Moonee Beach Dog Friendly Travel Guide
I fell in love with camping at Moonee Beach for the roomy unpowered campground under huge trees with chattering birds and so did my dog who likes a bit of space from other dogs or she gets barky.
There are many other beautiful places on this section of coast, but I just loved that I could wander for hours on the sand flats with my dog, bird watching, paddling in the water and drinking my coffee each morning from the van right at the front of the campground. Its worlds away from cold winter in Victoria.
Moonee Beach may well be one of the most dog friendly towns in Australia with a dog friendly pub, dog friendly shopping centre and dog friendly camping and accommodation options as well as a dog friendly on-lead river mouth.
On a personal note, the day I arrived at Moonee Beach, was the day I actually started my holiday. I had spend so much time worrying about where to stay and trying to find places where I didn’t have to camp right next to other people where my dog would bark that my holiday was stressful and full of hwy stops as I indecisively kept driving to dusk.
Until I arrived at Moonee Beach, which gave me all the facilities of a caravan park with the space of a bush campground. While I understand in summer it is very very busy, in winter out of school holidays when I visited it is a tranquil paradise in the unpowered section with just a handful of other campers on a weeknight and the weekend was only a little busier.
Dog Friendly things to do around Moonee Beach
There is a free beach/river front day use area in front of reflections with picnic tables, a coffee van and a toilet block so if your just calling in on a road trip you make your own lunch at a table before going for a wander of the sand flats.
Dog Friendly Moonee Creek Beach Sand Bar (ON LEAD)
The Moonee Creek mouth is gorgeous, with big sand flats to wander at lower tides (and often still plenty of sand at high tide depending on the tide height). There is plenty of shallow water areas with little pools my dog had a great time swimming across and paddling in on the lead.
Note that dogs are not allowed on the beach area out the back.
Lead Reactive Doggo Notes: Unfortunately, most people didn’t follow the on lead rule which was incredibly frustrating both for my pup (who didn’t understand why she couldn’t run around too) and for the birdlife. However I will say that all off lead dogs seemed to be under effective control enough that they did not approach my on lead dog.
Coffs Harbour Forest Sky Pier & Picnic Area
The Coffs Harbour Forest Sky Pier is both dog friendly and wheelchair accessible. If you’re just passing through town it’s a nice spot to stretch your legs and take in the view.
If you’re staying in the area there are some great dog friendly walks nearby including a short dog friendly walk that leaves from the same carpark as well as several other walks nearby.
Rainforest Loop in Orara East State Forest
In my opinion, one of the best short dog-friendly walks I’ve done, this beautiful loop walk takes your past some truly gorgeous strangler figs and ferns, through a creek valley and on a walking track of gnarled tree roots. Make sure you do a post-walk leech check and have taken tick preventatives recommended by your vet.
You can read my track notes on my other website using the link below.
Dog Friendly Caravan Park Moonee Beach – Reflections Holiday Park
Reflections Moonee Beach is the perfect place to stay for dog friendly accommodation or camping.
It’s a great choice if you want to be in a caravan park but are looking for unpowered bush camping near the beach with undesignated camp sites so you can spread out and have space from other campers
This caravan park near Coffs Harbour on the North Coast of NSW has dog friendly powered sites, dog friendly unpowered campsites and dog friendly cabins!
Dog Friendly Unpowered Sites
I loved this campground! It was one of the few campgrounds I could find on the coast where you could camp with a dog in a more natural environment but still have access to showers, toilets and a camp kitchen.
Dog Friendly Powered Sites
There flat section at the top of the holiday park is a mix of powered and premium (filtered beach creek views) powered campsites as well as a few permanent cabins and vans.
Dog friendly Cabin Accommodation
If you are looking for dog friendly accommodation near Coffs Harbour on the North Coast of NSW then Reflections Moonee Beach is a good choice with plenty of dog friendly accommodation options with fenced decks. Keep in mind like many places dogs are not allowed on the furniture so be sure to pack your doggos bed.
