No other family destination on the NSW coast stacks quite what Eurobodalla does this spring. Spending the school holidays on the NSW South Coast with two weeks of fun lands you exactly when the peak whale migration season starts, coastal wildflowers are blooming, and a long itinerary of events and activities is available to entertain kids big and small.
Layer in the Labour Day long weekend in the middle of the break and the Tilba Festival on the opening Saturday, and you’ve got the biggest family window on the calendar outside summer, without the summer crowds or prices. This guide covers two weeks of things to do with kids Eurobodalla actually delivers on: a loose day-by-day plan, the beaches that are genuinely calm for small children, what’s free, what it costs, and where to stay.
How should you plan the spring school holidays in NSW in 2026?
Don’t over-schedule it; two weeks is long enough to have a plan and still leave room to do nothing and relax. A workable framework: pair one bigger paid activity, like Mogo Wildlife Park or a Montague Island tour, with a free beach or walk each day; keep a rainy-day list ready for when the weather turns; and treat the Labour Day long weekend in the middle as its own mini-break rather than more of the same. Reorder any of this to suit nap times, ages, or how the first few days go… nothing below needs to happen in this order.
Week one
- Saturday 26 September: Arrive in time for the Tilba Festival, if that’s your kind of day, for live music, food stalls and old-fashioned street games through the heritage streets of Tilba. Full festival details are in our spring events guide.
- Sunday 27 September: Ease in with a beach day. Corrigan’s Beach at Batehaven has a fenced inclusive playground right on the sand ; see Batehaven to Malua Bay.
- Monday 28 September: School holidays officially begin. A good first weekday for Mogo Wildlife Park, before the long weekend crowds arrive.
- Thursday 1 October: NPWS runs a Junior Ranger session in Eurobodalla National Park this day, with educational, fun hands-on, family-friendly activities for kids roughly 5 to 16.
- A weekday, weather-dependent keep a rainy-day list handy: Bay Pavilions Arts + Aquatic, Perry Street Cinemas, or one of the three libraries.
- Another day: Walk (not swim) out to Broulee Island. The sandbar is permanent, so there’s no tide to plan around tides. You need proper shoes for the rock-platform circuit. Pair it with a stop in nearby Broulee or Mogo, both feature in our six small villages guide.
Week two
- Saturday 3 to Monday 5 October: Labour Day long weekend. Daylight saving starts Sunday 4 October, so you gain an evening and lose an hour of sleep-in. A good weekend for whale watching from the free coastal lookouts.
- Monday 5 October, public holiday: The Snow Fairy, a touring family stage show, is booked into the region for the day. A solid option if legs are tired or the weather’s against you.
- A calmer evening: The Montague Island evening penguin tour from Narooma. Little penguins return to shore around dusk, with a good chance of whales and dolphins on the way out. See Montague Island tours and our sibling guide on how to experience Montague Island Nature Reserve.
- The last few days before 9 October: Wind down with the weekly markets, a produce trail day, or just more beach. Nothing left to book, nothing left to plan.
Which beaches are generally the safest for young children?
The beaches are effectively unpatrolled for most of this window, so ‘safest’ here means naturally sheltered water, not a beach with flags on it. Volunteer surf lifesaving patrols run weekends and public holidays from October, and Eurobodalla’s peak-season professional patrols don’t start until mid-December. So within the two-week school holiday period, only the Labour Day long weekend (3 to 5 October) falls inside any patrol window at all, and even then it’s at just four beaches. For every other day of the break, the better move with small children is a bay or cove with naturally low wave energy. Here are the calmest options on the Eurobodalla coast:
- Corrigans Beach, Batehaven: Beachsafe hazard rating 3/10, the lowest in the shire. Calm water with little to no surf, a fenced inclusive playground right on the sand, cafés and shops nearby. Not patrolled in any season, so still treat it as unsupervised water.
- Bar Beach, Narooma: A shark net goes in each warmer season, and the beach sits tucked between two rock platforms that break up the swell before it reaches the sand.
- Shark Bay, Broulee Island: The shallow, seagrass-bottomed cove on the sandbar side of the island, mostly out of the open swell. Better for a paddle than a proper swim.
- Main Beach, Tuross Head: (also called Tuross Main) Its river-mouth position keeps the waves gentler than the open-ocean beaches either side, though it’s only patrolled in summer. See Tuross Head and surrounds.
None of these are patrolled outside the long weekend, so treat every beach here as you would an unpatrolled one: swim within your depth, keep young children within arm’s reach, and check conditions on Beachsafe before you go. For older kids keen on boards or snorkels, see water sports; for the full rundown of the coast, our beaches guide and sibling post Blissfully Beached cover the rest.
Can you walk to Broulee Island?
Yes. Broulee Island is joined to the mainland by a permanent sandbar. Confirmed by NSW National Parks, Visit NSW and independent trail guides, it’s always accessible, whatever the tide. Tide only matters for the rock-platform circuit around the island itself, which is covered at high tide, so it is easier walking at low tide. Start from the southern end of North Broulee Beach, or from Broulee Surf Club, heading north to Shark Bay and the sandbar crossing. Dogs are prohibited on the island and Shark Bay. The full loop is about 4km and takes an hour, or two with the beach walk. Definitely manageable with kids in proper shoes, given the rocky sections. See more walks across the region, or things to do in Broulee.
What can you do for free with kids in Eurobodalla?
Plenty, and it’s the part of the trip most worth planning around if you’re watching costs. Free things to do with kids iin Eurobodalla doesn’t mean thin here! Between the beaches, walks, and wildlife, you could fill most of the two weeks without buying a ticket. The standouts:
- Corrigans Beach Inclusive Playground, Batehaven: fenced, accessible, right on the sand.
