Crescent Head

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Crescent Head Beaches and Surfing

Crescent Head - Where the Malibu Champions Surf

"Going back to Crescent Head always makes me think of what the famous Jack "Bluey" Mayes used to say when he got back from his first trip to Hawaii", 'Save your brass and go to Crescent!' legendary surfer Nat Young reminisced.

Young first visited Crescent Head in 1961 with John Witzig and Terry Purcell in John's Mum's little VW. Surfers have been floating off Little Nobby's long crescent-shaped headland ever since, their legs dangling in clear, blue water. They wait patiently for the next set of waves to peel off the point in long, even lines.

On Killick Beach (known locally as Front Beach), families swim in gentle shore breakers or splash happily in the calm creek. Fishers stationed further north toward Richardsons Crossing cast in their lines and pull in whiting, flathead and bream. Beachcombers stroll past, looking for shells and driftwood. Everyone smiles and says hello.

The village of Crescent Head curls around Little Nobby's ridge in an attractive amphitheatre and faces north toward a sweeping bend of Killick Creek, where it meets the sea. Killick Beach’s golden sands stretch for 19.5 kilometres along Hat Head National Park's deserted coastline to Korogoro Point. To the south, a rough gravel road winds beside a 16-kilometre coastline of stunning beaches and headlands from Goolawah (or Back) Beach to Racecourse, Delicate Nobby and Limeburners Creek Nature Reserve at Big Hill and Point Plomer. 

Members of the Dunghutti Nation have known of Crescent's natural charms for millennia. Their ancestors built a bora ring at Richardsons Crossing and a fish trap and midden at Point Plomer. In 1997 Crescent Head was the site of Australia's first successful mainland Native Title claim.

European settlers proclaimed Crescent Head a village in 1894. A welcome sign on the way into town today proudly proclaims it to be 'Where the Malibu Champions Surf', although short-board riders enjoy Crescent's legendary right-hand break as much as Mal riders do. Entrenched in Australia's surfing history, Crescent Head was proclaimed a Surf Reserve in 2008.

There is also a world-class bowling green, tennis courts, skateboard park, swimming pool, children's playground and an accredited six-hole golf course. All located within easy walking distance of a compact shopping centre, which provides a variety of specialty shops, restaurants, cafes, a club, a pub and takeaways. Accommodation ranges from holiday houses to motel units, apartments, seaside tourist park and primitive camping grounds.

Quick tips around Crescent Head…

• Crescent Head is just one destination on the enchanting Tourist Drive 12 that detours off the Pacific Highway to meander beside a national park, fertile farmland, two beautiful rivers and historic villages.

• Walks – Stroll to the top of Little Nobby for 360-degree views or wander the headland at the water tower lookout to spot whales breaching in season. Enjoy unforgettable walks at Limeburners Creek Nature Reserve, exploring rocky headlands, coastal rainforest, heathlands and banksia and blackbutt forests. 

• Recreational beach driving for permit holders only is permitted on Killick Beach south of Hungry Camping Ground (near Hat Head) for 10.5 kilometres to Richardsons Crossing, or from the beach access point at Goolawah Beach south for 4.6 kilometres to the boundary of Goolawah Reserve. For more information contact Kempsey Shire Council on (02) 6566 3200.

• Kangaroos gather on Ian Walton Field, Crescent's football grounds, at dawn and dusk.

• Walk the dog leash free from the beach access at Goolawah to Big Hill, excluding headlands and reserves.

• Patrolled Beaches: Killick Beach is patrolled on weekends from the last weekend in September until ANZAC Day as well as during the spring school holidays and Christmas holiday period.