Scarborough Hotel: Is this Wollongong’s best beer garden?
The Scarborough Hotel is arguably home to Wollongong’s best beer garden. Get lucky and you might even see humpback whales migrating past the cliffs.
The Scarborough Hotel in Wollongong is one of Australia’s great beachside pubs. In the Scarborough suburb in the north of the city, the Scarborough Hotel is a short distance down Lawrence Hargrave Drive from Stanwell Park Beach and the Sea Cliff Bridge. It is right on the coastal Sydney to Wollongong drive, and very much makes the most of its stellar location.
Whale-watching at the Scarborough Hotel, Wollongong
The Scarborough Hotel beer garden is one of the best in the country, for the views if nothing else. It looks directly over the cliffs, next to Scarborough Beach. Come during the winter months and you’ve got a good chance of seeing migrating humpback whales go past.
6 fantastic Wollongong experiences to book before you arrive
- Tandem hang-gliding flight from Bald Hill – float down towards the beach.
- One hour private surf lesson in Woonona – learn the basics, and get standing on your board.
- Illawarra Fly ziplining course and treetop walk – test your nerves high up in the canopy.
- Tandem skydive with beach landing – feel the rush of freefall.
- Explore the city on a scavenger hunt – a fun way to get to know Wollongong better.
- Half day deep sea fishing adventure – haul in some big boys.
The pub is heritage-listed and has been open since 1886. It’s believed to be the Illawarra region’s oldest licensed premises. The Scarborough Hotel has so much local gravitas that the suburb was renamed in honour of the pub, back in 1903. The area was originally a mining settlement called South Clifton.
With a reputation like that, and those views from the beer garden, the Scarborough Hotel doesn’t need to try that hard to win people over.
It does, however, a couple of unusual options for a pub. Not least the Thursday morning playgroups, where parents are encouraged to bring toddlers and babies.
Scarborough hotel food menu
The Scarborough Hotel also has a restaurant, which is open five days a week. It closes on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Given the coastal location, it’s no surprise that seafood features heavily on the menu. Options include half a dozen Sydney rock oysters for $24 or a seafood plate for $29. There are also some classic meals on the menu, including a cheeseburger and chips or grilled saltwater barramundi, though.
Realistically, this is not a place you come to for fine dining, however. Most visitors will be content with a cold beer and an utterly fabulous view from the beer garden. For more information, visit the pub website.
Other highlights of Wollongong include Woonona Beach, Windang Beach and the Towradgi Beach Hotel.
Wollongong accommodation options include the apartments at Adina, the burgeoning facilities of Novotel Northbeach and the golf course-based Best Western City Sands.
More New South Wales travel
Indie shopping in Long Jetty on the Central Coast.
What is the Greater Sydney Area?
Take a scenic flight along the Illawarra coast from Albion Park.
What is a Sydneysider?
Savour beachside beers at the Shoal Bay Country Club in Port Stephens.