Coffs has roughly thirty kilometres of beaches and the locals split them by character. Park Beach is the main town beach, north of the harbour breakwater: long, sandy, surf-club patrolled in the warm months, easy walk from the holiday-park strip. Jetty Beach, on the south side of the breakwater, is the calmer family beach, partly sheltered by the breakwater itself.
Diggers Beach, immediately north of the Big Banana and accessed by a steep path through coastal scrub, is the local surfer's pick — a clean reef break, fewer crowds, occasional dolphin sightings from the lookout above the car park. Further north, Sapphire Beach and Emerald Beach are quieter still and run by small holiday-park towns.
The water is warm enough to swim without a wetsuit from October to May, and lifeguard patrols run the same months. Watch for rips on the unpatrolled stretches.