- The Broulee Island walk: Permanent sandbar access, rock pools and birdlife, no entry fee.
- Free whale-watching lookouts: Bar Rock, Burrewarra Point and Toragy Point, all land-based.
- Weekly markets: SAGE Farmers Market on Tuesdays in Moruya, and others besides, cost nothing to browse.
- Coastal walking: the Munjip Trail or a stretch of the NPWS Bingi Dreaming Track, both flat and both good for spring wildflowers.
- Eurobodalla’s parks and forests: picnic spots, playgrounds and short walks scattered the length of the coast.
Head to Mogo Wildlife Park for a wild day out
The park opens 9am to 4pm daily, with last tickets sold at 3pm. A mid-morning arrival gives you a proper run at it before close, and the animals tend to be more alert earlier in the day. It’s the one paid, full-day-scale activity most families in this guide budget for. Home to lions, tigers, red pandas, gorillas and even a rhino! Get more from your visit with keeper talks through the day. Mogo itself is worth an extra hour if you’re there anyway; the old goldfields township is a five-minute walk from the park gates, and older kids might also want a look at the Mogo Trails mountain bike network nearby.
What is there to do with kids in Eurobodalla when it rains?
Four solid options, and it pays to be upfront about the gaps: there’s no aquarium, no ten-pin bowling and no indoor play centre in Eurobodalla, so don’t plan a whole wet week around finding one. Rainy day activities Batemans Bay starts with Bay Pavilions Arts + Aquatic, an indoor pool, warm water pool, waterslides and a toddler splash area, open daily in Batemans Bay.
Perry Street Cinemas, on the top floor of the Citi Centre Arcade in Batemans Bay, and the heritage Narooma Kinema both run daily sessions. The three Eurobodalla libraries – Batemans Bay, Moruya and Narooma – are free, open Monday to Saturday, and worth a stop for kids’ sections and school-holiday activities.
Let’s face it, a bit of rain never hurt anyone. So grab a brolly and a raincoat and go splash in some puddles!
Can you see whales on the South Coast in October?
Yes! October is peak southbound migration, when whale mothers travel slowly with their calves close to shore, often visible without binoculars. Free land-based lookouts include Bar Rock, Burrewarra Point and Toragy Point, all worth a stop on a drive day. It is also a great time of year for coastal wildflowers coming into full bloom on the heath and bush around the Munjip Trail and the Bingi Dreaming Track. Little penguin tours out to Montague Island start up for the season too. A rare hat-trick of three natural events at once, and one no other South Coast destination quite matches. See whale watching and Muriyira Whales for more vantage points, tours and attractions for operators, and our sibling guide on experiencing Montague Island Nature Reserve for the penguin and seal side of things.
Where should you stay for two weeks with kids?
Book early, the long weekend and the Tilba Festival opening weekend are the two pinch points. Family-sized accommodation goes first. Batemans Bay puts you closest to Mogo Wildlife Park, Bay Pavilions and Corrigan’s Beach; basing around Moruya or Narooma works better for whale watching, Barunguba Montague Island and the quieter beaches further south.
Wherever you land, self-contained cabins and holiday parks generally suit two weeks with kids better than a single hotel room. You will have space to spread out, and cooking facilities for the days you don’t want to eat out. Browse a range of accommodation, and check getting around if you’re planning to base in one town and day-trip the rest.
Plan your school holidays in Eurobodalla
Two weeks, one long weekend, whale migration at its peak, wildflowers out, and penguins back on Barunguba Montague Island! This exact stack of spring conditions won’t repeat until next year. Start with accommodation to lock in dates before the long weekend books out, then build the rest of the trip around it.
FAQs
When are the NSW spring school holidays in 2026?
Monday 28 September to Friday 9 October, for both the Eastern and Western divisions of NSW public schools.
How much does Mogo Wildlife Park cost?
$49 for an adult and $29 for a child aged 3 to 15, with free entry for children 2 and under. Booking online with the code ONLINE10 takes 10% off. The park is open 9am to 4pm daily, with last tickets sold at 3pm.
Are the beaches patrolled during the spring school holidays?
Mostly no. Council’s peak-season patrols don’t start until mid-December. Volunteer surf club patrols run weekends and public holidays from October, so only 3–5 October falls inside them, and only at four beaches. For the rest of the break, choose sheltered, low-hazard water instead of waiting for a patrol.
Which beach is best for toddlers on the Eurobodalla coast?
Corrigans Beach at Batehaven, rated 3 out of 10 for hazard — the lowest in the shire. It’s calm, with little to no surf, plus a fenced inclusive playground. It is not patrolled in any season, so supervision still matters.
Can you walk to Broulee Island?
Yes. It’s joined to the mainland by a permanent sandbar and is always accessible. Low tide matters for the rock-platform circuit around the island, not for the crossing itself. Dogs are prohibited on the island and both beach approaches.
What is there to do with kids in Eurobodalla when it rains?
Bay Pavilions Arts + Aquatic, Perry Street Cinemas and the Narooma Kinema in Batemans Bay, plus the three local libraries. Worth being honest: there is no aquarium, no ten-pin bowling and no verified indoor play centre in the region.
Can you see whales on the South Coast in October?
Yes. October is peak southbound migration, when mothers and calves travel slowly close to shore. Free land lookouts include Bar Rock, Burrewarra Point and Toragy Point.
How far is Batemans Bay from Sydney and Canberra?
Under two hours from Canberra via the Kings Highway, and 3.5 to 4 hours from Sydney via the Princes or Hume Highway.