This is a personal and independent website with ideas and suggestions for things to do in and around Coffs Harbour (NSW) on the East Coast of Australia.

All stories are written by Micky Stuivenberg. I only write about activities and attractions that I have personally experienced so I can give you honest reviews and first-hand impressions.

Ways to find activities & attractions you’re interested in:

• Scroll down the homepage for the most recent reviews.
• Narrow it down to a main category (indoor/outdoor/free activities).
• Pick a specific topic from the tag cloud in the sidebar on the left.
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• Do a search using the search box on the top right-hand side.

Enjoy your discovery of things to do in Coffs Harbour. If there’s something you like, please share it with your social media friends and followers. Thanks!

One of the most popular ‘Eat Streets’ in Coffs Harbour is the so-called ‘Jetty Strip’. It’s so popular because of the wide variety of restaurants and cafés to choose from. You can just go there and make a last-minute decision what and where you want to eat.

Below is a complete list of all the eateries at the Coffs Harbour Jetty Strip of restaurants, their specialties, their phone numbers and a link to their website, if they have one. There are around 20 cafés and restaurants in all.

Where is the Jetty Strip of Restaurants?

The Jetty Strip is at the bottom end of Harbour Drive, Coffs Harbour, just before the road becomes Orlando Street. It runs between Marina Drive and Camperdown Street. See Map. It is opposite the Jetty Village Shopping Centre and near the railway crossing on Marina Drive, which goes to the Jetty Foreshores, Jetty Beach and the Coffs Harbour International Marina. It takes about 3 minutes to drive to the Jetty Strip from the Coffs Harbour CBD along Harbour Drive.

Part of Coffs Harbour's 'eat street' - the Jetty Strip with over a dozen cafés and restaurants

The cafés and restaurants at the Jetty Strip:

Starting from Jetty Dive Centre on the easternmost corner of the Jetty Strip, you’ll find the following eateries:

• Taste of North India  (Indian) – Phone: 02 – 6651 1668‎
• Foreshores Café  (Modern Australian) - Phone: 02 – 6652 3127
• Fountain Restaurant  (Vietnamese) – Phone: 02 – 6651 1978
• Urban Espresso Lounge  (Coffee, Modern Australian) - Phone: 02 – 6651 1989
• Tandoori Oven  (Indian) – Phone: 02 – 6652 2279
• The Crying Tiger Restaurant  (Thai) – Phone: 02 – 6650 0195‎
• Oberoi’s Indian Restaurant (Indian) – Phone: 6651 9699
• Golden Crown Chinese Restaurant  (Chinese) - Phone: 02 – 6651 6787
• Cold Rock Ice Creamery  (Ice cream, coffee, cake) – Phone: 6652 4999
• Water Surf Art Café  (Coffee, cake, sushi) – Phone: 02 6651 4500
• Maria’s Restaurant  (Italian) - Phone: 02 – 6651 3000
• Tahruah Thai Kitchen  (Thai) – Phone: 02 – 6651 5992‎
• Indulge Café Bar Lounge (Modern Australian/Wine bar)- Phone: 02 – 6652 5565
• Waves Bistro at the Pier Hotel  (Modern Pub Food) – Phone: 02 – 6651 8222

The great thing about these restaurants is that most are nice and casual and offer outdoor seating. (What would make that even greater is if the strip wasn’t so narrow and so close to the road where cars drive past.)

Other eateries close to the Coffs Harbour Jetty Strip (within easy walking distance):

• Fiasco Ristorante + Bar  (Italian & Wine Bar) – 22 Orlando St – Phone: 02 – 6651 2006
• Lakiss’ Jetty Pizzeria (Pizzeria) – Jetty Village Shopping Centre – Phone: 02 – 6652 1939
• Hog’s Breath Café  (Steak & Grill) – Jetty Village Shopping Centre – Phone: 02 – 6652 5646
• Y Knot Bistro at the Yacht Club  (Modern Australian) – 30 Marina Dr – Phone: 02 – 6651 1741
• Latitude 30 Restaurant & Bar  (Modern Australian Restaurant, Café, Wine Bar) – Coffs Harbour Marina – Phone: 02 – 6651 6888
• Creekside Café at the Pet Porpoise Pool (Casual Meals) – 65 Orlando St – Phone: 02 - 6659 1911

Opening Hours & Days:

Some of these are only open for breakfast, coffee and lunch until mid-afternoon, while others open for lunch and dinner or for dinner only. Also, some restaurants are closed on certain days (e.g. Sunday and Monday), so it’s worth to call and check opening hours before you plan your meal out.

