With a new Crowne Plaza docking beside its gleaming berths, Shellharbour Marina is the shiny new reason to point the bow south for a mini break of boats, beaches and long, waterfront lunches.

The hoots of passengers onboard Shellharbour Wild’s Cat Balou carry across the harbour as the two-storey catamaran rounds the breakwall, with the spout of a humpback hanging on the horizon like a puff of smoke.

I’ve been exploring the Illawarra for Australian Traveller for more than a decade, from the best things to do in Wollongong to its best beaches and ocean pools. What I can report is that few stories on this stretch of coast have moved as fast as Shell Cove’s reinvention as the newest destination for boaties on the NSW South Coast. Here’s how to spend a long weekend in Shellharbour, from marina berths and waterfront lunches to snorkelling with grey nurse sharks and swimming beneath an escarpment waterfall.

Shellharbour Marina: The glittering new icon

The numbers alone will make a yachtie weak at the knees. Shellharbour Marina has 270 berths set in a harbour basin of about 12 hectares, serviced by fuel, dry storage, vessel lifting, charter operators and a public boat ramp. Wrapping around it all is a 2.5-kilometre public promenade dotted with lookouts over the Tasman Sea, where landlubbers will spend most of their time. Walk it at sunset, when the water turns molten in the golden light and the charter boats come home to roost.

The precinct isn’t finished growing. Construction is under way on the Shellharbour Boathouse, a marine services hub beside the public boat ramp that’s slated to open in September 2027. It will add enclosed dry-stack storage for at least 120 vessels up to 10 metres long, plus haul-out infrastructure and a hard-stand maintenance area for vessels up to 30 metres. Translation: more boats, fewer excuses not to own one.

Crowne Plaza Shell Cove Marina: The new place to stay

The building that has everyone on the promenade craning their necks is Crowne Plaza Shell Cove Marina, IHG’s first hotel on the NSW South Coast. Set to open in early 2027, it brings 179 rooms plus one- and two-bedroom serviced suites and every one comes with a private balcony facing the marina, Tasman Sea or forested ridgeline of the Illawarra escarpment.

Downstairs, waterfront restaurant and bar Coastal Med serves locally sourced produce, while the open-air pool deck comes with its own poolside bar, which is exactly where you’ll find me. A gym and infrared sauna cater to the virtuous and event spaces for up to 350 guests mean that the marina’s wedding calendar is filling fast. There’s EV charging for those who arrive with a Tesla rather than a tender. The hotel has also partnered with Shellharbour Wild on stay packages that include the year-round Eco-Scenic Cruises.

Dining destination: From waterfront to cafe culture

The marina’s anchor tenant is the Waterfront Tavern, a harbourside pub where freshly shucked oysters, seafood and elevated pub classics are best paired with a cocktail and views of the bobbing boats. Order oysters at noon and, before you know it, the afternoon sun has dipped behind the masts and you’re onto your second cocktail.

Next door, Waterview Japanese Restaurant puts a modern spin on traditional Japanese cuisine. Order the house dumplings and a plate of sashimi with a cold sake while watching the gulls spear into the glassy water of the harbour. For breakfast with marina views, Georgia Rose is a cafe by day that morphs into a bar by night, its hand-painted murals and trailing greenery framing a menu built around local produce.

For something a little more formal, make the short drive to Shellharbour Village for Relish on Addison, where chef Tom Laws turns out a seasonal modern Australian menu informed by the Illawarra bounty. Book a balcony table and start with a dozen oysters followed by the fish of the day with a side of fries. Afterwards, walk it off along the village foreshore to Beverley Whitfield Ocean Pool, a 50-metre saltwater pool that has drawn swimmers since 1894 and was renamed a century later to honour the local Olympic swimmer.

Golfers should tee off at The Links Shell Cove, an 18-hole links-style championship course with a driving range and mini golf for those who prefer their hazards miniature. Then retire to The Tavern, where Il Lago serves pub favourites like burgers, pasta and pizza overlooking the fairways. Calderwood Valley Golf Course is the place to go for a more rural round: enjoy a lazy 18 holes on the Illawarra’s only exclusively public golf course where creeks squiggle between fairways in the foothills of the escarpment.

