Town Beach sits right at the centre of Port Macquarie, where the Hastings River meets the Tasman Sea. The position at the river mouth gives it a natural shelter that makes it calmer than the ocean beaches to the south — good for families with young children and for swimming when the surf further along the coast is rough.
The beach is backed by a foreshore park with picnic facilities and is the northern starting point for the Coastal Walk to Tacking Point Lighthouse. Early mornings here are quiet; the beach gets busy on summer weekends but rarely feels overcrowded by Sydney or Gold Coast standards.
Dolphins regularly work the channel at the river mouth, and the breakwall along the river is a good place to watch them — and a productive fishing spot in the evenings.