Blue Bay is quiet by design, but you are never far from a good beach, a coastal walk or a lazy lunch by the water. Here is how locals spend their days on this stretch of the NSW Central Coast.
Start at the beach
Blue Bay is a small, east-facing beach sheltered between a rock platform to the north and a sand spit to the south, which keeps the water calm and clear. It is made for an early swim, a paddle or a snorkel over the reef, and the sunrises straight off the deck are reason enough to set an alarm. The bay is a favourite with local anglers too, with whiting and bream taken off the beach. Blue Bay itself is not patrolled, so for supervised swimming the patrolled flags at Toowoon Bay are a short walk south.
Toowoon Bay for families
A few minutes along the sand brings you to Toowoon Bay, a gentle, patrolled beach with a playground at Swadling Reserve, grassy parkland and a takeaway shop right behind the sand. It is the easy choice with young children, and the walk between the two beaches is part of the fun.
The Entrance and its pelicans
Just up the road, The Entrance is the lively hub of this part of the coast. Its daily pelican feeding on the foreshore is a genuine crowd-pleaser with the kids (worth checking the current feeding time before you go), and the waterfront is lined with relaxed cafes and restaurants. Time your visit for the weekly Sunday market, or the larger monthly Saturday market, for local produce and crafts.
Walk the Coast to Lake Walk
If you do one walk while you are here, make it the Coast to Lake Walk. This easy, mostly flat loop of around 7.5 kilometres links Tuggerah Lake, the channel and the ocean, threading through Long Jetty, Toowoon Bay, Blue Bay and The Entrance. Allow about three hours for the full circuit, or pick a single section for a shorter stroll. Cyclists can follow the Tuggerah Lakes Cycleway, a shared path of roughly 12 kilometres around the lake.
Sunset at Long Jetty
On the lake side, Long Jetty has become the coast's most characterful little strip, with vintage and homeware shops, easygoing cafes, and the long jetty reaching out over the water for those glowing Central Coast sunsets. Keep an eye out for The Savoy, set in a restored 1950s cinema, for pizza, drinks and live music.
Nature, lookouts and whales
For a dose of the outdoors, Wyrrabalong National Park offers coastal walking trails and clifftop views, with Crackneck Lookout a standout spot to scan the horizon. Between roughly June and October it is a prime perch for whale watching as humpbacks travel the coast. North of the bay, Norah Head Lighthouse adds a touch of maritime history along with rock pools and sweeping ocean views, while a longer drive south reaches the secluded beaches and walking tracks of Bouddi National Park.
When the weather turns
Rainy days are easy here. The garage at Waveshine doubles as a games room with air hockey and table tennis, there is a Smart TV and board games indoors, and a Nespresso coffee is never far away. A short drive also reaches the hinterland, where Matcham Valley Winery makes a scenic cellar-door escape.