Happy Hours in Bondi Beach

The drinking scene here revolves around Campbell Parade and the streets that feed into it, where the draw is always the proximity to sand and surf. The Shop & Wine Bar on Curlewis Street has been anchoring the neighbourhood's quieter side since 2004, serving natural wines and coffee to the same regulars who've watched Bondi's tourist boom ebb and flow around them.

The crowd shifts with the seasons and the time of day - backpackers nursing schooners at sunset, local residents meeting for morning coffee that stretches into afternoon wine, weekend visitors who've walked down from Bondi Junction Station. Summer weekends bring the biggest crowds, but the appeal of drinking with ocean breezes means the scene stays active year-round.

Bondi sits at the eastern end of the bus routes from the city, making it a destination rather than a stop-off. That geographic isolation from the inner-city bar strips gives the drinking scene its own rhythm - less about bar-hopping, more about settling in with a view.