The best things to do in Port Stephens: dolphins, dunes, and more
Port Stephens is one of New South Wales’ greatest travel secrets, and the fact that it is only 2.5 hours north of Sydney makes its relative underratedness even more baffling. This vast natural harbour — twice the size of Sydney Harbour — is home to a resident pod of over 100 bottlenose dolphins, the largest moving sand dunes in the southern hemisphere, superb seafood, and some genuinely outstanding beaches. It is a perfect long weekend destination from Sydney and an excellent stop on any New South Wales road trip.
I have visited Port Stephens more times than I can count, at different times of year and with different groups of people, and it delivers consistently. There is enough to keep families, couples, adventure seekers, and foodies happy for three to four days without ever feeling like you are forcing it. The pace is relaxed, the locals are friendly, and the natural setting is genuinely beautiful.
📋 TL;DR – The best things to do in Port Stephens
- 🐬 Dolphin watching is world-class: Port Stephens has a resident pod of over 100 bottlenose dolphins — cruise tours have a near-100% sighting rate.
- 🏜️ The Stockton Sand Dunes are extraordinary: The largest moving sand dunes in the southern hemisphere — sandboarding and quad biking available.
- 🤿 Fly Point Marine Reserve is outstanding: Shore snorkelling with weedy sea dragons, cuttlefish, and blue-ringed octopus right from the beach.
- 🦅 Hawks Nest and Myall Lakes are beautiful: Less visited than Nelson Bay, but Myall Lakes National Park is stunning and the beaches are outstanding.
- 🎣 Fishing in the bay is excellent: Charter boats, hire kayaks, and jetty fishing produce flathead, bream, and whiting.
- 🍦 Nelson Bay has great food: The waterfront has excellent seafood restaurants and the Fishermen’s Co-op sells fresh fish straight off the boats.
🐬 Dolphin watching and swimming
Port Stephens is one of Australia’s best destinations for dolphin watching, and it is not close. A permanent pod of over 100 Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins lives in the bay year-round, and dolphin watching cruises from Nelson Bay marina report sightings on virtually every trip. The dolphins are genuinely wild and come to the boats on their own terms — tour operators use sail and wake riding to attract them, but there is no feeding or conditioning involved.
The best operators — Imagine Cruises and Moonshadow Cruises are the most reputable — run morning and afternoon tours that combine dolphin watching with scenic harbour cruising. Swimming with dolphins is available on some tours between October and April, though encounters are opportunistic rather than guaranteed. The morning departure generally offers calmer water and better lighting for photography.
Beyond the organised tours, dolphins are frequently spotted from the beaches and headlands around the bay, particularly at Dutchies Beach and Box Beach. Kayakers regularly paddle out from the beaches and have unguided encounters with the pod. If you bring a kayak or hire one from one of the operators in Nelson Bay, early mornings in the bay can be extraordinary.
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🏜️ Stockton Sand Dunes
The Stockton Bight Sand Dunes stretch for about 32 kilometres along the coast south of Anna Bay and reach heights of up to 30 metres, making them the largest moving coastal sand dunes in the southern hemisphere. The scale is genuinely impressive — it looks like a small section of the Sahara has been dropped onto the New South Wales coast, and the contrast between the enormous golden dunes and the green coastal vegetation behind them is visually striking.
Sandboarding on the dunes is the most popular activity and is absolutely worth doing. Several operators run tours from Anna Bay with boards, and no experience is required — you simply sit or stand on the board and let gravity do the work down the steep dune face. It is hilarious and surprisingly fast. Quad biking tours are also available and cover more ground, taking you deep into the dunes to lookout points with views over the beach and ocean.
For something quieter, you can walk into the dunes independently from the Birubi Point parking area. The 4WD beach access track south of Anna Bay leads to some of the most dramatic dune landscapes, and at certain times of year the reflections in the inter-dune lakes are beautiful. Visit early morning or late afternoon for the best light.
For more inspiration, check out Things to Do in Port Macquarie.
