Kids Love Port Macquarie!
Port Macquarie is one of the best family destinations on the NSW coast. Koala encounters, a nationally awarded zoo with animal experiences, one of the world's largest hedge mazes, an inflatable water park, pick-your-own strawberries, WildNets suspended adventure playground, patrolled beaches and a walkable CBD make it genuinely easy with kids of any age.
Top 10 Family Activities in Port Macquarie - Quick Reference
In no particular order, here are the family attractions and activities that are consistently voted in our Top 10:
Billabong Zoo, Thrumster: Wildlife encounters, koalas, meerkats, crocodile Shrek
Hello Koalas Sculpture Trail: 91 koala sculptures, treasure hunt across the region
Port Macquarie Koala Hospital + Guulabaa-Place of Koala: Visit resident koalas across two extraordinary sites
WildNets Adventure Park, Guulabaa: Suspended nets, ball pits, ropes course, ziplines
Ricardoes Tomatoes and Strawberries, Blackmans Point: Free entry, pick-your-own, farm tours
Stoney Aqua Park, Telegraph Point: Southern Hemisphere's biggest inflatable water playground
Bago Maze and Winery: World's largest hedge mazes, wine tasting for parents
Port Jet Cruises, Town Wharf: Boom net, river cruises, whale watching
Sea Acres Rainforest Centre, Pacific Drive: 1.3km accessible boardwalk, Rainforest Cafe
X-Golf Port Macquarie, Uralla Rd. Ultra-realistic golf simulators, indoors and perfect for families and groups.
Favourite Freebies:
Town Beach Reserve & Town Green: Skate park, playground, mini pump track, patrolled beach, level promenade, colourful break wall
Livvi’s Place Playground- Westport Park (includes water play in the warmer months)
Wayne Richards Park Velo Pump Track - international standard pump track, 5 minutes from town
Jollynose MTB Park- Bonny Hills - tracks suitable for most age groups
Tacking Point Lighthouse - spectacular views and fascinating history
Port Macquarie Coastal Walk - level from Westport Park through to Town Beach, perfect for prams, bikes, scooters and little legs
Best Visitor Attraction in Port Macquarie: Billabong Zoo
Billabong Zoo was recently awarded Business NSW's Best Visitor Experience and the award is well deserved. Over 200 animals in a shady, well-designed 10-acre park that's easy on little legs. The Macropod Meadow lets you hand-feed kangaroos and wallabies. Keeper presentations run throughout the day. The big drawcard is the animal encounter experience: patting a koala, feeding a cheetah, hanging with meerkats, holding a snake, or balancing a monkey on your shoulder. Open 7 days from 9am to 5pm rain or shine. You can visit the cafe and gift shop without paying entry, and you watch the cheeky spider monkeys swinging around while you enjoy your lunch!
Thrumster, 10 minutes west of Port Mac CBD along Oxley Highway. Book at billabongzoo.com.au
Meet the Koalas: Guulabaa, Place of Koala (& The Koala Hospital)
Guulabaa in the Cowarra State Forest is currently home to the Port Macquarie Koala Hospital operations while the main hospital undergoes a major upgrade (reopening mid-2026). Visitors can see resident koalas, learn about the world's first Wild Koala Breeding Program, snap a selfie with the 2.5 metre Big Koala (part of the Hello Koalas Sculpture Trail), and visit the Bunya Cafe and Gift Shop and Gallery.
Guulabaa Way, corner Burrawan Forest Drive and Oxley Highway. Open daily except Christmas Day, 8:30am to 4pm. koalaconservationaustralia.org.au
WildNets Adventure Park at Guulabaa
Also at Guulabaa, WildNets is a suspended adventure park with giant nets between the tall eucalyptus trees, ball pits, giant inflatable games, plus the newer ropes course with over 100 challenges including ziplines, rope ladders and rope bridges. Great for ages 3 and up, thrilling for adults. Fifty percent of profits go to Koala Conservation Australia. Combo deals available: book WildNets and get $5 off Guulabaa entry, or visit Guulabaa first for 10% off same-day WildNets. Ask about the Wild to Wild Pass. Bookings essential at wildnets.com.au. LOCAL TIP If you're doing Guulabaa and WildNets on the same day, ask about the Wild to Wild Pass at the gate. A sensible combo is the koala visit first, WildNets second, then Billabong Zoo on a separate day.
