Narooma

Sapphire Coast town surrounded by Wagonga Inlet and the Pacific, with clear waterways and Montague Island offshore.

Narooma sits on a narrow finger of land almost entirely surrounded by the Wagonga River estuary and the Pacific Ocean, on the New South Wales Sapphire Coast about 300 km south of Sydney. The Aboriginal name means "clear blue water," and the description holds: the waterways here are strikingly beautiful.

Fishing is the town's great preoccupation — commercial boats work the estuary while anglers line the banks for bream, flathead, and trevally. Big game fishing charters operate offshore. The calm waters of the Wagonga Inlet are also popular for kayaking, swimming, and stand-up paddleboarding. Offshore, Montague Island is a protected nature reserve with Australia's largest colony of little penguins and thousands of nesting seabirds; boat tours run from the wharf.

Narooma is a genuinely relaxed destination with few pretensions, and the drive along the coast highway through here — with ocean views and small fishing towns — is one of the pleasanter stretches of road on the south coast.

Guide

Getting There

Narooma is about 300 km south of Sydney, served by the Princes Highway. By car it takes around four hours from Sydney — longer in holiday traffic. The drive is pleasant in good conditions, particularly the section south of Batemans Bay through Moruya and Tuross Head.

Premier Motor Service runs coaches from Sydney to Narooma via Wollongong, Nowra, and Batemans Bay. The journey takes around five to six hours. There is no train service to Narooma; the nearest rail head is at Canberra (about 2.5 hours inland) or at Nowra (around 1.5 hours north), from where you would need a coach connection.

Moruya airport, about 25 km north of Narooma, has daily flights to and from Sydney with Regional Express (Rex). Renting a car at the airport is the most practical option for onward travel to Narooma.

Guide

Things to Do

Narooma's pleasures are almost entirely outdoors and water-based. Montague Island is the headline attraction — a penguin and seal colony offshore that most visitors rate as one of the best wildlife experiences on the NSW south coast. On the water itself, the calm Wagonga Inlet offers kayaking and fishing, while offshore charters run for big game and deep sea. The town itself is small; you can walk it in an hour.

Guide

When to Go

Narooma is at its best between October and April, when the weather is warm enough for swimming and the full range of outdoor activities is available. The penguin tours on Montague Island run year-round, but the October to April period coincides with the shearwater nesting season, which adds another dimension to the island visit.

Whale watching is excellent from September to November as humpbacks migrate northward and from January to March on their return south. School holiday periods — particularly January and the Easter and Christmas long weekends — pack the town and accommodation books out well in advance.

Winter (June to August) is quiet, cooler, and perfectly pleasant. The surfing can be better in winter when the swells are more consistent. Expect some rain at any time of year; the south coast gets year-round rainfall unlike parts of NSW further north.