A slow summer week the kids will remember.
Family summer holiday, Crescent Head
A patrolled beach, safe estuary swims and a walk to everything. Dog-friendly, and it sleeps six.
Why families come back
Everything within walking distance, and no car for a week.
Crescent Head is the kind of small town where you park the car on Friday afternoon and don’t touch it until Sunday. The patrolled beach is seven minutes downhill, and the estuary at Killick Creek is safe for swimming at low tide.
Barnett’s Bakery (the best on the Mid North Coast) is a five-minute walk. The kids can have ice cream and walk back on their own.
For the small humans
What we have for kids.
Plastic cutlery and crockery
A full kids’ set, so the good stuff stays in the cupboard.
Kids’ books and toys
A small library in the living room for rainy mornings.
Board games and jigsaws
Classic post-dinner stuff, and DVDs too if the rain sets in.
A bedroom with two singles
Bedroom 3 has two single beds, which suits siblings.
Outdoor shower
Hot and cold, downstairs. Sandy children rinsed before the carpet.
Beach gear in the garage
Umbrellas, chairs, and a few buckets and spades. Less to pack.
A summer week at Crescent Head
A loose itinerary, no pressure.
- Mornings
Walk to Barnett’s for pastries, then the patrolled beach (the surf club has a café). An estuary swim at low tide if the surf is too big.
- Afternoons
The headland walk for the kangaroos. Tennis or a quick six holes at the country club, then cool down on the deck.
- Evenings
A sundowner on the deck while the light changes over Hat Head, pizza from the local, and movie night with the DVDs.
- Rainy days
Board games, jigsaws and the Frame TV with Netflix, or a drive into Kempsey for the markets or a museum.
Choosing your spot
Which water suits which age.
Crescent Head has genuinely different water within walking distance. On any given day, one of them will suit.
Killick Creek estuary
Shallow and glassy at low tide, with no shore break to speak of. This is the toddler answer, and where the kayak or the fishing rod comes out. Check the tide first: it’s a different place at the top of the water.
Front Beach
The town beach, seven minutes downhill and patrolled through school holidays. The northern end near the creek mouth is the gentlest water; it gets more serious the further south you walk toward the point.
Killick Beach
Five kilometres of open sand north of the bridge. Unpatrolled and often empty, which makes it a walking and exploring beach rather than a swimming one with small kids. Low tide gives the firm sand.
The one thing to plan around: the surf club patrols Front Beach during school holiday periods, and nowhere in town is patrolled outside them. This is open coast and the surf has real power away from the flags, so if you’re travelling outside the holidays, the estuary becomes the default swim rather than the backup.
Is the beach patrolled?
Front Beach, the town beach below the headland, is patrolled by the surf club during school holiday periods. Outside those weeks there’s no patrol anywhere in town, which is worth planning around if you have confident swimmers who like to push out.
Where is safe for small kids to swim?
The estuary at Killick Creek. At low tide the creek mouth is shallow and glassy; it’s the calmest water in town and the usual answer for toddlers. The northern end of Front Beach, where the estuary meets the sea, is the next calmest.
Do we need the car once we arrive?
Mostly no. The beach is seven minutes downhill, the bakery about five, and the country club eight. Plenty of families park on arrival and don’t move the car until they leave. You’ll want it for day trips and the bigger supermarket in Kempsey.
How many does the house sleep?
Six. Two queen bedrooms and a third bedroom with two single beds, which is usually where the kids end up.
What’s here for rainy days?
Board games, jigsaws, a shelf of kids’ books and toys, DVDs and a Frame TV with Netflix. Starlink means the internet holds up even when the weather doesn’t.
Is there a cot or a high chair?
No. We don’t keep baby gear at the house, so if you’re travelling with a little one you’ll need to bring or hire a cot and high chair. Better to know now than to arrive and find out.
Do we need to bring beach gear?
Not much. There are umbrellas, chairs and a few buckets and spades in the garage, plus a full set of kids’ plastic cutlery and crockery in the kitchen. There’s an outdoor shower downstairs with hot and cold water for rinsing sandy kids before they come in.
From $250 a night*
Check availabilityThree bedrooms, sleeps six. Hosted by Trent and Liss.
*Prices vary with the time of year, season and demand. Live pricing is always on our Airbnb listing.