Things to Do

If you’re looking for activities during your stay, Port Stephens has so many to choose from and plenty of options for every season!

The Oasis - Seasons:

Summer months are perfect for water activities and there are lots of options available in our neighbourhood. There are 26 beaches in Port Stephens and they all have their own personality (see details below). A range of bay and surf beaches are a walk or short drive away.

Incredible One mile beach and café is an easy level 600m walk through our private beach access trail . Swimming, fishing and bodyboarding is excellent at this patrolled beach. Surf lessons are also available here and there is a great café .

Stand up paddle boards, kayaks and other water sport hire is available at Shoal Bay. Boat hire is available at Soldiers Point.

At the Oasis, our broad cooling Melaleuca canopy protects you from the heat of the sun in summer and is a welcome sanctuary after a day at the beach.

BBQ’s under the verandah and long balmy nights surrounded by the cool rainforest are a delight. If you have children with you Anna Bay Tavern has a children’s playground and hearty meals in a relaxed atmosphere. Anna Bay has the closest shops to The Oasis and has a selection of dining options and a local favourite hamburger shop, LJ’s Café.

Dolphin watching is a particular trademark of Port Stephens and we have a large group of resident dolphins in the bay. There is a 95% success rate of seeing dolphins on a dolphin watching tour. Dolphin tours leave from the marina in Nelson Bay.

Dine out at Shoal Bay restaurants overlooking the water or enjoy a picnic or BBQ in one of the many parks around the bay foreshore. If you like pelicans, go to Little Beach – but be warned, the pelicans will not let you get between them and a fisherman cleaning their fish and have been known to knock small children over!
Sunsets are incredible at Soldiers Point and there are several lovely restaurants there overlooking the marina.

Autumn is perfect weather for hiking and exploring the beaches and the nearby coastline. Still warm enough for swimming, it offers a less crowded option on the beach. Trips to Broughton Island, dolphin watching, fishing tours, boating, scuba diving and snorkelling at Fly Point are all perfect activities at this time of year.

March marks the start of the whale migration and this runs until November. One Mile beach and nearby Boat Harbour provide excellent vantage points for this awe inspiring experience.

If you are looking to get close to our marine life a visit to Irukandji Shark and Ray encounters is a must do!

Restaurants for a cosy and delicious meal are abundant. Our favourite, if you would like a drive to less known part of Port Stephens, is The Poyers at Lemon Tree Passage. The Tilligerry peninsula where this restaurant is located is well worth a day trip with a koala habitat and a variety of boardwalk and foreshore walks. Tanilba Bay has incredible suburb gates built in the 1920’s and the oldest house in Port Stephens, convict built Tanilba House (1831).                    

 
Winter brings cooler weather but generally clear sunny days. In the cooler months, our hot tubs and the sauna onsite are very popular, as are wellness treatments.

If you have never experienced the peace and quiet of the beach in Winter then you are missing out! Long beach walks are perfect in winter (and very romantic!). The Tomaree Headland hike plus the recently opened Tomaree Coastal Walk (which can be accessed from One Mile beach) are a perfect way to get out into nature and see our incredible coastline. Cooler days are much more comfortable for these longer walks. Keep an eye on the ocean during your travels as migrating whales are active during this time.
Sandboarding, quad biking safaris and exploring the incredible Stockton Beach sand dunes are also a must do .
Beach 4WD exploring (permit required) is perfect on a sunny winter day.

Museums are a great option in winter and Fighter World Aviation Museum and the maritime museum at Nelson Head Lighthouse are well worth the trip.

Restaurants including Rick Stein at Bannisters, Murrays for Sunday afternoon and Valhalla for pizza with an open fire are a perfect dining option.

Spring sees gardens burst back into life and the native flowers in the many national parks in our region are filled with colour. A full show of flannel flowers is a sight to behold!

Whale migration reaches its peak in Spring and you can often see the whales from the various surf beaches walking distance from The Oasis. Why not try your hand at a camel or horse riding safari and see if you can see whales from your ride at Burubi Beach? Spring is often when our native wildlife is producing their babies and the koala hospital is just a few kilometres down the road. Another way to see (and touch!) native and exotic animals up close is at Oakdale Wildlife Park.

A trip to Tea Gardens on the ferry for lunch is a lovely day out.

Go-karting, horse riding, toboggan hill rides, the butterfly House, tennis, golf across 5 excellent golf ranges and bowling (ten pin & lawn) are great activities for Spring visits.

A perfect vantage point for whale watching while you eat is Crest restaurant at Burubi Beach which also has a takeaway option.

Of course, many of the above listed activities can be done all year round.