Smoky Cape lies just East of South West Rocks in Hat Head National Park, on the NSW mid North Coast. If you are a fan of the outdoors Smoky Cape has plenty to offer. I stayed in the Smoky Cape camping grounds with my three youngest children and we divided our time between the beaches, bays and bush tracks.
Unlike beaches in our major cities, we were able to experience some of the most beautiful beaches in the country almost all to ourselves. Some of the beaches are open to four wheel drives, and some were only accessible via a 4WD track and a short walk. Either way it was well worth the extra effort. Permits are required to drive on beaches in Hat Head National Park. For further information on these permits please visit here.
With South West Rocks being so conveniently close, you can have the best of both worlds at Smoky Cape. We “roughed it” in the camping grounds but were able to pop into town to have lunch at one of the many pubs, clubs, cafes or restaurants. We were also able to travel relatively lightly and buy fresh produce daily. Fuel, bait, ice and cold refreshments were also readily available at reasonable prices – remember, South West Rocks is a holiday town!
Trial Bay, South Smoky Beach and Gap Beach are all within a stones throw of the camping grounds and offer a good range of options, according to the swell and weather conditions. It is important to note that none of these beaches were patrolled and you should be very careful when swimming. Of these options, Trial Bay is probably the the safest.
The best advice I can offer for those heading to Smoky Cape is to do a little bit of research first. There are plenty of great family activities but some require permits or advice.
Hat Head Beach Driving Permits.
If you are heading to Smoky Cape from Sydney and want to try camping in style, try Sydney Camper Trailers for a selection of hire campers. There were about eight of them in our area and they lived in soooooo much more comfort than us in our tent.
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