Manly Beach is a beach situated in Sydney's Northern Beaches, Australia. From north to south, the three main sections are Queenscliff, North Steyne, and South Steyne.

Within walking distance of Manly Beach along the oceanway is Fairy Bower and Shelley Beach. There are shops, restaurants, night clubs, and dive bars in town.

The beach was named by Capt. Arthur Phillip for the indigenous people living there. He wrote about them, "Their confidence and manly behaviour made me give the name of Manly Cove to this place".

Manly Council Lifeguards operate a year-round service at South Steyne, and operate from October to April at North Steyne and Queenscliff. Volunteer Life Savers also patrol on weekends and public holiday between October and May.

Travelling to Manly from Sydney's main ferry terminal, Circular Quay, takes 30 minutes by ferry. The Corso, a pedestrian plaza and one of Manly's main streets for shopping and dining, runs from the ferry wharf and harbour beach, across the peninsula to Manly Beach, where it marks the boundary between North Steyne and South Steyne.^{[citation needed]}

Layne Beachley is a former professional surfer from Manly, Australia. She won the World Championship seven times.

At the age of 16 Beachley became a professional surfer. By the age of 20 she was ranked sixth in the world. Beachley became the Women's ASP World Champion in 1998, and won the title again in 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2006. The first woman in history to gain 7 World Championships, six of them consecutive.

In 2004, Layne was given a wildcard entry into the Energy Australia Open held at Newcastle, one of the rare occasions a woman has competed in a men's surfing event.

Beachley announced on 10 October 2008 that she will retire due to her age.

She has appeared in the movies Blue Crush (2002),Billabong Odyssey (2003), Step into Liquid (2003), and the 2001 documentary 7 Girls.

Layne Beachley was born Tania Maris Gardner on 24 May 1972 in Sydney, Australia. Her mother was only seventeen years old and unmarried so she was soon adopted by Neil and Valerie Beachley, who lived in nearby Manly. When Layne was only six years old, Valerie suffered a post-operative brain hemorrhage and died, leaving Layne and her brother to be raised by a family friend. Beachley has spoken publicly about personal struggles, including the fact that she was conceived during a date rape and later adopted out. She met her biological mother for the first time in 1999. Beachley was brought up in the competitive Manly surfing scene and was competing and winning against men's heats at 15. It is thought that here is where she had developed her strength and style that would make her an unbeaten world champion and big wave rider. Beachley was always available when possible for any worthwhile cause in the community whether it was for sewerage outfall protests or promoting the sport and charities that she is close to.

Robert Kelly Slater (born February 11, 1972, Cocoa Beach, FL, USA) is an American professional surfer known for his competitive prowess and style. He has been crowned ASP World Champion a record 11 times, including 5 consecutive titles from 1994–98. He is the youngest (at age 20) and the oldest (at age 39) to win the title. Upon winning his 5th world title in 1997, Slater passed Australian surfing legend Mark Richards to become the most successful champion in the history of the sport. In 2007 he also became the all-time leader in career event wins by winning the Boost Mobile Pro event at Lower Trestles near San Clemente, California. The previous record was held by Slater's childhood hero, 3-time world champion Tom Curren.

In addition to the ASP tour, Slater has also competed in the X-Games (in 2003 and 2004). After earlier being awarded the title prematurely as a result of a miscalculation by the ASP, on November 6, 2011 Slater officially won his eleventh ASP world title at the Rip Curl Pro Search San Francisco, by winning his 4th round heat. In May 2005, in the final heat of the Billabong Tahiti Pro contest at Teahupo'o, Slater became the first surfer ever to be awarded two perfect scores for a total 20 out of 20 points under the ASP two-wave scoring system. (The corresponding honor under the previous three-wave system belongs to fellow American Shane Beschen who achieved the feat in 1996.) Since 1990, Slater has been sponsored primarily by surfwear industry giant Quiksilver. He exclusively rides Channel Islands surfboards equipped with his own signature series of FCS fins.