Where to stay in Hat Head

Hat Head is the kind of place you drive to, not through. There’s no highway running past it, no traffic lights, and on a winter weekday you might have a kilometre of beach to yourself. The tiny village sits at the mouth of Korogoro Creek, almost completely surrounded by Hat Head National Park, roughly halfway between Crescent Head and South West Rocks on the NSW Mid North Coast.

Why stay in Hat Head

People come back to Hat Head year after year for the same reasons. The beaches are long and empty, the creek is clean and calm, and the pace is slow. It’s a swimming, fishing, walking and do-very-little kind of town. If you want nightlife and a strip of restaurants, this isn’t it; head to South West Rocks or Port Macquarie for that. If you want to switch off, it’s hard to beat.

Because the village is so small, accommodation is mostly holiday houses, creek-side cabins and the village holiday park, so it pays to book ahead, especially over summer and school holidays.

The beaches

The main beach stretches north from the headland in a long, clean arc of sand. It’s patrolled in peak season near the village and is good for swimming, bodysurfing and beach fishing. Walk a few minutes from the car park and the footprints disappear behind you.

To the south, smaller pockets of sand tuck in beneath the rocks. They’re worth exploring at low tide if you want a quiet spot of your own.

Korogoro Creek

The creek is the reason so many families choose Hat Head. It runs right through the village to the sea, and around high tide the water turns clear and blue, calm and warm. That’s the best time for a swim, and it stays shallow enough at the edges for small kids to splash about. Bring a kayak or a paddleboard and you can follow it upstream into the national park. A footbridge crosses the creek and links the village to the beach.

The headland walk and whale watching

Korogoro Point, the “hat” that gives the town its name, rises at the southern end of the beach. A short track climbs onto the headland for wide ocean views and turquoise coves below. Between about May and November, humpback whales pass close to shore on their migration, and you’ll often see dolphins and sea eagles through the year.

Early morning and late afternoon are also when the eastern grey kangaroos come out to graze on the headland grass above the surf. Keep your distance, keep dogs on a lead, and you’ll get the photo of the trip.

Things to do

• Swim the patrolled beach or the calm creek
• Fish the beach, the creek mouth or the rocks
• Walk the Korogoro Point headland track and the national-park trails
• Watch for whales from the cliffs in winter and spring
• Spot wildlife, from kangaroos and water dragons to goannas and sea eagles
• Surf the beach breaks, or float and do nothing at all

Getting there

Hat Head is about a five hour drive north of Sydney (around 470 km) and three hours south of Byron Bay. Leave the Pacific Highway or M1 at Kempsey, then it’s a scenic 30 to 35 minutes east to the coast. The nearest airport is Port Macquarie, about an hour south, and Coffs Harbour is roughly 90 minutes north. The closest train station is Kempsey on the regional XPT line.

Good to know

The village is small. There’s a general store and kiosk, but no supermarket, so stock up in Kempsey or South West Rocks before you arrive. Mobile reception can be patchy, which is part of the appeal. Pack reef-safe sunscreen, insect repellent for the warmer months, and everything you need for the beach and the creek.

Local tip: visit midweek or just outside school holidays and you’ll have the place almost to yourself.