Located 8 kilometres north east of the Sydney CBD, Balmoral is mostly known for its beach, beautiful houses and expensive yachts. The beach is divided by a rocky crop known by locals as ‘The Island’ with Hunter Beach being on the south side and Edwards Beach being on the North. Both beaches enjoy views over Sydney Harbour National Park and through "the Heads" - the gateway to Sydney Harbour. The entire beach is listed on the Register of the National Estate as the 'Balmoral Beach Conservation Area'. The conservation area includes the promenade, the esplanade, the Rotunda and the Bathers' Pavilion, which date back to the 1930s.

Balmoral is named after Balmoral Castle, the large estate house in Aberdeenshire, Scotland known as Royal Deeside and a favourite summer royal residence.Before the area was settled in 1830 as a whaling station, the area was originally inhabited by The Borogegal Aboriginal tribe.

On the Esplanade, you can choose from about 5 restaurants of fine dining with 3 of those being located on the beach side being ‘Public Dining’ and ‘Bathers Pavilion café and restaurant’. There is also an enclosed swimming pool with shark nets situated beside the boatshed and public toilets and change rooms located at each restaurant site.During summer, the Rotunda is home to ‘Shakespeare by the Sea’ and the surrounding lawn area comes alive with events such as annual Mudgee Food & Wine Festival and the annual Carols By Candlelight held in December.During school holidays, there is boat hire from the Sailing School and Boatshed http://www.sailingschool.com.au/Home/Hire and http://www.balmoralboatshed.com.au/ where kids can be seen skipping across the small waves on sail boards, catamarans, Kayaks and Paddleboards. Parents can watch from the grassy slope in front of the soccer field and enjoy picnics under the shady trees or the BBQ area.

Transport to Balmoral is mainly by car with an abundance of parking along the Esplanade and surrounding streets, although beach goers no longer can take advantage of all day parking with newly installed 2 hour parking metres. Alternatively Sydney Buses have a service (Bus number 238 & 247) which runs from one end of the Esplanade to the other. For local residents, there is a free  community bus - the Mosman Rider which operates 7 days a week, 8am to 6pm, transporting residents and visitors around Mosman on a 30 minute loop. Hail the bus anywhere along its route.For those that prefer to arrive in a bit more style, private boats can pull up to drop off at the wharf.

Interestingly the Balmoral Line tram service was one of the last tram lines to be opened in Sydney and ran to Wynyard, Lane Cove, Taronga Park Zoo Wharf and Chatwood, making it one of the busiest lines on the North Sydney system.This service ceased to operate in 1958.

References

Wikipedia
Dictionary of Sydney
North Sydney Council
Mosman Council
www.sydney.com
Trip Advisor
www.kirribilli.org.au/
www.weekendnotes.com
sydney travellers guide