist using this picture to represent Horseshoe Bay and the start of day two of the Five Bays Hike.
One street back from the main shore front road is Henry Lawson St. Follow the street right or south (however your brain works) until you cross a little wooden bridge over the mangroves. where you will then find signs indicating the start of your walk.
Follow up a steep-ish ridge line through dry forest until you reach this well signed intersection. Continue left for Balding Bay or continue ahead to get to Radical Bay and beyond.
Balding Bay: one of a couple of nudist beaches on the island. I didn't manage to go snorkeling here but there are reports that it is a pretty good place to spot some marine life.
Radical Bay: in comparison this beach isn't quite as spectacular as the others in this walk, but beautiful all the same and can be accessed via 4WD track which is a positive to people wanting to cut out the walk and bring down some BBQ and beach gear without carrying it.
Turn right at these signs if you want to keep walking south on the circuit or turn back to the left if you want to head back to your starting point on Horseshoe
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