Airlie Beach·QLD
Airlie Beach Lagoon
A free, stinger-free public swimming lagoon in the middle of town, patrolled and good with kids.
29 ideas
Free things to do
Everything here costs nothing to turn up to.
Every one of them
Avoca Beach·NSW
Avoca Beach
A patrolled Central Coast surf beach with a lagoon at the north end for the kids who are not in the surf.
Kangaroo Valley·NSW
Bendeela Recreation Area
A free riverside picnic and camping ground run by WaterNSW, and the most reliable place in Kangaroo Valley to see a wombat.
Killcare·NSW
Bouddi Coastal Walk
Eight kilometres of clifftop and beach between Putty Beach and MacMasters, through Bouddi National Park.
Callala Beach·NSW
Callala Beach
The long, quiet beach on the northern shore of Jervis Bay, looking back across the water at Beecroft Peninsula. Off-leash dog area on the restricted hours.
Cambewarra·NSW
Cambewarra Mountain Lookout
The whole Shoalhaven floodplain laid out below you, with a cafe at the top.
Byron Bay·NSW
Cape Byron Lighthouse Walk
A 3.7km loop past the most easterly point of mainland Australia. Dolphins below most mornings.
Vincentia·NSW
Collingwood Beach cycleway
The shared path behind Collingwood Beach at Vincentia. The dog is welcome on a lead here, which the beach itself is not.
Darling Harbour·NSW
Darling Harbour Saturday fireworks
A free fireworks display over the water most Saturday nights. Schedules change, so check first.
Kangaroo Valley·NSW
Hampden Bridge, Kangaroo Valley
A sandstone-towered suspension bridge over the Kangaroo River, built in 1898 and still in use.
Huskisson·NSW
Huskisson Beach
The town beach, facing into the bay rather than the ocean, so it is flat on the days the surf beaches are not.
Huskisson·NSW
Huskisson waterfront walk
A flat, sealed path along the bay from the town centre past Moona Moona Creek. Good with a pram.
Hyams Beach·NSW
Swim at Hyams Beach
The white sand beach Jervis Bay is famous for, with water shallow and clear enough for small kids.
Kiama·NSW
Kiama Blowhole
A sea cave that fires a plume of water over the walkway when the south-easterly swell is running.
Kiama·NSW
Kiama Coast Walk
Around 20km of headland and beach track. Do the Kiama to Minnamurra leg if you only want a morning.
Lismore·NSW
Lismore Regional Gallery
A serious regional gallery in a town most people drive past on the way to the coast.
Berrara·NSW
Mermaid Pools, Berrara
Clear rock pools on the coastal shelf, reached on foot along the beach. Tide and swell dependent.
Huskisson·NSW
Moona Moona Creek
A shallow tidal creek mouth at the southern end of Huskisson Beach. The calmest water in town for small children.
Vincentia·NSW
Nelsons Beach
The beach below Plantation Point at Vincentia, and one of only four around Jervis Bay where dogs are allowed off the lead.
Ulladulla·NSW
Pigeon House Mountain (Didthul)
A steep climb with ladders near the top and one of the best views in Morton National Park.
Tweed Heads·NSW
Point Danger, Tweed Heads
The headland on the state border, with the Captain Cook Memorial and a view both ways up the coast.
Port Macquarie·NSW
Port Macquarie Coastal Walk
Nine kilometres of headland, beach and rock platform from Town Beach to Tacking Point Lighthouse.
Shoalhaven Heads·NSW
Seven Mile Beach
A long flat beach between Gerroa and Shoalhaven Heads, with a national park behind it.
Terrigal·NSW
The Skillion, Terrigal
A short steep walk up a grass headland for the best view on the Central Coast.
Port Stephens·NSW
Tomaree Head Summit Walk
A steep 30 minute climb to a WWII gun emplacement, with the whole bay and the islands below.
Hervey Bay·QLD
Urangan Pier
An 868 metre timber pier out into the bay, built for the sugar trade and now for fishing and sunrises.
Huskisson·NSW
Voyager Memorial Park
A waterfront park in the middle of Huskisson, and the memorial to the 82 men lost when HMAS Voyager sank off Jervis Bay in 1964.
Hyams Beach·NSW
White Sands Walk
An easy coastal track between Greenfield Beach and Hyams Beach, through bush and out onto the sand.