Pick-Your-Own Strawberries at Ricardoes Farm
Free entry from 7am, seven days a week. Ricardoes Tomatoes and Strawberries at Blackmans Point is a genuine family favourite, consistently recommended by locals. The strawberries are grown on vertical frames so even the smallest kids can pick easily, the entire area is undercover so bad weather doesn't matter, and free guided farm tours run every weekday at 11am with no booking needed. Cafe Red on site does farm-fresh breakfasts and lunches and the scones are famous. Just 10 minutes north of the CBD. Ricardoes Tomatoes & Strawberries, 221 Blackmans Point Road, Blackmans Point. Open 7am daily.
Biggest Water Park Near Port Macquarie: Stoney Aqua Park
At Telegraph Point, about 15 minutes north of Port Mac, Stoney Aqua Park is one of the Southern Hemisphere's biggest inflatable water playgrounds. There's also Aqua Golf and a kiosk on site and it’s leashed-dog friendly. We love the picnic areas and shady seating options where you can watch the kids bouncing around. 16 Hacks Ferry Road, Telegraph Point. Book online.
Best Family Day Trip: Bago Maze and Winery
About 35 minutes from Port Mac, Bago Maze and Winery has one of the world's largest hedge mazes with over 2km of pathways, bridges, lookout towers and a kids' find-and-seek challenge. While the kids tackle the maze, parents can sit on the hill overlooking the property with a wine tasting and cheese platter. Regular live music events — check bago.com.au.
Port Jet Cruises: Boom Net, Whale, Dolphin and River Adventures
Port Jet Cruises runs family-friendly river cruises year-round from Town Wharf. They have a very cool line-up of vessels, including a multi-level catamaran with under-sea viewing window, and two super fast ocean and river boats. Whale watching tours run May to November, and you can also book dolphin and sunset river cruises. Book at portjet.com.au or call 0419 620 765.
Skate Parks, Playgrounds & Public Swimming Pools:
Town Beach Reserve has one of the best skate parks on the Mid North Coast, a great playground with a mini pump track for younger riders, and a patrolled beach all within the same footprint. Add a post-swim bowl from Salty Crew Kiosk and you've got a great half-day sorted.
Town Green has a newly renovated play space with views of the river, surrounded by cafes and ice creameries.
Livvi’s Place at Westport Park is an accessible and well kitted-out playground which includes water features and water play in the warmer months.
Lake Cathie Skate Park & Playground has been recently redeveloped, is by the lake and close to cafes. For a full listing of the region’s skate parks, click here.
For an interactive map with all the region’s play spaces, go to pmhc.nsw.gov.au
Port Macquarie, Wauchope and Kendall all have public swimming pools, with Wauchope having recently been refurbished and Kendall a family favourite. For a listing of sporting facilities including pools, click here.
Best Family-Friendly Cafe Stops
The cafes and restaurants that work best for families with kids:
Pancake Place - Delish pancakes for breakfast & lunch. Savoury options, super fresh.
