Coffs Harbour travel guide

Roughly halfway between Sydney and Brisbane and the only spot on the NSW coast where the Great Dividing Range meets the sea, Coffs Harbour is a favourite domestic holiday resort and the main commercial centre for the northern NSW coast. Surrounded by rolling hills draped in lush banana plantations and pretty beaches, it’s a fine spot to kick back for a couple of days. The main activities in town are centred around the attractive marina where regular fishing, whale- and dolphin-watching cruises are on offer, together with highly popular diving and snorkelling trips to the outlying Solitary Islands. The island group and surrounding coast is gazetted as a marine park and considered to have one of the most diverse marine biodiversities in NSW. Other principal attractions include Muttonbird Island, guarding the entrance to the harbour and offering sanctuary to thousands of burrowing seabirds and, in complete contrast, the kitschy Big Banana complex on the northern edge of the town. Often overlooked is the fast developing, but still pleasant, beachside community of Sawtell which is worth the trip.