A local's guide to Narooma: ‘People are amazed at how turquoise the water is'

The Guardian

11-04-2025

Narooma is on the traditional lands of the Yuin people. It's 4.5 hours south of Sydney and three hours from Canberra. I live in tiny Tilba, 15 minutes away, and I go to Narooma most days to teach yoga, swim or walk.
It's known for Narooma Oyster festival (2-5 May 2025), which showcases the famous rock oysters of the far south coast. April and May are my favourite months as the days are sunny and gently warm and the evenings are cool enough to enjoy a fire.
Hospitality group Merivale has a big footprint in Narooma. It owns two restaurants, a fish and chip shop, a pub, a motel and a caravan park. Everyone has their opinion but I think it has hugely benefited the food scene. Its venues lifted the standard and encouraged more tourism.
Quarterdeck Narooma is in an ex-oyster grower's shed and is my go-to restaurant. You can sit outside for sunset over the water. The Polynesian-inspired menu goes deep on local seafood such as oysters, tuna, mussels and kingfish. The beignets (little doughnuts with dulce de leche and soft serve) stay on the dessert menu because they're so good.
If it's not raining, The Oyster Farmers Daughter is a dream outing. We'll hire a boat from Narooma Marina and head across the inlet, tie it up and have a long lunch under the shade of the waterfront casuarina trees. It's about a 40-minute ride from Narooma on an e-bike, which you can hire from Southbound Escapes. There's live music on Sundays and take-away oysters shucked or unshucked. The wild-caught tiger prawn and guacamole bites are excellent.
Narooma Hotel is on a hill and looks out over the inlet. When the fishing boats come in, it's a real spectacle because they clean the fish and throw the waste to giant stingrays beneath. There's often seals and pelicans too. The hotel is known for its wood-fired pizza but does high-quality pub food too. The Tuesday lunch special is popular for its half-sized fish and chips for $16 and there's usually a vegetarian option, such as pumpkin curry.
If your accommodation has a kitchen, Mr Bold Catering Co makes extraordinary beef empanadas and take-home meals. I love the curries like butter chicken and aloo gobi. It sells handmade versions of Monte Carlo biscuits, Kingston biscuits and melting moments. Mr Bold Next Door uses Axil coffee and the barista is one of the best. It's in the industrial estate so it's easy to park.
Salt on the marina is great for breakfast with fantastic coffee, brewed chai, juices, bacon and egg rolls and healthy bowls. Bound to Earth Espresso does coffee, matcha, smoothies and housemade cakes. Honorbread is legendary for sourdough and spinach and ricotta rolls with housemade chutney. The cinnamon buns and cardamom rolls are next level.
Narooma is surrounded by ocean but there's so much to do in calm Wagonga Inlet too, from fishing to swimming, kayaking and boating. People are always amazed at how turquoise the water is.
Ringlands Rotary Walk is raw coastline, nothing manicured about it, with a huge fig tree at the end. The Narooma to Dalmeny cycle path is a 21km round-trip that hugs the coast the whole way. It's mostly flat so it's good for kids. There's a netted swimming enclosure at Bar Beach, where seahorses can be spotted, though the net is removed in winter. On Dalmeny headland you can watch surfers or humpback whales (from September to mid-November).
Glasshouse Rocks are these huge stone outcrops that emerge from the shoreline on the beach. They're spectacular. There's lots of quartz in the rocks around here, it's quite special. If you park at Narooma cemetery you'll find the track along the side.
We have a new world-class mountain bike trail in the state forest that's really exploded in popularity. Underwater Safaris takes you out to Barunguba/Montague Island nine kilometres off the coast to swim with the seals. They are the most playful little sea dogs, so cute. There's hundreds darting in and around you and the water visibility is excellent.
Music is the main evening pastime in Narooma; we have a really good emerging scene. Tilba Valley Winery and Alehouse is getting some bigger names such as Ziggy Albert and the Black Sorrows, and Dromedary Hotel in Tilba and Big Niles Brewing Co do live music too. Breakwall Brewing Co, out at the industrial estate, is pretty new. It has Thai food and free live music on Saturday afternoons with a pretty youthful crowd.
The stargazing tour offered by Southbound Escapes looks amazing. Two experts are paired for their different perspectives – First Nations local Sharon Mason and astrophysicist Dimitri Douchin. In winter they do fireside drinks and marshmallow roasting.
The Kinema is an art deco style cinema. I'd recommend lunch or dinner at the pub then a nostalgic theatre experience. It does house-made choc-tops, with rotating flavours such as turkish delight and pistachio, and toasties with a mix of three award-winning Tilba cheeses. The film programming is contemporary; they show independent films and blockbusters.
Nar-Oo-Ma Aboriginal Cultural Tours has a new Impacts of Colonisation tour that's often fully booked. It's a boat tour for about 20 people with guest Aboriginal Elders coming on board to tell first-hand stories and answer questions. A chef cooks local seafood and there's a cultural performance at the end.
On a Tuesday afternoon, it's worth the 40-minute drive to Moruya for the famous Sage Farmers Markets (3pm-5.30pm). Its mission is to create a sustainable food economy and food sovereignty for local communities, so you'll meet some interesting people.
At Tilba Market, on Saturday mornings, you can stock up on cheese, fresh produce, eggs, flowers and plants, and snack on French galettes. Narooma Rotary Market (on the fourth Sunday of the month) is a big country market on Narooma oval.
Anyone coming to Narooma has to hit up Central Tilba too. Its quaint weatherboard shops are so well-preserved it's like walking back in time.
Tilba Dairy has the best picnic supplies such as wasabi cheddar, halloumi and Mystery Bay kelp (a seaweed sprinkle). Tilba Sweet Shop has traditional lollies, Tilba Leather handmakes saddles, shoes and accessories and Tilba Bakery does fantastic pies. Sweetwater Tilba is a special cocktail bar with antiques and vintage records. The owner started Quarterdeck and sold it to Merivale. He loves to yarn and makes incredible cocktails.
The Bellbrook farm loop walk takes around one hour (it's a national park so no dogs allowed) and I often see wombats and big monitor lizards. You enter next to Dromedary Hotel, which is a great local watering hole with a real community vibe.
There are several Hip Camp options around Narooma where visitors can set up camper vans or tents on private property. Cooking fresh local seafood on your barbecue (check if fires are allowed) is pretty idyllic.
I run a three-bedroom, pet-friendly holiday rental called Miss Minty (from $175-$250), a mid-century house across from Wagonga Inlet.
Black Bream Point Cottages (from $260 for two bedrooms) is a magnificent property on the water's edge around two kilometres from The Oyster Farmers Daughter and a 10-minute drive from town. There's a private jetty for mooring boats and kayaks.
Jody Vassallo is an author, podcast host, yoga teacher and chai-maker who runs women's wellness gatherings