Find out more about Coffs Coast fish and other sea creatures at the Coffs Aquarium

The Aquarium is only open on Saturday and Sunday, and daily during NSW holidays, and it makes a nice brief outing for a rainy day on the weekend. Treat yourself and have lunch or coffee at Pacific Bay Resort afterwards – it’s right there, after all.

It’s not big (don’t expect something like the Sydney Aquarium) but the NMSC Aquarium gives a good overview of the fish, coral and other sea creatures of the Coffs Coast area.

I found it quite interesting to see all the fish that live in the Solitary Islands Marine Park and we enjoyed the half-hour video presentation, but after about 75 minutes, we’d really seen and done everything and stood back outside.

If you have kids, you can spend a little longer as the Aquarium has an education room with fun games and activities for children.

What fish will you see?

The Coffs Aquarium is really like a window into the Solitary Islands Marine Park, which stretches north from Coffs Harbour. Because this is where warm tropical waters from Queensland meet cooler waters from the south, our part of the ocean has a unique mix of marine life.

You’ll see various members of Nemo’s extended family but also the type of fish you can expect to catch locally such as mullet, bream and whiting. My favourite fish was the butterfly cod – it looked amazing!

Some extraordinary marine species live in Coffs Harbour waters!

A fun and educational video presentation starts on the hour every hour and there are several fish feeding sessions throughout the day. There’s also a guide who you can approach if you have any questions (which you may well have because not all the fish tanks display information about all the creatures you see inside it).

Essential Info

Location: The Aquarium is located at the National Marine Science Centre in Coffs Harbour, next-door to Novotel Pacific Bay Resort – just a few minutes up the highway from the Coffs Harbour CBD.

Tickets: Entry is $10 adults, $6 children, $8 concession, $25 family (2 adults + 2 children < 16) and free entry for children under 3.

Opening hours: Every Saturday and Sunday 10am-4pm and daily during NSW school holidays.

Website/Phone: The National Marine Science Centre website has a page about the Aquarium and you can call (02) 6648 3931 with questions or to arrange a group visit.

The World War II Bunker has been turned into a fabulous gallery space

It’s a unique and funky little art gallery housed in an authentic, underground WWII bunker. It’s also Australia’s first and only dedicated cartoon gallery and has the largest collection of contemporary cartoons in the Southern Hemisphere (around 18,000 works at last count in December 2008).

Around 11,000 cartoons, caricatures and comic strips have been catalogued and are available in folders at the reception area for viewing at your leisure (in addition to the ones that are on the walls, which rotate every couple of weeks and usually follow a theme).

The gallery is also used as an art exhibition space, with exhibitions changing about once a month so there’s always something new on show.

If you’re in for a chuckle and just something a bit different, the Bunker Cartoon Gallery is well worth a visit.

The historic but quirky Bunker Cartoon Gallery in Coffs Harbour

Essential info: Entry is only $2 for adults and $1 for children. The gallery is open Mondays to Saturdays from 10am to 4pm. It’s located on John Champion Way, corner of Hogbin Drive and Albany Street, just a few blocks from the Coffs Harbour CBD. 

More information about the cartoons, the bunker’s history and the changing exhibitions is available on the Bunker Cartoon Gallery website. Enjoy!