From well-equipped holiday parks to basic sites in national parks, this coastal town has it all.
A popular family camping spot with easy access to beautiful beaches, Umina is a village on New South Wales’ Central Coast, just north of Sydney. Campers in tents, caravans, and campervans can all find plenty of options around here, at campgrounds with all the modern facilities, or very few, depending on how off-the-beaten-path you want to get. Holiday parks around Umina offer swimming pools, playgrounds for kids, and beach access, and everything from unpowered tent sites through to villas and cabins. The nearby Bouddi National Park and Brisbane Water National Park offer more basic camping options.
Across Brisbane Water from Umina, connected by a bridge, the small Bouddi National Park has a golden-sand beach, a popular coastal walk, and fantastic lookout points. The three campgrounds within the national park should be booked in advance, and are all suitable only for tents. Some provide drinking water but not all, so come prepared with all the provisions you may need.
Bordering Umina on the west, the Brisbane Water National Park offers walks, cycling, and fishing. There’s a small, basic bush tent site within the national park itself, or visitors can stay at nearby Umina or Gosford and make day trips into the park, as road access into the park does not require four-wheel drive vehicles.
Umina is located on a peninsula, and just across Broken Bay is the Sydney Northern Beaches area and the Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park. Coastal towns like Palm Beach, Whale Beach, and Avalon Beach offer well-equipped campgrounds suitable for all types of campers, while the national park across Pittwater has one campground, the Basin Campground, which can be reached by ferry.
To enjoy the beautiful beaches around Umina, visit in the summer (December-February). The summer school holiday period, especially late December and early January, will be especially busy as the Umina area is popular with families. Summers can be very hot on the Central Coast, so to enjoy hiking and cycling, spring (September-November) and autumn (March-May) may be preferable. Winter (June-August) is the off-season and the weather can be cool and wet but not exceptionally cold, so may be suitable for campervans and caravans.