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| Where is Port Stephens? |  Port Stephens is located just over 200 kilometres (a 2.5 hour drive) north of Sydney and 50 kilometres (45 minutes drive) north of Newcastle. A deepwater harbour, it is 2.5 times the size of Sydney Harbour, and extends over 20 kilometres inland. Port Stephens has remained relatively unspoilt, avoiding the high-rise rush adopted by other areas along the NSW coast.
| | How do I get there? | From Sydney, follow the freeway north past the resort towns of the central coast. Past Newcastle, take a right turn off the highway and follow directions to the towns and villages of Port Stephens.
| | What are the main towns? | On the south side are Nelson Bay, Shoal Bay, Anna Bay, Fingal Bay, Corlette, Salamander Bay, Lemon Tree Passage and Soldiers Point, while on the north is Hawks Nest and Tea Gardens, and at the western end of the harbour is Karuah.
These towns have most of the accommodation available in the region. | | What's there to do? | It should come as no surprise that there is a wealth of aquatic activities on offer. Boating, game, beach and estuary fishing, scuba diving, swimming and surfing are just some of the activities you can indulge in. The harbour is home to almost 200 bottle-nosed dolphins, while between the end of May and the end of August humpback, southern right and minke whales, and on rare occasions pods of killer whales, pass close by the coast heading north, returning south between mid-October until the end of December. There are a number of whale and dolphin watch cruise companies operating in the area.
The southern end of the harbour entrance is dominated by Tomaree National Park, over 2,000 hectares of coastal bushland, 20 kilometres of rocky coastline, beaches, volcanic hills, rocky bays, chasms, pillars and caves. The coastal section from Anna Bay to Morna Point is the best place to explore these features.
Other activities on offer are golf and 4WD tours, horseriding and sandboarding and of course there are restaurants aplenty with the region's wonderful range of seafood as the main fare. |
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