NSW South Coast
Dec 16th 2009, 12:36 pm
#1
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NSW South Coast
My family and I will be in Australia in March/April. We're planning on spending 3 or 4 days at the coast in the Batemans Bay area (chosen only because it's where the road from Canberra meets the sea). Can anyone recommend any good holiday accommodation that's near to the beach?
Dec 17th 2009, 1:47 am
#2
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Location: NSW
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Re: NSW South Coast
My family and I will be in Australia in March/April. We're planning on spending 3 or 4 days at the coast in the Batemans Bay area (chosen only because it's where the road from Canberra meets the sea). Can anyone recommend any good holiday accommodation that's near to the beach?
Have a great time, wherever you stay.
Dec 17th 2009, 10:11 am
#3
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Posts: 300
Re: NSW South Coast
Okay, this is seriously a bad time to ask me, because we’ve had a dinner thing, and combined with wine and 38 degrees in Canberra, I’m not thinking so well.
I’ve been visiting that area since I was a baby, and we’re actually heading there for Christmas. Be warned, Bateman’s Bay itself doesn’t have a beach. It serves as the town centre for the beaches in the region, and so long as you have a car – or are willing to put up with the sporadic bus service – you could stay anywhere within 30-40 minutes of the town and be happy.
Is your time really limited to a few days, or can you be flexible? A lot of people – Canberrans, in particular – own holiday houses in the region and rent them out for most of the year. I would have trouble giving you accommodation recommendations because we usually rent a beach house for a week. The standard rental time seems to be a week.
Areas I would look at, however, are Malua Bay and Broulee. There is holiday accommodation around there – type either area’s name into a search engine and you will find accommodation by the beach.
Broulee is a huge beach with national park areas around it. The beach has a kind of river thingy running off it on one side where the water is shallow – ideal for families and picnics. It is also the home of a surf school further down. It’s a really versatile place. There are some basic food places and shops nearby.
Malua Bay and the surrounding area are made up of smaller beaches, but with lots of variety. There are enough restaurants and shops in the area to make your stay comfortable.
Both places have bus stops to take you up and down the coast (including to Bateman’s Bay) and also to Canberra.
Not far from Bateman’s Bay is Pebbly Beach – kind of an icon for the region. You have to drive through the forest to get there, but there is basic camping on the site. You can go for a morning or afternoon from Bateman’s Bay – it’s really not far. The beach is famous because of the wildlife. There are hundreds of brightly-coloured native birds just off from the parking area – it’s a big tourist attraction. And then when you get to the beach there are wild kangaroos that live there. We always take overseas visitors to this beach.
As I said, Bateman’s Bay doesn’t have a beach of its own – just a marina. But they have plenty of accommodation and some good restaurants. There is also a pub connected to one of the big hotels where you can see pelicans and sometimes dolphins from the veranda. With a car it is only a few minutes to any of the beaches in the area.
But keep in mind that the South Coast is not always hot. It might be forty degrees in Canberra, but only twenty at the coast. Autumn can be unpredictable, so be prepared for any weather. Mind you, I’m typing this on a day when Bateman’s Bay was 42 degrees!!
I’ve been visiting that area since I was a baby, and we’re actually heading there for Christmas. Be warned, Bateman’s Bay itself doesn’t have a beach. It serves as the town centre for the beaches in the region, and so long as you have a car – or are willing to put up with the sporadic bus service – you could stay anywhere within 30-40 minutes of the town and be happy.
Is your time really limited to a few days, or can you be flexible? A lot of people – Canberrans, in particular – own holiday houses in the region and rent them out for most of the year. I would have trouble giving you accommodation recommendations because we usually rent a beach house for a week. The standard rental time seems to be a week.
Areas I would look at, however, are Malua Bay and Broulee. There is holiday accommodation around there – type either area’s name into a search engine and you will find accommodation by the beach.
Broulee is a huge beach with national park areas around it. The beach has a kind of river thingy running off it on one side where the water is shallow – ideal for families and picnics. It is also the home of a surf school further down. It’s a really versatile place. There are some basic food places and shops nearby.
Malua Bay and the surrounding area are made up of smaller beaches, but with lots of variety. There are enough restaurants and shops in the area to make your stay comfortable.
Both places have bus stops to take you up and down the coast (including to Bateman’s Bay) and also to Canberra.
Not far from Bateman’s Bay is Pebbly Beach – kind of an icon for the region. You have to drive through the forest to get there, but there is basic camping on the site. You can go for a morning or afternoon from Bateman’s Bay – it’s really not far. The beach is famous because of the wildlife. There are hundreds of brightly-coloured native birds just off from the parking area – it’s a big tourist attraction. And then when you get to the beach there are wild kangaroos that live there. We always take overseas visitors to this beach.
As I said, Bateman’s Bay doesn’t have a beach of its own – just a marina. But they have plenty of accommodation and some good restaurants. There is also a pub connected to one of the big hotels where you can see pelicans and sometimes dolphins from the veranda. With a car it is only a few minutes to any of the beaches in the area.
But keep in mind that the South Coast is not always hot. It might be forty degrees in Canberra, but only twenty at the coast. Autumn can be unpredictable, so be prepared for any weather. Mind you, I’m typing this on a day when Bateman’s Bay was 42 degrees!!
Dec 17th 2009, 10:50 am
#4
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Joined: Apr 2006
Location: South Coast, NSW
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Re: NSW South Coast
OH works in Bateman's Bay. A couple of his work colleagues that travel from Canberra have stayed here http://www.baybreezemotel.com.au/boutique-rooms.html. If you don't mind a 45 min drive further north try Mollymook - fab beaches for surfing http://www.southcoast.com.au/mollymook/index.html. We had great weather March/April this year - warm enough for the beach and swimming. If you need any other info let me know
Dec 18th 2009, 7:15 am
#5
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Re: NSW South Coast
Many thanks for your suggestions. It looks like a great part of the coast. The surf school at Broulee looks promising. The kids would love that 
I'll have to take a deeper look at all of the possibilities this weekend.
Cheers
I'll have to take a deeper look at all of the possibilities this weekend.
Cheers
Dec 18th 2009, 10:36 am
#6
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Location: The Shoalhaven, New South Wales, Australia
Posts: 11,056
Re: NSW South Coast
There's always the house-boats on the river at BB. Tend to get booked up pretty early though as they're so popular, but they're great fun.
http://www.clyderiverhouseboats.com.au/
Have also stayed at the Pleasurelea in one of their waterfront cottages and they accomodation was first class and very reasonably priced.
http://www.pleasurelea.com.au
http://www.clyderiverhouseboats.com.au/
Have also stayed at the Pleasurelea in one of their waterfront cottages and they accomodation was first class and very reasonably priced.
http://www.pleasurelea.com.au
Dec 19th 2009, 9:14 pm
#7
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Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 22,348
Re: NSW South Coast
There's always the house-boats on the river at BB. Tend to get booked up pretty early though as they're so popular, but they're great fun.
http://www.clyderiverhouseboats.com.au/
Have also stayed at the Pleasurelea in one of their waterfront cottages and they accomodation was first class and very reasonably priced.
http://www.pleasurelea.com.au
http://www.clyderiverhouseboats.com.au/
Have also stayed at the Pleasurelea in one of their waterfront cottages and they accomodation was first class and very reasonably priced.
http://www.pleasurelea.com.au
The houseboats look great!
