Coogee Beach, Sydney
Coogee Beach on the Coogee Bay in Sydney, Australia although not as famous as Bondi Beach is so close to Sydney that it is lovingly called “Sydney’s Seaside Village”. The “Wedding Cake Island” is around a kilometer from Coogee Beach from where it can be seen. In fact the Wedding Cake Island is so located that it shelters the Coogee Beach from the onslaught of the rough sea. It also goes by other names like “Lemo’s Island” and “Gingerbread Island”.

The Name
Located in Coogee Bay, the island derives its name possibly from its look similar to a wedding cake. Another version behind the idea of the name is that thick layer of bird droppings on the island gives it an appearance of icing on a wedding cake. Whatever be the source of the name, it has caught the imagination of people and lent its name to the 1975 Australian popular rock music of the same name by the band Midnight Oil. This unforgettable piece of music paying homage to the dive sites of the island is still popular and played on Australian radio.

The Island
This 150 meter long rocky island viewable from Coogee Beach is gorgeous. As the surfs break all around the rocky outcrop garlanding it with white water, it takes the appearance of an iced wedding cake. The whitewashed island looks magnificent when the sun rises over the bay. The water is 20 meters deep and makes the island an ideal site for divers and surfers. The island offers diverse marine life with fishes such as leather jacket and blue groper and other marine lives like corals, sponges and ascidians. The good swimmers find it a challenge to swim to this island from Coogee Beach when the water is calm. During swells, the challenges of the waves draw the surfers to the island. Each November takes place an annual swimming event in the island.

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