Three hours north of Newcastle and five hours from Sydney, Port Macquarie is one of the easiest family holidays on the NSW coast. It has 17 beaches, a proper koala precinct, a treetop adventure park and enough attractions to fill four or five days without repeating yourself.
Jump to a specific section to enjoy Port Macquarie with kids: Attractions | Where to Eat | Family Accommodation | FAQs
At a Glance
| Drive from Newcastle | 3 hours via the Pacific Highway |
| Drive from Sydney | 5 hours via the Pacific Highway |
| Best for | Toddlers to teens, beach lovers, koala fans |
| Avoid if possible | Summer school holidays, when the beaches and attractions get busy |
| Free must-do | Port Macquarie Breakwall walk |
| Rainy day fallback | Billabong Zoo (mostly undercover walkways and shade) |
Attractions
Visit the Beaches
Port Macquarie has 17 beaches, so you’re never short of options. Town Beach is surf patrolled and the easiest choice for young swimmers, while Flynns Beach and Shelly Beach are calmer picks with good shade for setting up camp for the day. Kids will happily spend hours building sandcastles and collecting shells at any of them.
Billabong Zoo: Koala and Wildlife Park
Set on 10 acres, Billabong Zoo is big enough to feel like a proper day out but small enough that little legs won’t burn out halfway through. It’s home to koalas, kangaroos, wombats, red pandas, crocodiles and snow leopards, and it’s one of only five zoos in Australia to host the endangered snow leopard.
Billabong is also a major breeding centre for koalas, supplying koalas to Taronga Zoo and Western Plains Zoo, and it’s one of only four zoos in Australia to care for snow leopards. Time your visit around a keeper presentation if you can. There are sessions throughout the day covering penguins, dingoes, snow leopards and reptiles.
The park is well shaded with wide paths, so prams and strollers move around easily, and there’s pram parking near the Croc Show amphitheatre. Kids can burn off extra energy at the playground or the chalk desk area near the café.
Insider tip: Grab lunch at The Meeting Point Café or bring your own, there are plenty of undercover picnic tables to eat at.
Wildnets
Suspended in the tree canopy of Cowarra State Forest, WildNets is Australia’s biggest net suspension playground. It’s a network of interconnected netting, ball pits, slides and giant inflatable balls strung between the trees, built for all ages, plus a separate Treetop Ropes Course with ziplines and rope bridges for ages 3 and up.
Kids can bounce, run and climb across the play spaces and suspension bridges, swing in hammocks or duck into a treehouse for a view over the koala habitat below. The precinct sits alongside the world’s first koala breeding program run by Koala Conservation Australia, and half the profits from WildNets go towards conserving the species.
Hello Koalas Sculpture Trail
An easy, free activity to fold into any day in Port Macquarie. There are now 91 hand-painted koala sculptures scattered across Greater Port Macquarie, and it’s a fun scavenger hunt for kids once you’ve downloaded the map from the Hello Koalas Gallery.
Wild Koala Breeding Visitor Centre
The original Koala Hospital in Port Macquarie is closed for redevelopment. The $10.65 million rebuild was handed back to Koala Conservation Australia in July 2026, with final landscaping and licensing still to be completed before it reopens to the public later in 2026. In the meantime, the Koala Hospital is operating from the Wild Koala Breeding Visitor Centre at Guulabaa, Place of Koala, a 15 minute drive from the town centre.
You can watch resident koalas from the viewing decks, see the koala clinic in action and learn about the Wild Koala Breeding program. It’s open 8:30am to 4pm, seven days, with an entry fee and online bookings recommended.
While you’re there, the Guulabaa precinct also has a café run by the Bunyah Land Council, forested walking paths, Wildnets Adventure Park and a photo stop at the Big Koala.
Port Macquarie Breakwall
Part of a longer 9km coastal walk from Town Green to Lighthouse Beach, the breakwall is worth doing on its own. It’s lined with painted rocks that started as a Lions Club art competition in 1995 and has grown into an unofficial gallery of love notes, tributes and holiday memories.
Insider Tip: Keep an eye out for rocks from past visitors, families often paint one to leave behind and come back to look for it on their next trip.
Ricardoes Strawberries and Tomatoes
A great one for younger kids to see where food actually comes from. Ricardoes grows tomatoes and strawberries hydroponically in vertical PVC pipes, with over 30,000 strawberry plants across five varieties. Entry is free, you just pay by the kilo for what you pick, and buckets and scissors are provided. Weekday mornings have a free farm tour at 11am.
Insider tip: Order a scone with jam and bruschetta at the café so you get the full Ricardoes experience, not just the picking.
Sea Acres Rainforest Centre
Head to Sea Acres Rainforest Centre is the ideal place to begin your fascinating journey through Sea Acres National Park, near Port Macquarie. Learn more about this nature spot. Eco-displays provide a wealth of information about local Aboriginal culture and the surrounding rainforest environment. Once you’ve finished at the Centre, you can wander through ancient remnant rainforest on the Sea Acres Rainforest boardwalk. It’s an easy 1.3km walk through the rainforest canopy. It’s a great walk for all ages – keep your eyes open for rainforest birds and animals.
