Kelly’s Birthday Weekend (2024) | Caves Beach | Nelson Bay | Dolphin Swim
Anna Bay
It was a Friday afternoon. Both Kelly and I were luckily working from home. As soon as we finished work we packed the car and headed to Anna Bay where our AirBNB accommodation was. Being a Friday afternoon, I knew there’d be traffic leaving the Northern Beaches and heading to the M1. But today, it just seemed so much slower than I thought it would be. It took almost an hour to get on to the M1. When we finally got on there, I thought it would be somewhat smooth sailing. I was wrong again. We were somehow crawling up the hill after the Mooney Mooney bridge. Once up the top it was back to normal, there no accidents or anything so I wasn’t sure why were just crawling up. The rest of the drive however was pretty smooth after that.
We decided to head straight to Anna Bay and eat dinner there. Previously we would stop at Heatherbrae and get some dinner there before continuing on. We decided to eat at Anna Bay Thai. Walking in there were a few empty tables so we were able to get one easily. We decided on the food we wanted. I went up to the counter to order and the worker said that they were busy and the food could take up to an hour. I thought about it for a second, but I wasn’t sure of what else was around besides the Anna Bay tavern just across the road. It was 7pm so I didn’t want to drive anywhere else. So I just accepted it and continued with the order. But I was thankful that she said it up front. Numerous times there we have gone to a restaurant and have waited up to almost an hour for our food with no prior warning of how long it would take. She suggested entree to have if we were hungry. I declined for the moment, but brought the menu back to Kelly. After telling her the wait time, she did decide to get spring rolls for entree.
The spring rolls did come out in a decent time. We hadn’t finish the spring rolls yet when my food arrived. A few minutes later Kelly’s food arrived so we actually didn’t wait that long which was good. The food was good. Probably not the best Thai we’ve had. It might have been to do with the actual food we ordered but it was still nice. After dinner we headed to our accommodation which was a 2min drive away. The accommodation was set behind the main house. They had converted their garage. The owners were away for the weekend so we had the whole place to ourselves. It was a very nice and comfy place. There was a sofa, the main bed, kitchen and ensuite. It was after 8pm when we arrived so we were eager to have a shower and go to bed. Kelly couldn’t find towels though. We started looking around, in cupboards, under the kitchen, under the bathroom sink. Kelly was even looking under the bed then looking under the sofa cushions. We couldn’t find it. I said it should be pretty obvious, we shouldn’t be turning the place upside down to find towels. We started thinking about alternatives. We both had our own beach towels but of course we didn’t want to use them. We checked the listing on AirBNB and it did say that they provided towels. Kelly messaged the host and they did reply saying a friend would be coming over with towels. Luckily they were there within minutes as they live just up the road. Even though the issue was resolved somewhat quickly, it’s a pretty big thing to miss.
Caves Beach | Part 1
Earlier in the year, Kelly and I had booked a Dolphin swim. We had booked an AirBNB accommodation as well. However, a few days before the weekend we were meant to go, I got a text from Dolphin swim saying that they had to cancel it due to bad weather. We had already booked accommodation and it was too late to cancel so we did end up going up and staying the weekend anyway. Dolphin swim said that were able to rebook within the year of purchase. We didn’t have time to book straight after so we decided to leave it for now.
If you haven’t read the previous blog entry, for Kelly’s birthday last weekend we did canyoning. This year we looked at different options which included a rock climbing weekend. But ultimately decided it was best to book the Dolphin swim for her birthday weekend this year. We had booked the swim for the Saturday. As mentioned previously, we were both working from home on the Friday. I got a call from Dolphin swim Friday afternoon. I was a little scared that they would be cancelling again. They asked if we were ok to change the Dolphin swim to Sunday. The conditions for Saturday weren’t going to be very good. We could still go out but they suggested that Sunday would be better conditions. I said that would be fine as we would rather a good experience.
So because of that, our Saturday was free. I had planned a few things on the Sunday for our trip back home. But since our plans had changed I just decided to do those things today. The first stop was Caves beach. I had been there before, but not where the caves are. I was a little be worried about tides as I have heard it’s best to visit at low tide. When we got there we only had to wade in about knee height water to go into the cave. But the cave itself was dry. The entrance is a big opening. Once inside there’s several exists to get out to the other side. Some people crawled underneath, however Kelly and I found a narrow passage way. It looked like there were more caves but there were a lot of rocks you would have to climb over to get there. There were quite a few people further up already exploring it all but we didn’t feel the need to. After a few pictures and some footage we headed out.
