The area was popular with holiday-makers from the early 1900s to World War I, who stayed in holiday shacks on the headland.

The stories recounting how Dave Jackman dared to ride one in 1961 gave rise to big wave surfing in Australia.

Pittwater and the Northern Beaches area was formerly known as Guringai country, the land of the Garigal or Caregal people.

The report states “It is unfortunate that the term Guringai has become widely known in northern Sydney and it is understandable that people wish to use it as it is convenient to have a single word to cover the language, tribe/nation, identity and culture of a region.

However, it is based on a nineteenth century fiction and the AHO would argue that the use of the term Guringai or any of its various spellings such as Kuringai is not warranted given its origin and previous use.” In reference to the clan name Garigal or Caregal the report goes on to say “In the absence of a convenient single term for the whole of northern Sydney, the AHO would recommend the use of clan names for local areas, with the understanding that these too have their limitations and problems, and the acceptance of the truth of the lack of certainty as a feature of how Aboriginal history and heritage is portrayed here.”[5]