Nelson Bay, NSW 2315

Absolutley gorgeous place geographically to live. If you enjoy water sports and walking its perfect,but.......bring your money with you,we get charged more for petrol and groceries, and more so within holiday periods, and what used to be a quaint fishing community has now but died, there is no community here at all! And if you are looking for a permanent rental and have a family and a pet (god forbid) you will be lucky to find somewhere that will accept pets, oh and children, very UNAUSTRALIAN I might add.....I dont want to sound too negative as I have raised my children here and I have always felt it to be a safe area for them to explore and have a healthy lifestyle, Hope this is helpful for you.

Nelson Bay is a great place to live however it is IMPOSSIBLE for a working couple to find a rental house that welcomes pets! We have a 7yr old labrador that does nothing but sleep and we have been looking for 18mths for an affordable place to rent that welcomes pets...DING DONG...IMPOSSIBLE! Not happy Jan!

Nelson Bay is a fantastic place to raise a family, with a healthy lifestyle surrounded by beautiful beaches, bush walks and nature's finest! There are great schools and lots of sporting options any day of the week. Great beaches are aplenty with to choose from to spend quality time as a family, with the waterfront bordering the whole peninsula.
There are many different beaches to choose from, with safe toddler friendly beaches as well as surf beaches within a few minutes drive of each other.
I love seeing the water every day as I move around the area, reminding me how lucky I am to live in such a beautiful area. We have kookaburras that visit us regularly, with rosellas coming every morning for their daily feed. Seeing dolphins swim past on my morning walk along the waterfront tell me I'm going to have a great day!
I've raised my two sons here and couldn't imagine a more family friendly, relaxed environment to bring your children up in. 3/4 of the year is spent in or around the water!

I doubt there is a person in Sydney that hasn’t already discovered Nelson Bay, but if by chance you haven’t been then WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?????
Only a very scienic 3 hour Drive from Sydney ,In my humble opinion this is one of the greatest places on earth! Whether you want to live here or holiday here Nelson Bay provides for all the must have amenities and loads more.
There are lots of Crystal clear unspoilt beaches to choose from heaps of shops and places of interest to discover.
The people of Nelson Bay are sooo friendly, if you happen to run into a smiling local before noon it is most likely you are greeted with a heartfelt “Good morning”.
The food here is amazing to, choose from a wide selection of restaurants or visit any number of local farms and buy fresh produce to cook at home yourself, the meat you will buy is also fantastic not sure why but if you are used to the cardboard we put up with here in Sydney, your tastebuds will dance when you sample the food. Seasonal fruit is also grown by locals on large acreage farms most famously the “Bakkers Farm Peach” located on Nelson Bay Road next door to the Golf Range.

What I like most about Nelson Bay is its proximity to many other neighbouring smaller towns that you can visit for a change, 5 minutes up the road you will find SHOAL BAY, another 5 min past shoal bay you will find FINGAL BAY heading in the opposite direction you will stumble across pretty little areas such as Corlette,Dutchmans Bay,Little Beach, Bobs Farm, Anna Bay, Soldiers Point, Tanilba Bay, Lemon Tree Passage and the most popular of all...SALAMANDER BAY! Naturally Salamander Bay is popular because it is home to the largest Shopping Centre in Port Stephens and you can drive there from Nelson Bay in only 5 Minutes EVERYTHING IN NELSON BAY IS ONLY 5 MINUTES AWAY!

Not convinced yet? Ok why not visit the winery and sample fine cheeses and the local wine or take the family on a Dolphin Cruise or if you are a keen Golfer, experience some award winning courses all that your finger tips.
Let’s look at SOME of the other activity’s as if I haven’t mentioned enough already!

*Dizzyland Event Park & Family Amusement Centre
*Fighter World Inc
*Australian Shark and Ray Centre
*Port Stephens Shell Museum
*Port Stephens Community Arts Centre
*Port Stephens - Great Lakes Marine Park
*Oakvale Farm & Fauna World
*Nelson Head Inner Lighthouse Cottage
*Hunter Regional Botanic Gardens

So you see, with all this to do combined with the great food wonderful friendly people and not forgetting the world class beaches Nelson Bay is a 5 Star Destination, I’ve been coming here for 20 years and can’t recommend it highly enough.

Nelson Bay has friendly people that always say "Hello" or "Good morning" to you. It is filled with beaches, resturants and entertaiment for the whole family!! If you are looking for a place to spend the weekend with your family, Nelson Bay is the place to be. I have lived here for 4 months and all ready I know lots of great people and great places!!! I see my neighbours almost 5 times a week and I am greeted with a friendly "Hello" from them every time. No dogs bark at night and all the dogs are well trained. I love Nelson Bay and recommend it to everyone.

Great beaches and fantastic fishing. Located a little over two hours drive from Sydney and if you are into four wheel driving then go visit Stockton beach and the sand dunes. Took my jet boat the dolphins were riding in with me along side. A holiday town yet a cosmopolitan funky place to live and to spend a weekends.

Good marina and nice restaurants.

Nelson Bay is a beautiful town to live in. It's not uncommon to see dolphins in the bay as you walk along the pristine sandy white beach. The night life is a bit quiet but we do get popular bands visiting and lots of local and Newcastle talent to entertain us and we have the "Whale" watching season and various festivals throughout the year. There are dog friendly beaches/parks and lots of places to walk for exercise. The ocean is fabulous and extremely clean. There is a marina and a floating restaurant "Moonshadow" and a catamaran called "Imagine" plus many other boats for trips and dolphin and whale watching excursions. Fresh seafood abounds at the Nelson Bay Marina too.
The schools are good quality - government, catholic and a Christian school. There are a few good playgrounds (we could use more!) and while we pay more for our petrol and groceries you can always buy these just out of town at cheaper prices if you need to. The tourist season swells the population, so if you don't like crowds or get cranky when you can't find a parking space or have to put up with drivers who have no schedule and meander around the road then you'll love living here.....we actually like the way that it feels like we're on a holiday all the time and we also enjoy having all the extra people in town as it adds to the atmosphere.
We feel safe living here in Nelson Bay and while we like to visit Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne etc it's always nice to drive back into the Bay where we are happy to be home!