Naru Beach
Naru beach is more like a bay. I found it while I was living in Newcastle and was looking at different places to photos. In my gallery there are a few photos taken on Naru beach. Makes for an amazing setting especially at sunset. I had never swam there though so I thought it might worth a try. Getting there actually involves a dirt road. It’s not smooth at all. For cars that aren’t 4wd, it’s best to got a bit slow if you value your car. That being said, I vividly remember seeing P platers in sedans and hatchbacks speeding through there bouncing around. It wouldn’t surprise me if they broke something that day.
We parked and headed towards the water. There was a lot of shells on the beach so going barefoot wasn’t comfortable. There were a few people around but barely anyone in the water. It got cloudy and didn’t seem like the best setting. Kelly asked to go back to Caves beach so we did.
Caves Beach | Part 2 | Mylo’s Cafe
On the way back to Caves beach, Kelly asked if we could stop for coffee. I told her there was a cafe at the beach. So that was our first thing when we got there. It’s called Mylo’s cafe. I didn’t look at the menu and Kelly only wanted coffee. It looked like a nice setting though. There was plenty of shade with tables and chairs. Kelly got her coffee but said it wasn’t the best.
We headed onto the beach and warmed up. Once warm we headed into the water. It was pretty flat majority of the time. Only managed to catch 1 or 2 decent waves which was a little disappointing. The cave was next to us so it was pretty cool seeing it right there. The cave does seem to be pretty popular as we constantly saw people coming in and out of it. The beach itself was nice. There were a few people around but did not feel packed or cramped at all. Not like Sydney beaches. Soon enough it was time for lunch.
Table 1 Espresso | Warner’s Bay
I had a plan to have lunch by the water. There was a club nearby that I thought would be nice. We got in and we didn’t like the feeling of it. Being a club and both us wearing thongs and me in a singlet, thought we might not fit in so we headed to plan B. There was another place near the water, I remember driving past it all the time when I lived in Newcastle and it always seemed full. So I wanted to check it out. But driving past I saw that it was closed. Later on I googled it and it’s a restaurant that’s only opened at night time. So plan C it was. We had previously had lunch at Table 1 Espresso and she remembered that she liked it so we decided to go back there.
It had been about a year since we had gone to Warner’s Bay so I did kind of forget where Table 1 was. But it’s not like it’s a big strip so we found it pretty quickly. We ordered our food and drink. I had a lamb wrap with chips while Kelly had a salad which was one of the specials on the board. She got an iced latte and I got a strawberry frappe with cream. The drinks came out and the cream I had on top of my frappe was a huge serving. Kelly grabbed some and put some in her iced latte because she said there wasn’t much flavour in it. She even added some sugar and it still didn’t help. My frappe tasted pretty good though.
Then the food came out. We were satisfied with both our meals but felt like it wasn’t anything special. The highlight was actually the ranch dip that came with my meal. Having that dip with the chips was delicious. There were no markets on today so the promenade was pretty quiet and peaceful. After lunch we headed back to the car via a nice short walk along the water.
Fly Point | Nelson Bay
About 2 years ago now, I did my scuba diving course. The last part of the course was at Fly point. It’s a popular snorkeling and diving area. I wanted to take Kelly here because she enjoys snorkeling and I remember it being a really good place to do it. Since it is a known place for snorkeling and diving, the car park can be full at times. But I think because we arrived a bit later in the afternoon, it wasn’t so busy. It wasn’t such a hot day so we first headed down to the beach/bay area and warmed up on the sand. I went into the water and it was pretty cold. It took longer than usual to get used to it. Kelly soon went in as well to experience the cold. When she got out she wanted to warm up under the sun again. But I suggested we go snorkeling now because if she warms up again under the sun, she’ll find the water cold again when she goes in. I’m not sure if she really agreed but she followed my lead anyway.
I may be going a bit astray here, but awhile ago there was a Facebook ad about boardshorts with a waterproof pocket. Their advertisement showed a person putting their phone into the pocket, jumping into the pool, getting out of the pool and getting the phone out with it being completely dry. Going to the beach and leaving personal belongings is always risky. At fly point there’s no ‘beach’ really, it’s just a ramp then stairs that lead into the water so no real place to leave anything. I also remember seeing those 'keylocks/key safes, where it’s essentially what looks like a big padlock. You can put your keys in there and then lock it around your car door handle, towbar, or hitch. You open it via a combination. That way you don’t have to take your keys and it’s relatively safe.
I was thinking about one of those until I saw the Facebook ad for the shorts. I did end up buying those boardshorts, brand is ‘Irontide’. Of course I was still skeptical about it. I could imagine putting my car keys in my pocket, going into the water, it getting damaged and no way into the car. I did have a waterproof phone pouch. I bought that specifically for canyoning/kayaking and other water activities where I would still need my phone with me. I didn’t bring my phone with me this time though. I just put my car key in here and put the pouch in my waterproof pocket.
