Shoalhaven Heads: Beach, Nature and Water

Beach access and nature in Seven Mile Beach National Park

Shoalhaven Heads offers direct access to Seven Mile Beach. Seven Mile Beach National Park stretches from Shoalhaven Heads, east of Nowra, to Gerroa. The beach and national park give you clear options when choosing where to stay: you can consider a holiday spent enjoying the beach, as well as trips into nature. The national park offers opportunities for fishing, swimming, picnicking and walking. This gives you a range of activities to choose from without having to settle on just one way to experience the area.

Which of these options appeals to you most can help guide your search for a holiday rental in Shoalhaven Heads. If direct access to Seven Mile Beach is important to your holiday plans, that is a specific point to consider. Fishing, picnicking or walking in the national park each appeal to different interests. You can therefore base your choice on which activities you would like to make a focus of your stay.

There is also a special beach-related feature for visitors with dogs: at Seven Mile Beach near Shoalhaven Heads, there are areas where dogs are allowed off-leash around the clock. If you are travelling with a dog, you can take this information into account when planning your holiday. This applies to the designated beach areas; it does not mean that the same rules apply everywhere along the entire beach.

Plants, memorials and exercise

Australian native plants grow in the Shoalhaven Heads Native Botanic Garden, including rare and endangered species and Bush Tucker plants. The garden offers something different from the beach and national park, with a focus on the diversity of native plants and distinctive species. If you are travelling with children, you can use a visit as an opportunity to look for different plants together, without treating the garden as just another beach or hiking day.

Shoalhaven Heads Memorial Park includes several memorials. They commemorate conflicts in which Australia has been involved. The site also offers an opportunity to learn about remembrance and history. For holiday planning, this is a different kind of outing from nature or exercise, and may be especially suitable if you would like to visit a place for reflection as well as enjoying outdoor activities.

If you would rather be active yourself, Jerry Bailey Reserve has a pump track for scooters, bicycles and skaters. This adds an option that is different from swimming, walking and fishing. When choosing where to stay, you can consider whether these opportunities for exercise are important to your trip or whether the beach and nature should take priority.

Riverbank, fishing and boat ramps

River Road Reserve is located on the banks of the Shoalhaven River. It has a jetty, a playground, barbecue facilities and picnic tables. These amenities make the reserve a distinct option for spending time by the river, having a picnic or taking a break at the playground. Carters Corner also has a local jetty, which is suitable for fishing with the family. Both places may interest anglers, but the facilities described differ: the playground, barbecue facilities and picnic tables are at River Road Reserve, while Carters Corner is described as a family fishing spot.

There are three public boat ramps in Shoalhaven Heads. However, due to current conditions, only two are recommended without restriction for normal use. Hay Avenue Boat Ramp has a fish-cleaning station and a wash tap. River Road Boat Ramp, at the Holiday Haven end, has a floating pontoon for getting in and out of boats. If boating is essential to your trip, both the number of ramps and the restriction on their normal use are important points to consider in your plans.

When choosing your holiday rental, you can weigh up these different interests: should the beach be the deciding factor, would you like to discover plants and memorials, or are the river, fishing and boating especially important to you? Shoalhaven Heads brings together several of these holiday themes, without implying that every accommodation has particular features. So base your search on what you would like to experience at your destination.

Discover more destination pages here: Kareela, Lake Cathie, Khancoban, Boggabri, Midginbil, Parkes, Myocum and Tyndale.

For the broader travel overview: New South Wales.