Coffs Harbour is a beach and outdoor town. The signature short walk is out along the breakwater from the marina to Muttonbird Island, where the wedge-tailed shearwaters nest in their thousands from September to April. The summit is the best harbour view in town and the launching point for whale-watching cruises in the southern winter.
In town, the North Coast Regional Botanic Garden is a quiet hour, and the Big Banana is the obligatory roadside stop — Australia's first Big Thing, opened in 1964, and still a cheerful piece of kitsch. The diving and snorkelling around the Solitary Islands Marine Park is the city's hidden quality: tropical and temperate currents meet here, so a single dive can take in tropical fish, grey nurse sharks and (in season) humpback whales.
Inland, the rainforests of Dorrigo and the Waterfall Way drive deserve a full day each — see Day Trips.