Back to the diving part. We to the top of the stairs that lead down to the water. There was a sign there which showed the variety of sea creatures that lived around there and would be possible to see. Kelly loves these signs so she spent a few minutes looking at it and telling me to look for certain things. I’m not good at looking for things, I just like to observe whatever I can see. Looking down into the water, there were a a few suba diving groups in the water and some snorkellers making their way up the stairs. The snorkellers were wearing wetsuits. They told us that if were lucky and quick there was a turtle on the left hand side. I asked if the water was cold and they confirmed it was, even while wearing a wetsuit. Since Kelly and I had nothing but our swimmers, we knew that it was going to be cold.
We headed down the stairs and as mentioned there was a scuba diving group there. But they were right at the entrance. It’s a narrow sand path with rocks either side. We weren’t wearing reef shoes and when I looked at the rocks, most of them had shells and coral which can cut your feet. So it was annoying trying to get past them and out into the open water. But once we were out it was amazing. It wasn’t very deep at all and there was such a variety of fish around. Both big and small. The clarity was very clear, although the sun did seem to hide behind some cloud at times. There wasn’t much current so it was very easy to swim around and take it all in. We didn’t stay too long as we were getting a bit cold. But even as Kelly was walking on the sand towards the stairs, I was underwater following her and there were still schools of fish swimming around her.
After getting out, we did end up going back down to the beach area and warmed up under the sun before heading back to the accommodation.
Gan Gan Lookout
After a nice warm shower, we headed back out to Nelson Bay for dinner. However we did a quick stop at Gan Gan lookout to take some pictures. We had been there before, but I wanted to see where the sun would be setting. It wasn’t quite golden hour yet, but it was still good to take in the scenery. We’ve been lucky both times going there. Just as we were walking up, there was a big group of people walking back and so we had the whole place to ourselves. After a few photos we headed back down, sorry to say but Lily Hill lookout, I don’t think is quite as scenic.
The Wood Oven | Nelson Bay
The last time we were at Nelson Bay, we came here for lunch. Kelly really liked the pizza. I always like pizza, so I was more than happy to come back here again. It didn’t disappoint. I am pretty sure I got something different last time. Kelly had the same but was happy because it was still just as good as the first time. She got the Vegetarian pizza and I got a seafood pizza. We both got the large size, but it did seem pretty big for both of us. But we did want to get ice cream afterwards too so we didn’t want to be too full. We haven’t tried the pasta so can’t comment on that, but the pizza’s were delicious.
The Marina Ice Creamery | Nelson Bay
We had been here before. Last time there was a massive line up and it seemed pretty hectic. We still got ice cream of course though. This time there wasn’t a line at all. But because of all their choices we still had to take some time on deciding what to get. I got the Kinder bueno flavour while Kelly got the Turkish delight flavour. She did spot a Pavlova flavour after she ordered and joked that she’d need to try that once next time. Since the sun had gone down and it was windy, it did feel a little cold. We found some seats under cover and sat down to finish our ice cream. The marina didn’t seem as busy as other times, so it was nice to enjoy a quiet night. It was good end to a productive day.
Dolphin Swim Australia
It was an early morning. We had to be at the Nelson Bay marina at 0615. Because this was our last day at the accommodation, check out is at 1000. But we wouldn’t be getting back from the swim until after 1100. Kelly had messaged the host if were able to checkout a bit later. But she never replied. So we had to pack up our things the night before and pack the car early in the morning. This was a bit disappointing as the accommodation was really nice. Just a shame that the host wasn’t very switched on or responsive.
In the confirmation email from Dolphin Swim, they say you can park at the marina but once it his 0830, the meter parking starts and you have to start paying. You can do this via an app while you are on the boat. Since I’ve been to Nelson Bay quite a few times, I do know a street where it’s free parking and not too far from the marina. Since it was so early as well we got a really close car park. We headed down to the marina. The instructions say to meet at Dock C. We were there early around 0610. We walked onto the docks and were looking for any signs or a boat that had some sort of logo on it. We didn’t find anything and noticed no one was coming down the docks either. We headed back to the dock entrance and saw people getting changed into wetsuits. Then we saw the Dolphin Swim van.
So we checked in, got our wetsuits, got into our wetsuits and were also given harnesses. It was a cool breezy morning and the wetsuits did provide a bit of warmth. But we weren’t on the water yet. We then got onto the boat. There’s the main cabin under cover (sorry I don’t know boats well so not sure if this is the correct term). We dropped our bags off down there and everyone went upstairs to the front of the boat. They have seats and tables bolted to the boat so they don’t fly off while out in wild weather. Here they gave us the introduction, including introducing the crew, safety instructions and how the swim will be conducted. They handed out snorkels as well. Then we just sat back and enjoyed a nice sunrise on the water.
