Beaches of the Northern Australian Coast covers beaches between Broome and Cooktown, and includes all beaches in the Kimberley region, the Northern Territory and Cape York - in all, 3,489 beaches spread along 11,869 km of tropical coast. This book has two aims. First, to provide the public with general information on the origin and nature of the Northern Australian beaches, including the contribution of geology, oceanography, climate and biota to the beaches, and information on beach hazards and safety. Second, to provide a description of each beach, including its name(s), location, access, facilities, dimensions and the character of the beach and surf zone. The book comments on the suitability of the beach for bathing, surfing and fishing, with special emphasis on the natural hazards. Based on the physical hazards, all beaches are rated in terms of public safety and scaled from 1 (least hazardous) to 10 (most hazardous).