Panthers - Kove Cafe and Kove Kitchen: The Backyard playground on site, river views
Rainforest Cafe at Sea Acres: At the end of the boardwalk, gorgeous setting
Ricardoes- Cafe Red: Pictured. Farm-fresh food, free entry, kids love the strawberry farm and scones
Salty Crew Kiosk, Town Beach: Bowls and coffee right at the beach
Little Shack, the Breakwall: Kid-friendly, coastal, great for a post-walk stop
Home at Roto - next to the Koala Hospital, delightful grounds to explore
Coast at Lighthouse - beachfront with room to roam
Frequently Asked Questions
Things to Do with Kids in Port Macquarie
-
Billabong Zoo is consistently the top family recommendation in Port Macquarie for its animal encounters, shady layout and keeper presentations. WildNets Adventure Park at Guulabaa and Ricardoes Strawberry Farm are close runners-up. For a full-day water experience, Stoney Aqua Park at Telegraph Point is outstanding (check their website for opening times), and Port Jet Cruises’ Whale Watching Tours and thrilling ‘Ocean Blast’ experiences are hard to top.
-
Yes. Billabong Zoo was recently named Business NSW's Best Visitor Experience. It has over 200 animals, a Macropod Meadow for hand-feeding kangaroos and wallabies, and optional animal encounters including koala pats, cheetah feeding and snake handling. Zookeeper talks daily. They also run a popular ‘Junior Zookeeper for a Day’ program in School hols. Cafe, playground & Giftshop. Open 7 days, 9am to 5pm.
-
Billabong Zoo is in Sancrox, approximately 10 minutes west of Port Macquarie's CBD - just off the highway.
-
Yes. Ricardoes Tomatoes and Strawberries at Blackmans Point, 10 minutes north of Port Mac's CBD, offers free entry from 7am daily with pick-your-own strawberries on vertical frames accessible to children of all heights. Free guided farm tours run every weekday at 11am, and there’s a farm shop and cafe onsite.
-
Teens happily holiday in Port Macquarie. If they’re not at the beach, fishing off the wharf, mountain biking at Jollynose MTB Park, showing off at the skate park or shopping centre, teens love the Ocean Blast adventure ride with Port Jet Cruises, the high ropes and zipline course at Wildnets, Stoney Aqua Park, Hastings River Horseriding, and indoor fun such as Centre of Gravity, X-Golf and the Cinemas. Secretly they’ll also love Billabong Zoo and the Koala Hospital.
-
Stoney Aqua Park at Telegraph Point, 15 minutes north of Port Mac, is the Southern Hemisphere's biggest inflatable water playground. There is also Aqua Golf and a kiosk on site. In town, Westport Park in Port Mac has a water play area in the playground.
-
Port Macquarie is a dream for parents with young children. The CBD is fairly flat and walkable, with a riverside promenade perfect for little scooters and bikes. There are playgrounds everywhere (Westport Park has water play as well), and the Skate Park at Town Beach has a mini-pump track for little riders. Billabong Zoo is a favourite with kids, as is the Koala Hospital and Guulabaa. Sea Acres Rainforest Boardwalk and Strawberry picking at Ricardoes are also up there. Town Beach and Flynns Beach are family friendly and patrolled, with great facilities for families.
-
Our pick of the beaches if you have kids in tow include Town Beach, Flynns Beach, Rainbow Beach and Pilot Beach. The first three are generally patrolled with good facilities and cafes. Pilot Beach is between the breakwalls at Dunbogan, making it a relatively calm-water option.
-
Our picks, in no particular order, are cafes, clubs and taverns that have play spaces and/or plenty of room to roam, and kid-friendly food options:
Pancake Place, Panthers, East Port Bowling Club, Chop n Chill, Coast at Lighthouse, Home at Roto, Cafe Red at Ricardoes, Billabong Zoo’s Cafe (you don’t need a ticket to the zoo to visit the cafe), Salty Crew at Town Beach and Beach Break at North Haven, Settlers Inn, Tacking Point Tavern, Lake Cathie Tavern, and the Royal Hotel at Kew.
-
To take an ocean cruise with Port Jet, the minimum age is 4 years.
At Wildnets, kids aged 3-7 can explore the Kids Treetop Rope Course, while those 8 and up can conquer the Big Treetop Ropes Course.
At Stoney Aqua Park, kids from age 3-6 can participate but must be with a parent or carer. There is a free splash park for little ones also.
Locals Love