From marina to beaches and waterfalls

The marina is the launchpad for the region’s best water adventures. Between May and November, Shellharbour Wild runs whale-watching cruises aboard Cat Balou, a purpose-built two-storey catamaran that heads south past Bushrangers Bay before looping north to Five Islands, home to a permanent colony of fur seals. The newest offering in the region is an Aboriginal Cultural Whale Cruise, launched in May 2026 with Gumaraa Aboriginal Experience, which weaves Aboriginal whale stories and songlines in with marine science. Visit in spring and you may catch humpback mothers and calves hugging the coast as they travel south on the Humpback Highway.

Around the headland, Bass Point Reserve protects 72 hectares of coastline and littoral rainforest that the local Wodi Wodi and Elouera People used as a campsite for more than 17,000 years; a self-guided Indigenous cultural walk shares some of its stories. Below the cliffs, the sheltered Bushrangers Bay Aquatic Reserve is one of the best snorkelling spots on the coast, renowned for its calm, crystal-clear waters. Look out for giant cuttlefish, weedy sea dragons and the critically endangered grey nurse sharks.

Waves and wilderness walks

To go deeper, Shellharbour Scuba & Photography runs guided dives and snorkel tours at Bass Point, including the Gravel Loader site, known for blue gropers and cuttlefish. Those keen for another underwater challenge can book a course with Deep Sensations Freediving. If you prefer to stay above the surface, book a charter with Fishing with a Local to cast a line with expert guides who know the secret offshore reefs and estuaries for flathead, snapper and kingfish.

Surfers have been making the pilgrimage to Killalea for decades and, in 2009, its two headline breaks, The Farm and Mystics, were declared a National Surfing Reserve. Book a lesson at The Farm with Pines Surfing Academy or simply walk the coastal rainforest of Killalea Regional Park beneath the outstretched arms of giant Moreton Bay figs. Gumaraa also runs its two-hour Connection to Country experience at Killalea, with storytelling, dance and bush resources shared by Indigenous educators.

If you’d rather trade the breaking waves for something more mellow, Stand Up Paddle Boarding Shellharbour runs sunrise paddles, floating yoga and night paddles on Lake Illawarra and has teamed up with Gumaraa on a cultural paddle that stops to share the lake’s Dreaming stories. Back on land, the flat three-kilometre Lake Illawarra Art Trail links sculptures about native animals, a local Dreaming story and the fishing industry, with pelicans patrolling the shallows.

Finally, swap the salty air for a forest canopy in Macquarie Pass National Park, where the easy two-kilometre return Cascades walk winds through escarpment rainforest to a waterfall and pool where you can enjoy a bracing dip. Keep your eyes peeled for lyrebirds and, if you’re very lucky, a platypus. More athletic types can tackle the six-kilometre Clover Hill trail to the top of Rainbow Falls.

Adventure also lies beneath the Illawarra Escarpment at Greenvalleys Mountain Bike Park, a private bike park nestled in the foothills of Tongarra offering gravity-fed trails, jump lines and downhill tracks surrounded by rainforest.

Up in the air: Jets and helicopters

Shellharbour Airport at Albion Park Rail is an unexpected playground for thrill-seekers. At HARS Aviation Museum, you can tour the former Qantas Boeing 747-438 City of Canberra, then step out onto the wing on its Wing Walk tour before refuelling at Cafe Connie. Jetflight straps you into a former military jet for loops, rolls and wingovers, pulling up to five Gs.

NSW Air Flight Training also take to the air for an aerobatic flight in a Blue Thunder Nanchang CJ6-A warbird, as well as offering scenic flights over the Sea Cliff Bridge. Experience the ultimate thrill of a Big Wave Skydive as you soar high above the coastline before landing with a gentle thud on the soft sands below. For a more sedate pace, book Touchdown Helicopters, which flies over the beaches and waterfalls of the Illawarra escarpment, with options to land at a local vineyard for lunch.

By the time you’re back on the promenade, glass of wine in hand, you’ll understand why Shell Cove’s locals have been so quiet about their seaside village. The secret, as they say, is out.