Changes: Things can change quite quickly in the hospitality scene, so if you know something has changed and would like to send me an update or new information, please email me.

And… bon appétit!

This post gives people who want to travel from Sydney to Coffs Harbour a quick overview of their travel options.

I’ll go over the various ways to get to Coffs Harbour from Sydney – by car, bus, coach via the Pacific Highway; by plane with Virgin Blue or Qantas flights; or by train with Countrylink.

Personally, I prefer flying. It’s quick and you can get good deals on air tickets if you keep an eye out for sales, that seem to be on almost all the time. I subscribe to both Virgin Blue V-mail and Qantas Red email newsletters that alert me when there’s a sale on.

UPDATED: All prices are as found online on 30 October 2010 and may vary. They apply when pre-purchased, and are for one-way travel.

By air: Sydney to Coffs Harbour flights

• Airline: Virgin Blue
  Price: Currently starting from $88 economy (can drop to as low as $55 when on sale) + $10 for check-in baggage if pre-purchased or $20 at the airport
  Duration: 1 hour 5 min
  Frequency: 2 flights per day
• Airline: Qantaslink (Qantas)
  Price: Currently starting from $118 economy (sometimes down to $69 when on sale) including check-in baggage
• Duration: 1 hour 5 min
  Frequency: 5 flights per day (3 on Saturday)

By rail: Sydney to Coffs Harbour trains

• Rail service: Countrylink
  Price: Currently $80 economy / $112 first class
  Duration: 8 hours 40 min / 8 hours 55 min
  Frequency: 3 trains per day

By bus: Sydney to Coffs Harbour coaches

• Coach service: Greyhound
  Price: Currently available: $60, $70, $75 and $98 
  Duration: from 7 hours 25 min (night) to 10 hours 5 min
  Frequency: 4 coaches per day
• Coach service: Premier Motor Service
  Price: Currently $66
  Duration: 7 hours 50 min (night) / 8 hours 35 min
  Frequency: 2 coaches per day

By car: Sydney to Coffs Harbour via the Pacific Highway

• Vehicle: Your own or hired car
• Price: Whatever petrol you use
• Distance: 535 km (from Central Station, Sydney)
• Duration: 6 hours 45 mins according to Google maps – depending on traffic!

View Larger Map & Get Sydney to Coffs Harbour Directions

Zoom in on the map for route details or get Sydney to Coffs Harbour driving directions from Google maps.

If you know of another good way to travel from Sydney to Coffs Harbour that I haven’t mentioned above, please let me know and I may include it.

There’s always something happening in and around Coffs Harbour, but I thought it would be good to give an overview of just the biggest Coffs Harbour events and festivals - the most popular ones that are held every year.

For more information on any of these, click on the link to go to the relevant website.

Overview of the main annual Coffs Harbour events and Coffs Harbour festivals:

January:
Pittwater to Coffs (yacht race) & Festival of Sail
March’s Coffs Jetty Carnival

March:
Coffs Coast Ocean Swims

April:
Woolgoolga Curryfest
Bellingen Readers & Writers Festival

May:
Bellingen Music Festival

July:
Sawtell Chilli Festival

August:
Coffs Harbour Gold Cup Carnival (horse racing)
Bellingen Jazz & Blues Festival

September:
Toast Urunga (food & wine festival)
Coffs Harbour International Buskers & Comedy Festival

October:
Coffs Harbour International Buskers & Comedy Festival
Bellingen Global Carnival (world music & performing arts)

December:
Various Carols by Candlelight events

The Coffs Coast has great festivals and events throughout the year

Of all the festivals and events listed above, the weeklong International Buskers & Comedy Festival in Coffs Harbour in September/October is definitely the biggest and possibly the best.

The Bellingen Jazz & Blues Festival and Global Carnival are also major and extremely popular events on the Coffs Coast.

I would say any of these three events, at the very least, are definitely worth a trip to Coffs Harbour from anywhere in Australia.

I live in Coffs Harbour and I love it. I also write web content for a living. I’ve decided to start a website in blog format to write about life in Coffs Harbour and all the great things you can do there.

I’ve only put this site up today (5 Jan 09) so there’s nothing much there yet, but I will be adding lots of content over the next weeks, months and hopefully years.

There’s so much to do in and around Coffs Harbour that nobody around here (or visiting here) should ever have any excuse to say “I’m bored”!

So bear with me while I populate this website with ideas for activities and postings about my own (mostly outdoor) experiences. If you want to be kept up to date with new posts, subscribe to my RSS feed!