On an extravagantly pretty section of the coast, this large national park incorporates a patchwork of lakes, islands, dense littoral rainforest and beaches. The lakes support an incredible quantity and variety of bird life, including bowerbirds, white-bellied sea eagles and tawny frogmouths.
There are paths through coastal rainforest and past beach dunes at Mungo Brush in the south, perfect for spotting wild flowers and dingoes.
The best beaches and surf are in the north around Seal Rocks, a bushy hamlet hugging Sugarloaf Bay. The beach has emerald-green rock pools and golden sand. Take the short walk to the Sugarloaf Point Lighthouse for epic ocean views. There’s a detour to lonely Lighthouse Beach, a popular surfing spot. By the lighthouse is a lookout over the actual Seal Rocks – islets where Australian fur seals can sometimes be spotted. Humpback whales swim past during their annual migration.
Offshore, Broughton Island is uninhabited except for muttonbirds, little penguins and an enormous diversity of fish. The diving is tops and the beaches are incredibly secluded. Moonshadow runs full-day trips to the island from Nelson Bay on Sundays between October and Easter (more frequently over the summer school holidays), which include snorkelling and boom-net rides (adult/child $85/45).
