“Let me guess, another boring chicken parmy?”
The Beach Hotel is quiet and its chef is bored.
“What else is there?”
Two minutes later, and we leave the counter having ordered seafood linguine.
Like everything else in this town in winter, it’s a hit.
Also like everything else in this town, you need to be brave to appreciate it.
While the safe option for a south coast winter getaway for Sydneysiders is Kiama, Werri, Jervis Bay, maybe Bendalong, Bermagui is a few hour’s drive further.
But as they say: “bad roads bring good people,” and this applies here.
The extra few hour’s driving to Bermagui pays off with fewer people, cheaper prices and better vibes. You might even find yourself bullied into a seafood pasta. Authentic? Eat your heart out.
It’s not a town etched in Aussie folklore quite like Crescent Head. But it’s not a complete secret either. More a case of those in the know, know.
And if you go?
A little over five hours south of Sydney, Bermagui is a coastal town surrounded by farms, known for its unique ocean pool, resident seals, whale watching, coastal walks, dreamy picnic spots. There are also galleries, art spaces and cooking workshops.
It’s got decent surf too with nearby Camel Rock playing host to a surf school (and on the right day great waves for more experienced surfers).
Accommodation wise there’s everything from dog-friendly beach shacks to a caravan park to whole houses you can rent out (there are a few Hipcamps nearby too).
On social media there are hundreds of posts raving about how perfect it is, with the Blue Pool appearing to be most people’s highlight (as well as, ironically, the lack of crowds).
Things to do
Bermagui also has a 15km long coastal heritage trail where you can learn about its rich indigenous history (the Djiringanj Clan of the Yuin Nation have been the custodians of this area for 40,000 to 50,000 years) as well as about how a nearby beach was turned into a goldfield in the 1880s (dubbed Montreal Goldfield and backing onto Haywards Beach, nearly 250kg of gold was found using picks and shovels and “it became the only goldfield in Australia that extends into the sea,” says Visit Bermagui).
If history’s not your thing, there’s also hiking (the 1.5km Camel Rock to Murunna Point Walking Track takes you between rock formations over 450 million years old and is a great place to spot humpback whales), shop7ArtSpace (a local gallery) is worth checking out and Middle Lagoon Walking Track is worth a wander. Biamanga National Park isn’t far away either (Mumbulla Creek Falls Picnic Area is a nice spot to explore there).
Where to eat
Nutty Pizza Co. up on Nutley’s Creek Road does a mean margarita (both the pizza and the drink), there are more cafes than you can chuck a flat white at along Lamont Street, the Bermagui Country Club’s Terrace Restaurant does a flippin’ good scotch fillet and along the wharf Octopii Restaurant, the Sundeck at Bermagui and Bermagui Gelati Clinic satisfy every kind of doctor’s orders. There’s also a bottle-o, bakery, deli, a wholefoods a fish and chip shop and the Bermagui Beach Hotel.
