Mid North Coast · NSW
Where to stay on the Mid North Coast
Empty beaches, clear creeks and quiet headland towns. Here's where to stay, and what to do when you get there.
- Town guides
- 9
- Stays per town
- Top 7
- Photos our own
- All
Choose a town
Pick a town for our local guide and the best places to stay.
Port Macquarie
The largest town on the Mid North Coast, where the Hastings River meets the sea and a string of beaches runs south from Town Beach to Lighthouse Beach. Port Macquarie pairs eight beaches and a famous coastal walk with a full town of cafes, shops and things to do. Here's where to stay in Port Macquarie, and what to do when you get there.
Guide + top 7 stays
Hat Head
A tiny village wrapped in national park, where a clear creek meets an empty beach and kangaroos graze on the headland. Here's where to stay in Hat Head, plus the beaches, walks and wildlife that make it worth the drive.
Guide + top 7 stays
South West Rocks
A bigger, livelier cousin to the quiet villages nearby, with a calm town beach, a historic gaol on the headland, turquoise bays and some of the best diving in the country. Here's where to stay in South West Rocks, and what to do when you arrive.
Guide + top 7 stays
Crescent Head
The Mid North Coast's surf town: a National Surfing Reserve with a long, famous point break, a calm creek for the kids, and a livelier, younger scene than its quiet neighbours. Here's where to stay in Crescent Head, and what to do when you get there.
Guide + top 7 stays
Nambucca Heads
A relaxed river town where the Nambucca River meets the sea, famous for the painted V-Wall, with calm river beaches, ocean surf and big lookout views. Here's where to stay in Nambucca Heads, and what to do when you arrive.
Guide + top 7 stays
Bellingen
A heritage town in the green Bellinger valley, a short drive inland from the coast. Bellingen is the arts and food hub of the hinterland and a handy base for the Waterfall Way, river swims and the beaches nearby. Here's where to stay in Bellingen, and what to do when you get there.
Guide + top 7 stays
North Haven
A quiet beach and fishing village where the Camden Haven River meets the sea, under North Brother Mountain. North Haven pairs a surf beach with calm river swims, breakwall walks and good fishing, with Laurieton and Port Macquarie close by. Here's where to stay in North Haven, and what to do when you get there.
Guide + top 7 stays
Scotts Head
A small surf village south of Nambucca Heads, with a calm, north-facing beach that locals drive in from all over the valley to use, and a long point break off the headland. Here's where to stay in Scotts Head, and what to do when you arrive.
Guide + top 7 stays
Urunga
A quiet town where the Bellinger and Kalang rivers meet the sea, with a newly rebuilt boardwalk out over the lagoon to the beach, clear water full of fish and birds, and one of the loveliest stretches of sand on the coast. Here's where to stay in Urunga, and what to do when you arrive.
Guide + top 7 staysFind a stay on the Mid North Coast
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Curated, not endless
No endless lists. We pick the places worth your weekend, and tell you who each one suits.
Local & honest
Real guides to real towns: the beaches, the creek, the walks and the catch, not recycled blurbs.
Our own photos
Every photo is taken on the ground in the place itself. What you see is what you'll get.
Trip notes & guides
Smoky Cape Lighthouse in photos: a clear winter morning on the cape
A photo essay from Smoky Cape Lighthouse near South West Rocks: the walk up, the 1891 tower, kangaroos at the keepers' cottages, and the empty national park beaches running away to the north and south.
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Dog friendly South West Rocks: the off-leash beaches and where to stay
Bringing the dog to South West Rocks: the two off-leash beaches and the dog park, the national park rules that catch visitors out, and the caravan parks and holiday houses that welcome dogs properly.
Read the post Malibu Classic weekend: where to stay in Crescent Head
The Crescent Head Malibu Classic fills the village every May. When it runs, why beds vanish, and where to stay, from the point to the campgrounds down Point Plomer Road.
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