I always cover everything with clean cover in case she jumps on something while I’m asleep and I dont realise (which she didn’t but I would rather be prepared so I don’t get a cleaning fee).
Reflections allows you to stay for as short or long amount of time as you want in the dog friendly accommodation, you just pay a higher per night fee for a single night then it gets cheaper for longer stays.
Keep in mind if your dog is a bit barky around other dogs that in most cabins your dog may be able to see a dog on another balcony.
Tiny Homes – Dog friendly
The tiny homes are really good value dog friendly accommodation, with discounts on offer for midweek or longer stays.
There is two size dog friendly tiny homes at Moonee Creek, the smaller ‘Tiny Home’ which has lovely filtered creek views and were booked out with travellers with dogs the whole time I was there and larger ‘Premium Tiny Home’ which looks over the unpowered camping area towards a smaller creek (one premium tiny home, number T4 or in that location on the map, looks over the creek but its booked a lot).
I stayed in tiny home similar to the Premium option at another park and I loved that it was brand new, had a fully equipped kitchen (and dishwasher coz it makes me feel better that the glasses and plates are clean after the last visitors) and tv in the living room and bedrooms.
Superior Cabin (Sleeps 5) & Premium Cabins (Sleeps 4) – Dog friendly
If you are looking for two bedroom dog friendly accommodation in North Coast NSW these cabins at Moonee Beach are a good option. The superior cabins all have a fenced deck with views towards the Moonee Creek Beach and over the unpowered campground.
I stayed in the superior cabin for 3 nights. It has great views, I loved the fenced deck and the space however they are definitely a bit more dated than the new tiny homes. My cabin was really clean and nice and I would definitely stay again but geez the blinds needed replacing and the Austar box was like a throwback to the 90’s lol.
Personally, I liked the superior cabin location (C8-C11 on their map) more than the premium cabins, some of which I think looked over the carpark (so do the superior technically but there at the top of a hill with trees and beach views so you dont’ really notice).
Economy Cabin (Sleeps 6) Dog Friendly
A good choice for larger families (with kids old enough to sleep in the bunk beds) however I didn’t get a chance to see where these were located on my visit.
Dog Friendly Eats & Drinks in Moonee Beach
If you are wondering where to eat in Moonee Beach here are a few of the options available.
‘i Bean there’ Coffee Van at Moonee Beach
There is a great Coffee van located straight in the Moonee Creek carpark, with plenty of tables in the reserve to enjoy the beautiful creek beach views or you can wander on the creek sand flats.
I had a coffee six days in a row and it was consistently good plus seemed like plenty of regulars as well so its a good morning coffee spot.
Moonee Beach Hotel – Dog friendly pub in Moonee Beach
If your looking for a dog friendly restaurant or pub in Moonee beach for lunch or dinner the Moonee Beach Hotel has a great leafy dog friendly beer garden with plenty of outdoor wooden tables so your dog can chill next to you. Its open daily for lunch and dinner.
I was also advised at the time that dogs are allowed on the pub courtesy bus that picks up from reflections caravan park! But its also a walkable distance for most people if this changes in the future.
If you have a dog that gets a bit barky when there are to many dogs around you might like to do what I did and visit at lunch time on a quieter part of the day before the weekend crowds arrived. Dusty and I had the beer garden to ourselves except for one other dog family who sat at the other end of the beer garden. Note I visited in winter when you would expect it’s much quieter than summer months and school holidays.
Dog Friendly Shopping Centre at Moonee Beach
Not only is Moonee Beach Shopping Centre an example of how modern shopping centres can still have a good vibe but dogs are actually allowed inside the shopping centre (however not in many of the shops, but they do have doggy parking out the front of some of them).
Russells Prime Quality Meats- Dog bones
If you’re looking for dog bones in Moonee Beach there were tonnes of them in the fridge at Russels Prime Quality Meats when I visited, with options for smaller or bigger bones. I opted for a pack which was good value as the marrow bones are by the kg.