We visited Port Stephens three times so far, but ended up spending most of our time at Anna Bay for sand dunes and Nelson bay for Whale/Dolphin watching. I recently found in one of the travel blogs that the beaches of Port Stephens are among the most beautiful beaches of New South Wales and wondered how we missed visiting those so far. We planned a trip this time and made sure not to visit any places that we had visited earlier covering all the beautiful beaches.

Zenith Beach

The first one was Zenith Beach, 5 mins walk from the nearest car park. It was a cloudy day ready to rain anytime and we were the only ones on the beach. The landscape of the beach is strikingly beautiful with Tomaree Head on the left and Stephens peak on the right. The tall mountains in contrast to the bright white sand, clear green water and the cloudy sky made it extremely picturesque. We spent some quiet time walking along the beach and appreciated the natural beauty around us, before it started to rain.

Fingal Beach

We had our stay at a hotel near Fingal beach and we went to Fingal beach in the afternoon after the rain subsided.

We walked along the beautiful beach to reach the Fingal spit separating Fingal beach and the Shark Island.

Fingal Spit

Fingal Spit is a bridge of sand that is only visible at low tide, that connects Fingal beach to Shark Island. We can walk along the Fingal beach or take the Ocean Beach Trail Bushwalk to visit the spit. We walked along the Fingal beach to reach the spit. It was a beautiful spot, surrounded by beaches on both the sides. It was a full moon day and low tide was also high covering up some part of the spit with water. On a regular day, the entire 2km stretch is covered with sand during the low tide leading way to the Shark Island. However, it was suggested not to cross the spit, as the ocean currents can raise at any point of time suddenly which led to many accidents earlier.

The best part of Fingal Spit is the spectacular view of the mountains on the end of the Fingal beach. This was the surprise part of the trip and would rate this beach as one of the beautiful beaches I had been to in Australia. It was spectacular to watch two beaches merging at the spit.

Tomaree Head Walk

Next day morning, we decided to climb the Tomaree Head, one of the famous things to do around this area. The Tomaree Head Walk was well paved with track and steps at regular intervals making it easier for the climbers.

The views from the top are excellent and felt completely worth the climb. We could see all the beaches of the area.

It was a beautiful sight to watch the Fingal spit from the mountain top.

We had a 360 degree view of the Port Stephens area with Shoal Bay on the opposite side of the beaches.

We also spotted the Providence Bay, Yacaaba Headland and Broughton Island from the summit.

On the way back, we got a beautiful glimpse of the beaches and the bay at the same time creating a perfect backdrop 🙂

Box Beach

After lunch at Shoal bay, we stopped by at Box Beach on the way back to Sydney. This was one of the beaches that was visible from the Tomaree Head Summit.

It was a magical experience watching the clouds and hills from the beach.

It was a great weekend exploring the wild and untouched beauty of Port Stephens 🙂