Coffs Harbour sits roughly halfway between Sydney and Brisbane on the New South Wales mid-north coast, a position that has made it a natural stopping point on the Pacific Highway for decades. The town itself is unpretentious — a working banana-growing region with a fishing harbour and a long stretch of beaches running north and south.
The main attraction is the Solitary Islands Marine Park, a chain of small islands just offshore where tropical and temperate currents meet. The diving and snorkelling here is surprisingly good, with an unusual mix of tropical fish, grey nurse sharks, and humpback whales passing through from June to November. Muttonbird Island, connected to the harbour by a short walk along the breakwater, is an easy introduction — nesting shearwaters arrive in their thousands each September.
The hinterland rises steeply into the Dorrigo Plateau. Dorrigo National Park, about an hour's drive west, has excellent rainforest walks and a spectacular Skywalk lookout over the canopy. The Waterfall Way drive from Coffs to Dorrigo passes through some of the best subtropical rainforest in New South Wales.