Early on we did see bottle nose dolphins swimming near us. They said we weren’t allowed to swim with the bottle nose dolphins, but we slowed down to watch them swimming near us. We were on the water for a bit. They did explain that it can be quick or can take a little time to find a pod to swim with, patience is key. But seeing bottle nose dolphins quickly was a good sign. They do have set locations where they go to because of their success rates there. We headed to one of those spots. They spotted quite a few in the distance and soon enough, they were swimming all around the boat. So the crew were quickly got everyone ready to get in the water. They split us into two groups and said there will be a quick turn around, so as soon as the first group is back on the boat, the second group will be getting into the water.
The crew were very good with instructions and keeping everything in order. Especially because everyone was so excited to see the dolphins and be getting into the water for the first time. Kelly and I were in the second group so we watched the first group go in first. While the first group were in the water, there were still dolphins swimming on the sides of the boat which was amazing to see. We spotted two dolphins swimming close to each other the entire time and it looked so cute. The first group came out of the water and back on the boat. They were so excited and said that it was amazing watching them in the water. Of course this made us even more excited to get down there. So it was our turn to go down.
The drill to go down into the water is basically to, get your mask and a crew member would spray anti fog into it. Then you put the mask on your head but not over your eyes. You then climb over the front of the boat onto a net. They then clip you in via your harness. Once everyone is on the net, then you put your mask on. Then the net gets lowered down, you shuffle down to the bottom of the net to the water. Then when everyone is there, you have your legs over a white rope and jump into the water and grab the white rope. At this point the boat is stationary so not moving. Once everyone is in the water and holding the white rope, the boat starts moving. I had my go pro in my right hand with a lanyard tied to my wrist and only holding on to the rope with my left hand. Soon after the boat starts moving, the dolphins come and start swimming in front of you. They swim across as well, all playful looking like their smiling and having just as much fun as you are. They look like they are so close but every time I tried to reach out to try and touch them, you quickly realise they’re always a bit too far to. Holding onto the rope while the boat moves is a bit tiring. I couldn’t video the entire swim because my left arm was getting exhausted so I would have to stop the video and use both hands. This was fine because I wanted to enjoy it too while getting some footage. The one downside was, Kelly and I were in the middle of the group and the rope is lower at this point than on the sides. And because the boat is moving creating waves and splashes, a bit of water would constantly get into the snorkel and I would be constantly clearing my snorkel. Or I would have to put my head above water, take the snorkel out of my mouth and reset. Still this didn’t take away from the enjoyment and experience of seeing those playful dolphins swimming all around us. Of course it was even better that Kelly was right there beside me seeing the same thing too.
So once our swim was over we got back on the boat. The dolphins had scattered a bit so they were looking for another large pod to swim with again. It didn’t take long before they found another pod and so the first group was getting back in the water. Soon enough it was our second turn. Kelly and I got separated this time. We were on either ends of the rope. But it was actually a better swim then the first in regards to water getting in the snorkel. This swim no water had gotten in the snorkel so it did make it a bit more enjoyable. The dolphins did disappear in the middle of the swim, but then returned towards the end. We got out of the water and back on the boat. But straight away they were asking people if they wanted to go for a third and last swim. Most people in the first group went back in. Only one guy from our group went in for the third swim. It is a bit tiring holding onto the rope. The boat does feel like it’s moving a bit fast so you do have to hold on pretty tight. You wouldn’t think just holding onto a rope would be tiring but it is. Nevertheless we had a great time and felt like 2 swims was enough to get an amazing experience out of it.
Since it was the last swim for the day, we took our wetsuits off and got changed. They had food in the main cabin the entire time, fruits, breads, muffins so you could eat whenever you wanted. But once the third swim was finished and everyone was out of their wetsuits, they brought out the mimosa’s. Great timing since it was Kelly’s birthday. She seemed to like them too because when they went around asking if people wanted another, she didn’t hesitate to say yes. So while eating some food and enjoying mimosa's we headed back to the port. We managed to see a whale as well on the way back. They also gave people the opportunity to do the iconic Titanic pose at the front of the boat. Some people did jump on it, they even had Celine Dion’s - My Heart Will Go On playing as well. Just before getting off the boat they did take a group photo of us. Through the entire trip they took photos and had gopro’s themselves taking footage of us. They said that in a few days time they will send out a video of our trip, which is pretty cool. But of course I like to have my own footage and do my own video as you’ll see.
Although despite being early, it’s definitely an amazing experience and probably and one off experience as well. I don’t know of any other places where you can swim with wild dolphins like that. I do like the company’s mission and the fact that they don’t feed or have any other interactions with the dolphins other than being near them shows how much they care for them and the environment. If you’re in the Port Stephens area I Highly recommend to do this!
