Exploring Port Stephens: The Best Playgrounds for Kids

Port Stephens is one of the Hunter’s favourite family destinations and it’s not just because of the beautiful beaches. Across the region, you’ll find fantastic playgrounds where kids can climb, swing, explore and burn off energy between swims, walks and café stops.

Whether you’re staying at Nelson Bay, exploring the dunes at Anna Bay or taking a day trip to Fingal Bay, this guide rounds up the best playgrounds in Port Stephens for families.

Birubi Point Playground (Anna Bay)

Set above Birubi Beach with views over the Stockton Sand Dunes, this playground is a must-visit. The playground includes swings, slides and climbing equipment. After a play, walk down to the beach to watch camels, surfers or the stunning sunset.

Boat Harbour

Head to Boat Harbour for a swim and a play at a timber beachside playground. It’s like a beachside obstacle course.

Your kids can jump or run across logs, hurtle along monkey bars, balance on a rope course, climb across a spiderweb climbing net and then head to the top fort before sliding down.

When they’ve had enough, you can head to the beach. Facing east and called Boat Harbour as it’s where locals launch their boats, this beach is is 200m long so plenty of room for everyone. Toilet facilities are conveniently located next to the playground too.

Caswell Reserve (Mallabulla)

Located on the foreshore of Mallabula, Caswell Park has a great kid’s park with swings, a slide, a roundabout, monkey bars and lots of stepping and climbing structures. There’s also concrete paths to ride scooters round and round.

In addition, there’s a large covered picnic shelter with gas barbecues and a clean amenities block. The carpark is located right next to the park for convenience. Once the kids have finished playing, everyone can take a walk through beautiful Tilligerry Habitat and see if you can spot koalas.

Corlette Point Park

For another playground with bay views, head to Corlette Point Park. Located on the foreshore, this timber playground features a group swing, slide and climbing equipment.

Fingal Beach Foreshore Reserve Playground

Have a play at Fingal Bay Foreshore Reserve Playground. Located on scenic Marine Drive, this playground has plenty of equipment to suit kids of all ages including a spiderweb swing, spinner, slides, flying fox and climbing equipment.

For those with younger kids, this playground has a toddler swing as well as toddler play equipment.

Port Stephens Council has recently installed a series of shade sails covering most of the playground. There are also undercover picnic tables and it’s only a short walk to Fingal Beach. Conveniently located next to the park is Longboat Cafe.

Finnan Park (Medowie)

Finnan Park, located between Medowie and Raymond Terrace, near Grahamstown Dam, is a large, gated park with plenty of undercover picnic tables to choose from. With lots of large, open space for kids to run, gravel tracks around the park to ride bikes, a kids playground and toilets, it’s a popular spot in the Port Stephens area for parties.

Little Beach (Nelson Bay)

Little Beach is just around from the tourist hub of Nelson Bay and has a fantastic playground for little ones. There’s a group swing so you can jump in and swing with your kids while you enjoy the views across the bay.

Or spin around on the merry-go-round. (There’s also an exercise equipment area at the top of the playground if you want to work out while your kids play).

There’s also musical equipment and the popular play house in which they can play make-believe.

A popular feature at this playground is the sand and water area. Kids can use a digger to pick up and dump sand.

Above this is the water play area, where they can splash around and watch the water cascading through the play space.

Once your kids have finished playing, you can head to the peaceful harbour beach. It’s perfect for littlies who will love playing in the sand or splashing in the calm water.

Nelson Bay Playground

This playground is centrally located in Nelson Bay and as a result, it can be busy. There’s plenty to keep kids of all ages happy including a double slide, a twirly slide, rock climbing wall and climbing equipment.

The playground faces directly onto the water and there’s often families having a dip in the shallow water. Supervise your kids as there’s no fencing.

FYI, this playground is on our Nelson Bay scavenger hunt! We teamed up with Port Stephens Council to develop a fun Scavenger Hunt for kids, around Nelson Bay! The Scavenger Hunt will take you throughout Nelson Bay, exploring the area marked on the map to find the answer to the questions, and solving a mystery phrase! The scavenger hunts is a fun and free family activity to do if you’re up at the Bay. You can pick up a copy at the Visitor Information Centre or download a copy here.

Robinson Reserve (Anna Bay)

A top spot for older kids is Robinson Reserve in Anna Bay. As well as climbing play equipment, swings, vertical balancing logs and a group swing, it’s also next door to Anna Bay Skate Park.