© Larry Rivera, licensed to About.com, Inc
If you take the ferry from Circular Quay to Manly, you'd alight at Manly Wharf in Manly Cove on the Sydney Harbour side.
You'd then need to walk northeast through The Corso to reach pine-fringed Manly Beach, which is also called South Steyne Beach, on the Pacific side.
Manly Beach, home to beach volleyball, surf competitions and festivals such as the International Jazz Festival and the Food and Wine Festival, is a most popular tourist destination, with rows of restaurants, cafes and shops, coupled with easy accessibllity by harbour ferry.
It is the Sydney gateway to the city's Northern Beaches region.
Manly Beach leads northward in a slow sandy arch to North Steyne Beach, where men in boradshorts and women in bikinis take to the long strip of sand to take advantage of the sun when the weather's good.
There are rock pools at either end of the Manly/North Steyne strip for those who prefer calmer, protected waters when taking a dip in the sea.