Anna Bay is a sleepy beachside town with a great village vibe. Most people live no more than 5 minutes from the beach and walking on Birubi beach you feel a world away from the hustle and bustle. At 45 minutes to Newcastle and 2.5 hours to Sydney it’s a great place to unwind and live the good life. 

Cafes, Coffee and Restaurants

Rubi Blue | in Anna Bay Village on Gan Gan road is open for breaky and lunch. Good coffee and take away

Crest | at Birubi beach is the perfect spot to grab a coffee with a gorgeous view of the beach

LJ’s cafe | on Gan Gan road do good burgers and fish and chips – perfect for a take away

Anna Bay Thai | for tasty Thai 

Romanza Pizzeria | for delicious pizza 

Bakery and a Butcher

The Butcher at Anna Bay is superb. Next door to the Butcher is Anna Bay Bakery,  famous for pies and they also do a good loaf of bread (only plain white bread so if you’re after specialty breads you need to head into Nelson Bay). The pies and custard tarts are great and locals say this Bakery has the best hamburger rolls in the area!

Beaches

There are two patrolled beaches in Anna Bay, one south facing and one east facing so depending on the way the wind is blowing you can always get a surf and you can always get a protected beach. 

One Mile | East facing patrolled beach – great for a surf or swim. 

Birubi | South facing patrolled beach. This is a long stretch of beach so perfect if you want a long beach walk. It’s also where you head for the sand dunes. 

Boat Harbour is a fabulous beach for little kids with a playground nearby. Boat Harbour  also has a whale watching point and during the migration north (June – August) if you stand at this point you are only about 20 metres from the whales. Sometimes you can see 20-30 whales breaching at a time! You can also see all the way to Newcastle from here with the 180 degree view.  The whales don’t come this close on the south migration. 

Samauri Beach, beside One Mile beach is a nudist beach. 

Outdoor Adventure and Family Fun

There are 4 companies offering sand dune adventures at Anna Bay and they are all pretty great. You can find out more here. Highly recommend Sand Dune Adventures at Williamtown which offers a quad bike cultural adventure. 

Oakvale Wildlife Park is a petting zoo which has lambs, calves, goats etc as well as native animals such as koalas, kangaroos and emus. 

Fighter World at RAAF Base Williamtown (just up the road from Anna Bay) is a great interactive day out for the family. 

Unique Stays

There are two Farmstays in Anna Bay which offer something a bit different. Angophora Paddock  is in bushland that’s only 5 minutes from Birubi Beach. When the wind is blowing right you can hear both birds chirping and waves crashing at the same time. If you feel like interacting with the animals there’s chickens, ducks, quail and miniature goats. It’s usually booked up with young families from Sydney wanting a change of scenery so book early. Kookaburra Farmstay is another unique stay for a long weekend. This farmstay offers a daily farm tour including tractor ride. 

Shopping 

Not much to write here…… shopping hasn’t made it’s way to Anna Bay. Head into Nelson Bay or Shoal Bay.