Urunga

Where the Kalang and Bellinger Rivers meet

Urunga is a sleepy coastal town of around 3000 people and it is about 4 kilometres from the Pacific Motorway on the Mid-North Coast of New South Wales.

Understand

The name Urunga derives from an Aboriginal word meaning long stretches of white sand. The place is at the confluence of the Kalang and Bellingen Rivers, at their confluence with the sea, creating a large flat and brackish water zone that is under water depending on flow. Since some protective measures were taken towards the open sea in the 1940s, extensive areas of mangrove shrubs have developed.

Get in

Urunga is a stopping point on the North Coast railway line between Sydney and Brisbane. There are 21 trains to and from Sydney each week.

Urunga is on the Pacific Motorway (M1) south of Coffs Harbour. If you're heading northbound from Port Macquarie or Kempsey, exit onto Ballards Road and continue on Giinagay Way north. If you're heading southbound from Coffs Harbour, take the Waterfall Way/Giinagay Way exit and take the second exit at the roundabout. Continue until you reach Urunga.

The Waterfall Way (B78) coming from Armidale also ends a little to the north on the Pacific Motorway. Continue south on Giinagay Way towards Urunga.

Get around

The town is small enough to be explored on foot.

See

• 1 Urunga Museum, 33 Morgo St. The town's local museum with various exhibits of what life was like in Bellingen and Urunga during early European settlement. (updated Nov 2022)

Do

Mangroves along the Urunga Boardwalk

The boardwalk seen from Hungry Head Beach

• 1 Urunga Boardwalk. Urunga's main tourist draw. Originally a series of rickety planks cobbled together up by lighthouse keepers so they could avoid clambering through the mangroves, the boardwalk has been repeatedly upgraded over the years. The current incarnation stretches for almost two kilometers and connects the town to the Pacific coast and Hungry Head Beach, leading through the shallow water areas with a branch leading into the mangrove areas. At high tide the many sandy areas are underwater and in the evening twilight, you can watch rays from the jetty that eat their fill in the shallow water areas. You can also see birds from here, and the play of light at sunset makes the heart of every photo enthusiast beat faster. Free parking and toilets at the start, but no facilities along the way. (updated Dec 2024)

• 2 Hungry Head Beach. A gorgeous, largely untouched beach that stretches south from Urunga. The southern tip is accessible by car and patrolled by lifeguards, while the northern end can be reached on foot via the boardwalk but has no facilities whatsoever. (updated Dec 2024)

Buy

• 1 The Honey Place, 4049 Giinagay Way, ☏ +61 2 6655 6160. M–F 9AM–4PM, Sa 9AM–3PM, Su 10AM–3PM (closed Christmas Day and Boxing Day). Sells pure Australian honey along with a wide variety of cosmetics. (updated Nov 2022)

Eat

• 1 Embers Woodfired Restaurant, 24 Bonville St, ☏ +61 2 6655 6792. (updated Nov 2022)

Drink

• 1 Ocean View Hotel, 15 Morgo St, ☏ +61 2 6655 3213. (updated Nov 2022)

Sleep

• 1 Riverside Holiday Resort Urunga, Lot 273 Atherton Dr, ☏ +61 2 6655 3911. Check-in: 2PM, check-out: 10AM. Family-friendly accommodation. (updated Nov 2022)
• 2 Westella Motel, 107 Giinagay Way, ☏ +61 2 6655 6319. Check-in: 1PM, check-out: 10AM. A fair bit out of town, has lower price rates. (updated Nov 2022)

Go next

• Waterfall Way (B78) is a 165-kilometre (103 mi) scenic highway that passes through some of the state's most impressive and important waterfalls.
• Coffs Harbour is 20 minutes to the north via the Pacific Motorway (M1).

Routes via Urunga

Newcastle ← Nambucca Heads ←	S M1 N	→ Coffs Harbour
Armidale ← Bellingen ←	W B78 E	→ END