The Murramarang Coast Walk – Departing Sydney 

Note: This tour departs Sydney. If you are already near Batemans Bay click here to visit the Great South Coast Walk 3 Day tour package for a same experience with a local Batemans Bay departure.

Truly a Great Place – Murramarang National Park 5 Day Package South Coast NSW – Ex Sydney

The South Coast of NSW is famous for its temperate climate and amazing beaches. The area of Murramarang National Park is no exception. This is a perfect addition to any visit to Sydney, once you have seen the sights escape and traffic and crowds to discover this truly amazing slice of Australia.

This 5 day package includes Hotel pickups in Sydney, 3 amazing activity days hiking and kayak (option), great accommodation, fabulous local food and plenty of time to relax with complementary massages and peaceful stretch time.

Your Itinerary

Departs – Saturdays March – November

Day Prior to your Journey

We recommend you arrive in Sydney the day prior to your journey. Your hotel pickups will commence at 10am on Day 1 (Saturdays)

You can choose any number of central Sydney hotels for your first night, we will collect you in the hotel lobby.

Day 1 – Sydney to The South Coast

10am – Hotel Pickups commence

You will be collected by our driver from your centrally located Sydney hotel, your transfer via comfortable air conditioned vehicle includes a few stops to check out the local sites and grab some lunch. The Great Dividing Range – Australia’s Longest mountain range follows the coast south, steeply falling away to the ocean, views are magnificent. The temperate forest here showcases various waterways prior to arrival in Batemans Bay, a historic timber village now a popular seaside holiday destination.

Your driver will check you in to your hotel centrally located in Batemans Bay and advise where your first nights meal will take place, along the quiet seascape of Batemans Bay.

Included: Dinner – Local Restaurant in Batemans Bay

Day 2 – Walking Day

Be greeted at your hotel by Region X guides, we load your cabin baggage into the van, and enjoy a transfer into the southern end of the park. With only your day packs (BYO or available for use from Region X) we commence the hike along forested trails along some incredible cliff top vantage points where wildlife viewing such as Whale watching is very special treat anytime from June – November.

Beaches such as North Head beach, Honeysuckle, Myrtle, Oakey and Richmond all connect through forested trails that rise over headlands and emerge as subtle paths onto sandy shores. Any of these form great resting and lunch stops (supplied en-route).

Conglomerate rock visibly ends and gives way to the most southern point of the Sydney Sandstone basin after lunch where visitors walk the varied layers of sandstone through cracks and coves to your first night accommodation.

Check in to your twin share beachfront cabin and enjoy the comfort of afternoon tea and later dinner at the onsite restaurant.

Included: Breakfast, morning tea, Lunch, afternoon tea. Please note *Dinner available at the onsite restaurant*

Day 3 – Crossing the Border

Beach Walking or Kayaking (weather permitting) 

Post breakfast we load your cabin baggage into our vehicle transfer and walkers set off along the beach. Sea kayakers set off along the stretch of coast. The long open stretch of Durras Main beach is a perfect shoes off walk. If we are lucky we can spot dolphins in the surf and daily new flotsam on the beach. Durras Lake enters the ocean half way along the sand where a river wade ensures we reach the other side. Here you will cross the border from 1 shire to another.

The Lake is an Intermittent Closed or Open Lake System (ICOL) your guides will have advice on whether to expect a river crossing at the entrance or you may find the lake system closed, meaning the long stretch of unbroken beach remains. The northern end of the beach is a great spot to stop for lunch prior to the uphill rainforest hike over Point Upright, a dominant sea cliff where a side hike with views into the pacific is recommended.

We arrive at Depot beach in time for lunch, one of the coasts remnant logging camps, now an exclusive holiday destination. Here kangaroos are tame and incredible birdlife enjoys the climate. Settle in to your cabin accommodation and enjoy an afternoon of exploring the area. You can request to try a snorkel session weather permitting, a relaxing deep stretch or Yoga session and enjoy your complementary massage.

Included: All meals

Day 4 Rain forest and Rock Platform

After breakfast leave the comfort of your cabin and stroll off along the trail to iconic Pebbly Beach where resident Kangoroos and found fame as visitors come to photograph them lazing on the beach in true Australian style. The beach is also a popular surf spot and one of the prettiest beaches on the South Coast.

The trail winds over ridges and down to beaches, creeks meet the ocean here as the dominant Durras Mountain (the largest mountain in the area) provides a watershed and pockets of rainforest relish with the moisture. The views to the ocean are amazing and the rock platforms are all individually striking. Spend time discovering the beauty of the landscape.

With an optional steep hike to the mountain summit, and lunch along the way, you spend the day discovering an almost different National Park as compared to the first days. As the afternoon continues here is little wonder why the end location is called Pretty Beach, a striking white sand and rainforest location.

Transport will collect you and take you back to your Depot Beach cottage for a relaxing evening and dinner.

Included: All meals

Day 5 – Return to Sydney

After breakfast its time to say goodbye to your new friends and the kangaroos and travel back to Sydney to your hotel of choice.

Arrive in Sydney at Approx 2pm.

Included: Breakfast

Some Park Highlights

Spanning 44km of dramatic coastline, Murramarang National Park is the ultimate spot to soak up Australia and explore the cliffs, headlands and pristine beaches of the NSW South Coast. Be sure to pack your swimmers camera and binoculars to spot peregrine falcons and sea eagles that soar high above the cliffs.

Indigenous Culture

Aboriginal people have a long connection with the Country of Murramarang National Park, and this continues to the present day. The south coast headlands have long been a focus for economic life, giving easy access to the food resources of both the sea and the land, and plants within the park provided medicines and shelter. There is much evidence of the past today, including shell middens, tool manufacturing sites and indications of a specialised industry producing bone points and fishing hooks. Take a walk around Murramarang Aboriginal Area, near Bawley Point – there’s a complex of middens that are of great cultural value.

Native Vegetation

One of the really special things in Murramarang is the forest of majestic spotted gums; it’s one of the biggest continuous stands in NSW. With an understorey of burrawang palms, the forest stretches right down to the ocean and is truly a sight to see. You’ll easily recognise the spotted gums – they have a smooth, dimpled bark which is shed in summer to produce a mottled cream and grey ‘spotted’ appearance.

Native Animals

There’s an abundance of wildlife living in Murramarang National Park, but by far one of the highlights is seeing eastern grey kangaroos that spend their days dozing near the beaches and by campgrounds until dusk when they gather to feed. In the moist forests of the park you might see lyrebirds fossicking in leaf litter. Look for the stately, strutting wonga pigeon with its pastel blue-grey back feathers and black dotted stomach. If you don’t see it, you may well hear its repetitive, deep ‘whoop, whoop’ call that carries through the forest.

Birdwatching

Birdwatchers are in for a treat; the park boasts more than 90 species of birdlife including three owl species, peregrine falcons, sea eagles, gannets, shearwaters, white-faced storm petrels, sooty oystercatchers, eastern yellow robins, satin bowerbirds, the rufous fantail and even a penguin colony. Look for the sea eagles and peregrine falcons soaring above the park’s cliffs and headlands and the rufous fantails and eastern yellow robins in rainforest gullies around Durras Mountain. You’re most likely to see sooty oystercatchers wading around the edges of lake areas.