The Best Dog-Friendly Adventures

Kiama Coast Walk

Ocean views, spectacular rock formations, unspoilt beaches

Setting Off: Preparing for a Dog-Friendly Adventure

We set off from Sydney for our dog friendly adventure on the Kiama Coast Walk. All friends from doggy daycare at Darlo Dogs, the boys were super excited to see each other. We left fairly early but we wanted to make a day of it and the drive down and back was doable for a full day’s adventure.

Essentials: Packing the Perfect Checklist

• Breakfasts for us and the dogs
• Backpacks for carrying dogs, snacks and water
• Esky for all of our dinners when we finished
• Hat, sunscreen, small towel, first aid etc etc

After checking the tides we realised starting from Gerringong and heading back to Kiama was the better option (Werri Lagoon was low tide, no need to get our feet wet. It can get up to 1.5 metres!) and upon reflection, we preferred this way as lunch was then in Kiama at the best dog friendly cafe near the Blow Hole. But more about that later.

We only took one car and everyone was dropped off at the Southern side of Werri Beach (Don’t do this, the Northern side is where you want to start, although there was a cute coffee shack on our easy wander to the beginning of the track but it did add extra kms) One of us drove back to Minnamurrra Boat Ramp, left the car and caught an uber to meet the group at the start of the walk.

Werri Beach Holiday Park is Dog Friendly which is an option if you wanted to spend the night before you set off and the dog friendly section of the beach is right opposite.

The first section of the walk was on grass tracks over untouched coastal pastures. Just beautiful! Although the hills were plenty. We ran into a couple of locals with ‘real’ dogs who were running and walking off lead as they passed. So when in Rome…

You can see the highway in the distance as you walk around most of this section but can’t hear the traffic and you really do feel like you’re in the middle of nowhere, or on the Irish Coast, but with sunshine. Some amazing ‘Grand Design’ type houses perched high up on the hill with views that would be spectacular, but we decided we prefer more vegetation around them. Of course, being the only reason, we wouldn’t be putting in an offer at auction.

We crossed Easts Beach as it was the most direct route. We’re pretty sure it isn’t dog friendly so it was a swift lead driven walk across for one and in the backpacks for the other two. We couldn’t find any details about where you should walk to circumnavigate the beach because it seemed you would then go right through the holiday park, which isn’t dog friendly and there was no way we were going back up to the main road.

Some more beautiful scenery and a change of landscape to rocky cliffs. Kendalls Beach Holiday Park is Dog Friendly, yay! However, the beach isn’t but there was a great huge off lead grass area. PS. As the shortest route, we crossed the beach again and lived to tell the tale. (no pun intended)

Around Kendalls Point now and we picked out which of the cabins we would stay in for the views at Surf Beach Holiday Park. It is dog friendly and would be a good halfway point to break the walk up. We say dog friendly but it does say in ‘select cabins in the off season’ so… on the southern side of the headland you’d feel more secluded and away from the hustle and bustle with the northern side facing Kiama ‘city’. Although we did think it would mean more opportunities for dog walks and exploring. And for those of us who have early rises at dawn, isn’t everywhere dog friendly at this time?

Lunch Break: Diggies Kiama, Dog-Friendly Dining.. woo hoo!

The path then led us to lunch! Diggies Kiama on the way up to the Lighthouse/Blow Hole (which are both great if you like a spattering of tourists with a touch of sea spray – Blow Hole wasn’t blowing too much on this day.) But Diggies! The menu choices were great, the outdoor deck shaded with plenty of seating and they didn’t mind the dogs walking up to the counter INSIDE to order. 10/10 in our books!  

We grabbed some takeaway and sat on the grass for our picnic lunch. Grass Fed Beef burger and chips hit the spot! The buttermilk pancakes looked amazing and the Prawn Roll would have been the second choice for lunch.

The map on All Trails was great but we weren’t 100% of how to walk around the next headland as it did look a little rocky. After a false start of walking up the road and then realising it would have been a while before we were back down on the water’s edge if we had continued, we backtracked.

At the end of the oval/cricket pitch, you can walk around the headland and do a bit of rock hopping. It wasn’t nearly as treacherous or as long as we first thought and it brings you to the southern end of Bombo Beach. Which of course isn’t dog friendly until you reach the middle but we did what some locals were doing…

Bombo Beach is long! For the uninitiated to beach walking with a pack on your back means quite a bit of whinging and ‘why is the beach’ so long chat. Also, the tide was only just coming in so the hard sand by the waters edge wasn’t hard anymore and more akin to trudging through snow. It was a long beach!

There is a bit of street walking between Bombo and Minnamurra and an Uber almost called to take us to the end but we pushed on. We voted not to walk across Jones Beach and did the path along the road before heading back to the coast. If we had cheated and called an uber we would have missed the perfect Minnamurra headland and seeing whales! It is a huge off leash area for running! The sun was setting and the path down to the boat ramp was the perfect ending. We grabbed a picnic table overlooking the Minnamurra River for dinner before the ride home.

Reflecting: Would We Do It Again?

Would we do it again? Probably not the entire track but would love to stay in one of the dog friendly holiday parks or one of the many Airbnb houses and do daily adventures. Close enough to Sydney without the long drive but with the holiday vibe. It was a great day out with some Darlo Dogs friends!

Final Tip: Timing is Everything

We wouldn’t advise doing this walk in Summer at all!! There isn’t much shade and any shady parts you want the temperate to be nice and cool with the breeze cool enough to carry you forward. We took three small dogs who wouldn’t have been able to walk the entire track but managed different sections with good backpack rests in between. We humans found it challenging in parts, there are hills but also some lovely flat walking. Don’t get me started on the beach crossings….