Caves Beach & The Wallarah Coast

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Route: Caves Beach, Caves Beach Road, Stinky Point, Spoon Rocks, Quarries Head, Pinny Beach, West Pinny Trail, Southern Headland Trail, Shark Hole Trail, Shark Hole, Middle Camp Inlet, Catherine Hill Bay

Date: 06/03/2021
From: Caves Beach

Parking: N/A
Start Point: Caves Beach
Finish Point: Catherine Hill Bay
Region: Wallarah National park

Route length: 3.2 miles (5km)
Time taken: 02:28
Average speed: 2.3mph
Ascent: 192m
Descent: 192m

Points of Interest: Caves Beach, Spoon Rocks, Pinny Beach, Catherine Hill Bay

We spent some time in 2020 camping along the shores of the Central Coast and enjoyed our stay so much we decided to head back. That time we had a look around the caves of Moonee Beach within the Munmorah State park. There are more caves to be found along the coast and I set out to find them, concocting a route between Caves Beach and Catherine Hill Bay, though part of the Wallarah National Park.

After being dropped off in the large car park, I made my way down to Caves Beach - aptly named after the string natural sea caves that can be explored at low tide. I hadn't actually known too much about the caves so it was lucky that it was low tide when I arrived. I spent a few minutes exploring the caverns before backtracking to the beach and climbing a set of wooden steps to a viewpoint at its southern end which has an excellent view of the caves.

Caves Beach

Waves roll onto Caves Beach

The sea caves of Caves Beach

Inside the largest of the caves

Entrance to the caves

Caves Beach 

Looking south along the coast

Sea caves

A path continues through the bush, running parallel to the coast where it emerges on Cave Beach Road. Another paved track heads downhill below the cliffs to the beach at Stinky Point on the north side of Spoon Rock Bay. The bay has been created by a long rock spit, built by a mining company for coal transportation - a venture which never came to fruition. The spit remains, however, and has created the perfect sheltered beach.

Looking back towards Caves Beach

Spoon Rock Bay from Stinky Point

Heading down to the beach

The path crosses the beach where the spit joins the land and squeezes its way under the cliffs, past boulders that look like they have recently fallen. It then climbs a fire trail a short distance before cutting up the hillside to another lookout. From here, it is easy to see the influence of Spoon Rocks in sheltering Spoon Rock Bay.

Below the sea cliffs at Spoon Rock Bay

Spoon Rocks

The view towards Quarries Head

A recent rockfall on the path to Quarries Head

Spoon Rock Bay

I continued southwards following the coast to Quarried Head, a rocky point overlooking the beautiful Pinny Beach and the Southern Headland, both parts of Wallarah National Park. A muddy track snakes its way down to the beach from here. 

Waves crash against the Wallarah National Park cliffs

Quarries Head

Quarries Head

Pinny Beach

After crossing a footbridge over a small lagoon, I entered the Wallarah National Park for an abrupt change of scenery. Gone were the sweeping coastal views, replaced with lush Australian woodland. The path follows the murky creek for a short distance before turning 180-degrees onto the West Pinny Trail, a broad fire trail that climbs up towards the Southern Headland. A triangular track does a circuit of the headland and is worth the short detour.

Pinny Creek

Pinny Creek

The West Pinny Trail

West Pinny Trail

Views from the Southern Headland

A short distance further is Shark Hole, arguably the beginning of my favourite section of this hike as it enters the Munmorah State Conservation Area. Shark Hole itself is a large sheltered ocean inlet, surrounded by rocky cliffs but its most remarkable feature is the long, deep incision into the rocks. The fissure is only 1.5m wide but up to 7m deep or more and is seemingly accessed by a shaky-looking ladder at the top. I thought about venturing down but decided against it, being on my own.

Shark Hole

Shark Hole

Access to Shark Hole

The path descends steeply around Shark Hole before it peters out. The remaining few kilometres of this hike would be along the rocks and sands of Catherine Hill Bay. The flat coastal rocks are a joy to hike along and the scenery is pretty impressive too.

Shark Hole

Shark Hole

The entrance to the Shark Hole fissure

Heading south towards Catherine Hill Bay

The rocks below Baldy Cliff

The waves crash against the coast

Rocks beneath Baldy Cliff

Catherine Hill Bay

I reached another fissure a short distance later, not half as impressive as Shark Hole but barring the way nonetheless. Bypassing it requires hiking steeply up the grassy slopes, emerging at a more formed trail and then descending again to Catherine Hill Bay Beach where I had agreed to be picked up. Unfortunately, the car park is some 1.5km away at the southern end of the beach and hiking along the sand is hard work. 

Middle Camp Inlet - a fissure in the cliffs

Middle Camp Gully

Catherine Hill Bay, named after a ship that ran aground in 1867, is a historic mining village while the beach has been named as one of 'Australia's 100 Best Beaches'. Its defining feature is the old coal transfer jetty which is a magnet for landscape photographers (though I didn't quite make it that far).

Catherine Hill Bay

It had turned pretty cloudy by the time I reached the southern end of the beach, which was just as well that I was finishing my hike here, having had the best of the weather in the morning. If you feel so inclined, you could continue hiking from here to Moonee Beach and Ghosties Beach, the latter also features an impressive sea cave. For me though, it was back to the campsite for a few well-earned beers.