Thompsons Beach named 12th best beach in Australia

By Isabelle Harris

Feb 6, 2022

Now award-winning: Thompsons Beach has made number 12 on the top 20 best beaches in Australia. Photo by Jamie Salter

Thompsons Beach in Cobram has been named the country’s 12th best beach in a Tourism Australia announcement on January 30.

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Federal Trade, Tourism and Investment Minister Dan Tehan, who formally announced the list, said narrowing the list down from 11,000 beaches must be the toughest job in Australia.

“The 2022 list covers every state and territory, with a selection of our most spectacular beaches that will inspire and excite holiday-makers all over Australia and the world,” he said.

Cobram Barooga Business and Tourism chairperson Nicky Goldsworthy said the community had always known what an amazing beach the town had in its backyard.

“Now we can show it up to the rest of Australia, now it’s actually being recognised ... it’s certainly one of our key attributes of our Cobram-Barooga region,” she said.

“Lots of places have splash parks and all these man-made things, we have this great natural thing, it’s going to be a great drawcard to what our region already has.

“It’s definitely going to help us showcase our twin towns of Cobram and Barooga.

“It’s just another feather in our cap to what we’ve already got.’’

Ms Goldsworthy said being named on the list would also help local businesses, even non-tourism-related ones, as more people come to the area for an attraction and spend money in the area.

“This is just terrific because we can showcase what we’ve already got, it’s just such a great region,” she said.

“If we work on the tourism, the business will hopefully improve as well.”

The list featured both well-known and little-known beaches from around the country and included inland and freshwater beaches, as well as traditional saltwater beaches.

Topping the list was Misery Beach in Albany, Western Australia, awarded for its stunning waters and picturesque sands.

The full list of the top 20 beaches is below:

1. Misery Beach, WA

2. Horseshoe Bay, NSW

3. The Spit, Queensland

4. Flaherty’s Beach, SA

5. Loch Ard Gorge, Victoria

6. The Neck, Tasmania

7. Blue Pearl Bay, Queensland

8. Depot Beach, NSW

9. Murray Beach, NSW

10. Dundee Beach, NT