When it comes to cool arches and rock features on the NSW South Coast, all the fame goes to Narooma and Bermagui. However, Batemans Bay has its own incredible rock arch and you’re not going to have to share it with anyone else. The arch is only a 250m walk from the nearest car park, but it’s hidden from sight of the main beach and therefore flies under the radar.
Here’s how to find it.
The walk to Guerilla Bay Arch
The stats
Distance: 250m each way
Elevation gain: 15m
Difficulty: Easy, with a minor rock scramble
Trailhead: Guerilla Bay Parking
Summary: The walk to Guerilla Bay Arch is not signposted and has no formal track, but provided you go on the right tide and swell, it’s pretty easy.
The final few metres to the arch require climbing up and then down a bit of tiered rock which necessitates walking a metre or so through shallow water.
Alternatively, you can use the steeper completely dry route which takes you around the back of the arch instead of directly through it, but it is a bit more of a scramble.
I preferred using it as an exit route, so I only needed to climb up and not down the steep section (more details on that below).
Safety info: tide & swell
Reaching the rock arch is best done a couple of hours either side of low tide and when the swell is not rough. There is only one short section which requires crossing a set of rocks that are fully exposed to the swell, but you would not want to attempt it when the sea is rough.
Tides-wise you may get away with a mid tide, but we’ve personally only been two hours before low tide, so it’s hard to say. I would pick that four hour window either side of low tide to be sure, or come a bit earlier and know if the tide is up you may have to wait on the beach a little while.
You can see the tide and swell forecast here.
The walk
From the Guerilla Bay parking area you follow the narrow sandy path through the trees for 50m down to the beach.
Once at the beach head right and you will reach the rock platform just 30m later. Walk along the side of the rock platform and then over the rock and into the next cove along (the shallow part of the rock wall cannot be seen in the photo, so don’t worry you aren’t scaling anything steep!).
You now have two choices. You can climb up and over the rock wall you can see in front of you which will lead you directly through the arch.
This is easy as the rock is so grippy and well tiered. The only downside is that if you don’t have water shoes you will find the final metre walking through the shallow water directly under the arch to be very uncomfortable.
In fact, take it from me who went barefoot, just don’t. Bring water shoes or wear your normal shoes, don’t risk getting cut up on the rocks and shells.
Other than that this route is pretty easy.
Your second option is the path which you will see leading uphill on the far side right of the cliff. The path up is easy as it’s well tiered, not overly steep and has no exposure.
However, climbing down the other side is steep. It is tiered in so much as the jagged rock has many narrow points you can stand on, but it’s much easier as an ascent route when coming from the other direction in my opinion.
Also note that the rock on both routes is so grippy as to almost feel sticky. You sometimes have to be very careful with your movements to actually come ‘unstuck’ from the rock.
This might sound great, but I did nearly trip once when I assumed my foot was going to move and it almost felt caught by the grip. That’s why I personally found climbing up the jagged rock very easy, but was happy with my route through the arch on the way.
Both options bring you to the arch just 250m after leaving the car park.
The Guerilla Bay Arch
The Guerilla Bay Arch is really impressive, it has a jagged dome and a mouth which is weathered in the same way you would find at a cave. A few hardy trees eek out a living on its top and a small rockpool ripples gently around the base.
While not well known generally speaking, it has caught the eye of local landscape photographers and it’s easy to see why. It’s also just a fun spot, and I loved having a poke around while marvelling that we were the only ones there.
We’d visited Australia Rock in Narooma the day before which has a line of people waiting to take photos!
The rocks all around the base of the arch are sharp and rough, so my advice is to wear shoes for the whole adventure, flip flops would be a no no as they could easily catch on the rock. During low tide there is a small rockpool beside the arch, but other than that no water comes into the cove, so there’s plenty of room to explore.
There’s a very small sea cave which you can climb into, though it’s actually the stripy rock of the cave entrance that is the most impressive.
The same amazing rock can be seen all the way along the cliff wall which makes it feel so dramatic. It’s a really interesting landscape and definitely had us excited to explore more of what is a brand new part of the South Coast for us.
Parking for the Guerilla Bay Arch
There are a couple of different parking areas for Guerilla Bay so make sure you go to the small one you can see here on Google maps. It’s around a 15 minute drive from Batemans Bay and 50 minutes from Narooma on the NSW South Coast. There are no facilities at the parking area so please plan accordingly.
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How to find one of Batemans Bay’s least well known rockpools, as well as the required tide and swell for a safe visit.