Old Bottlebutt
A quirky detour if you’re heading out to Wauchope. Old Bottlebutt is the largest Red Bloodwood tree in the southern hemisphere, tucked into Burrawan State Forest down a single lane gravel road, about 15 minutes from Wauchope. You’ll have to venture through remmant rainforest and cross two small bridges along the 600 metre Old Bottlebutt Walking Track. But at the end, you’ll see Old Bottlebutt which. The tree is aptly named. It’s large flared “butt” measures 16 metres around and it’s more than 52 metres high.
Insider Tip: Take a seat on the hardwood timber viewing deck and look up. It’s a much more more relaxing way to enjoy Old Bottlebutt than craning your neck.
Get Lost in Bago Maze
With over 2km of hedge maze pathways, lookout towers, bridges and hidden turns, Bago Maze is one of the largest hedge mazes in Australia and genuinely easy to get lost in, even though it looks manageable from the lookout hill. Tickets are $14.50 for adults and $10.50 for children online, with kids under 5 free. Last admission is 4pm.
While the kids run wild in the maze, settle in with a cheese or charcuterie platter and a tasting paddle at the cellar door overlooking the vines. Note that food options are limited to platters, so eat beforehand or after if your family needs a bigger meal.
Insider Tip: Celebrate solving the maze with a cheese plate and wine at the Bago Winery and try to time your visit with live music in the wineyards which takes place on the second Sunday of every month.
North Brother Lookout
On your drive back to Newcastle, stop off at Brother Lookout near Laurieton. It’s a 10 minute drive to the top of the mountain (490 metres high) and once there, you’ll see spectacular views of the coast. It’s worth a visit.
Places to Eat
Pancake Place on Clarence Street is a local family favourite if you want a low-stress meal, exactly what it sounds like, with stacks of pancakes to keep kids happy.
If you’re looking for a playground with your meal, head to Port City Bowling Club. It features an indoor and outdoor children’s play area which means you can finish your meal in peace.
If you’re near Town Green, order some takeaway fish and chips from Off the Hook and drive to Flynn’s Beach. This is a popular beach with families featuring large shaded picnic areas. It’s a beautiful spot to sit and watch the sun go down.
Family-Friendly Accommodation in Port Macquarie
Port Macquarie has plenty of family accommodation, whether you want a hotel, serviced apartment or holiday park.
Ingenia Bonny Hills – There’s loads of families to enjoy at Ingenia Holidays Bonny Hills holiday park. It has direct access (2 minutes to Rainbow Beach.
Accommodation includes powered camping and caravan sites, safari tents, studios and 1, 2 and 3 bedroom cabins. It includes a resort-style pool with water splash park and tipping bucket.
Flynns Beach Caravan Park is a small, family-owned park right near Flynns Beach, with powered and unpowered sites, studios and one and two bedroom cabins.
NRMA Port Macquarie Breakwall Holiday Park puts you in the middle of town, close to Town Beach, the city centre and the Hastings River, so you can park the car for the whole stay if you’d rather not drive.
Rydges Port Macquarie sits on the Hastings River and has interconnecting family rooms and a pool, a good option if you want a hotel with more space than a standard room.
Telegraph Retreat is a farm stay 20 minutes north in Telegraph Point, set across nine acres of bushland with a pool and playground, plus farm animals. It’s a good choice if your family wants space and a slower pace over a packed itinerary.
Getting There
By car, Port Macquarie is a 3 hour drive from Newcastle and around 5 hours from Sydney, both via the Pacific Highway.
Frequently Asked Questions
The main draws are the beaches, Billabong Zoo, WildNets, the Wild Koala Breeding Visitor Centre, the Breakwall walk and Ricardoes for strawberry picking. Families who want a full day trip out to Wauchope can add Bago Maze & Wine and Old Bottlebutt. Note that Timbertown, the heritage theme park that used to be part of this itinerary, permanently closed in January 2026.
Yes. It has patrolled beaches, a strong lineup of animal and nature attractions, and enough spread between the town centre and Wauchope to fill four or five days without doubling up.
About 3 hours by car via the Pacific Highway. It’s around 5 hours from Sydney.
It depends what you need. Holiday parks like Ingenia Bonny Hills suit families wanting a pool and playground on site. Hotels like Rydges suit families who want a central base with less setup, and a farm stay like Telegraph Retreat suits families after space and animals over a packed itinerary.
The original Koala Hospital is closed for redevelopment and is expected to reopen later in 2026, with construction now complete and final landscaping and licensing underway. In the meantime, it’s operating from the Wild Koala Breeding Visitor Centre at Guulabaa, Place of Koala, a 15 minute drive from the town centre.
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