Things to do in Patonga Beach, Central Coast: Pub, swimming & walks

Things to do in Patonga Beach on the NSW Central Coast include having a beer at the Boathouse Hotel, walking in the Brisbane Water National Park and low swell swimming in Brisk Bay.

Patonga Beach is best known as the terminus for the Palm Beach to Patonga Ferry. If you’re coming by boat, Patonga Beach is where you arrive on the New South Wales Central Coast from Sydney.

The Palm Beach ferry at Patonga Wharf on the Central Coast. Photo courtesy of Central Coast Tourism.

Things to do in Patonga Beach: The Patonga Pub

It is by no means one of the biggest beaches on the Central Coast, but Patonga Beach does have its charms. Chief among them is the Boathouse Hotel – often known as the Patonga pub – right opposite the ferry wharf.

The Boathouse Hotel offers more upscale accommodation than the Patonga Camping Ground next to Patonga Creek. Perhaps more importantly, though, the Patonga pub is a place to wash down a parma or fish and chips with a cold beer after a day in the sun.

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Getting to Patonga and camping

Otherwise, Patonga Beach’s main appeal is in its setting. Unless coming by ferry, Patonga is out on a limb. Getting there by car requires a significant detour south along the Woy Woy Road from Gosford. This passes the Bulgandry Rock Art Site in Brisbane Water, one of five Central Coast national parks. There’s an end of the line village feel.

Patonga Creek winds its way round the Patonga Camping Ground, emptying into Brisk Bay and the Hawkesbury River. The Hawkesbury River morphs into Broken Bay very soon after that.

Swimming at Patonga Beach

Patonga Beach itself has darker sand than many on the New South Wales coast, and is about 1.4km long. There is no surf lifesaving club here, and thus Patonga Beach is not patrolled by lifeguards. That said, there’s hardly any need for them – swells are low here, and it is realistically not an ocean beach. Surfers are better off heading further up the Central Coast to the likes of Terrigal, Wamberal or Forresters Beach.

If you had your fill of swimming, then the Brisbane Water National Park curves around Patonga to the north and east. There are several walking trails here, the best of which winds through the park to Pearl Beach.