🤿 Snorkelling and diving
Fly Point Marine Reserve in Nelson Bay is one of the best accessible shore snorkel sites in New South Wales, and it is completely free. The reserve is a short walk from the marina, the entry is easy from the rocks or the small beach, and the marine life is extraordinary. Weedy sea dragons — one of Australia’s most spectacular marine creatures — are regularly seen here, as are cuttlefish, blue-ringed octopus (look but absolutely do not touch), wobbegong sharks, and large schools of fish.
The best conditions are on an incoming tide when the visibility is clearest, and early morning before wind chop develops. Wetsuit hire is available nearby — the water temperature is comfortable without a wetsuit in summer (22-24°C) but a 3mm suit is recommended in winter (18-19°C). There are also several excellent scuba diving sites in Port Stephens for certified divers, including the HMAS Tobruk wreck deliberately sunk in 2018 and now home to extraordinary marine life.
🏖️ Beaches
Port Stephens has some genuinely outstanding beaches across a range of characters. Shoal Bay is the most sheltered and family-friendly — calm, clear water inside the bay with good facilities and easy parking. Zenith Beach and Box Beach, both accessed via a short walk from the Tomaree Head car park, are beautiful ocean beaches with excellent surf at times.
The walk from Zenith Beach to Wreck Beach (about 45 minutes return along the headland) is one of the best short coastal walks in the region, with views north to Myall Lakes and south along the sand dunes. Fingal Bay beach, on the southern side of the headland, is excellent for swimming and is significantly less crowded than Shoal Bay on weekends.
🦅 Tomaree Head Summit Walk
The walk to the summit of Tomaree Head is one of the best short hikes in the Hunter region. The track is only 1.8 kilometres return but rises about 160 metres on a well-formed path through heath and coastal scrub. The view from the summit — across Port Stephens, south to Newcastle and beyond, and north to Myall Lakes — is exceptional, and on clear days you can spot dolphins and whales in the bay below. Sunrise and sunset are both outstanding from the summit.
The Tomaree Head area also contains WWII gun emplacements that were installed to defend Newcastle from Japanese attack — an atmospheric reminder of the conflict that felt very close to this coastline in 1942. Signage explains the history well and is worth reading as you make your way to the summit.
🌊 Myall Lakes National Park
Myall Lakes National Park, accessible from Hawks Nest and Tea Gardens on the southern side of the Myall River, is one of the most beautiful coastal national parks in New South Wales. The park protects a system of saltwater coastal lakes backed by she-oak forest and bordered by outstanding ocean beaches, including Mungo Beach, which consistently ranks among the best beaches in the state.
Camping in the park is excellent, with sites at Mungo Brush right on the lake and beach. Canoe and kayak hire is available at Hawks Nest and paddling through the paperback forests on the lake margins in early morning light, with waterbirds lifting from the surface and the reflections perfectly still, is an extraordinarily peaceful experience. The 4WD beach access between Seal Rocks and Tea Gardens passes through stunning country and is manageable in a standard 4WD with the right tyre pressures.
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🍽️ Where to eat in Port Stephens
The seafood in Port Stephens is excellent and the waterfront in Nelson Bay has a solid selection of restaurants. The Nelson Bay Fishermen’s Co-operative sells fresh fish directly from the fishing fleet and is the most authentic way to experience the local seafood industry — buy fresh prawns, oysters, or whole fish and cook them at one of the free barbecues in the park.
For sit-down dining, the Cove Restaurant at Salamander Bay is consistently regarded as the best in the area — modern Australian seafood in a relaxed waterfront setting. Zest at Zenith is a good option in the bay area. And no visit to Port Stephens is complete without stopping at Anna Bay’s bakery for a pie or stopping at the roadside seafood van near Soldiers Point for a bucket of freshly cooked prawns.
🗓️ When to visit Port Stephens
Port Stephens is genuinely good year-round, which is one of its greatest strengths. Summer (December to February) is peak season with warm beach weather, but the bay can get crowded on weekends and school holidays. Autumn (March to May) is often the best overall time — warm water, fewer crowds, and the landscape looking lush and green. Winter is mild and clear, and while the ocean is cooler, the snorkelling, hiking, and dune activities are all still excellent. Whale watching season (June to November) adds an extra dimension to winter and spring visits.
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