Five Top-Notch Lighthouses You Can Sleep In on the NSW Coast
Next time you're looking to get away, forgo the hotel, and book into a lighthouse.
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Shipwrecks, breaching whales, windswept clifftops and seemingly endless swathes of national park — a visit to a lighthouse often feels like a journey into the 19th-century, when lonely lightkeepers spent their days and nights looking out to sea, ensuring sailors and their cargo didn't come a-cropper on hidden rocks and jagged headlands. Since 1995, all of Australia's lighthouses have operated without keepers (the last to go was Tassie's Maatsuyker Island's), which means you can now sleep over in their former cottages built, mostly, in the late 19th-century. Here, we take a look at five spectacular lighthouses on the NSW coast, from north to south. Get ready to loll about in four-poster beds, spend hours and hours mesmerised by the ocean, swim at empty beaches and take long coastal walks. Fair warning: many of these beauties book out weeks, or even months, in advance, so don't dilly-dally, especially if you're keen to get away before the warm weather skedaddles.
CAPE BYRON LIGHTHOUSE, CAPE BYRON STATE CONSERVATION AREA
Welcome to Australia's easternmost point and its most powerful lighthouse. Cape Byron Light's blinding beams have been guiding ships to safety since 1901 and these days, half-a-million visitors swing by each year, many arriving on foot from Byron Bay along a stunning, dedicated walking track. Stay in one of the lightkeepers' cottages and you'll be among the first to see the sunrise over Australia, without abandoning the comfort of your bed. The light-filled dwellings have been transformed into cosy accommodation, with a design aesthetic that reflects their turn-of-the-century origins.
SMOKY CAPE, HAT HEAD NATIONAL PARK
While Cape Byron Lighthouse represents the most easterly shining light in Australia, Smoky Cape on the mid-North Coast ranks in as the highest. Get ready for some dizzying views from 140 metres above the sea and luxe accommodation in the lightkeepers' cottages, built in 1891. Think four-poster beds and period furniture, as well as mod cons, including TVs, renovated kitchens and washing machines. When you need a break from staring out at the ocean, have a wander around Hat Head National Park, which is dotted with pretty swimming beaches and easy-going bush walks.
SUGARLOAF POINT LIGHTHOUSE, SEAL ROCKS
Since 1875, this lighthouse has been warning seafarers of Seal Rocks, a hazardous rock formation that tore many a ship apart with a single blow. Situated on dramatic Sugar Loaf Point, backdropped by Myall Lakes National Park, the site gives you incredible ocean views towards Crowdy Head in the north and as far as Port Stephens in the south. Choose from three cottages: a three-bedroom residence that once belonged to the head keeper and two more humble two-bedroom dwellings, which the assistant keepers called home. In between watching out for ships, keep an eye out for whales, go swimming in crystal clear water and conquer the Treachery Headland Walk.
Peter Saw.
MONTAGUE ISLAND HEAD LIGHTHOUSE, MONTAGUE ISLAND NATURE RESERVE
This stay gives you not only a lighthouse but an island, too. Montague lies nine kilometres off Narooma, on the Far South Coast. It's a nature reserve, so you can expect to meet hundreds of seals and more than 90 species of birds. What's more, the watery views are 360 degrees, foregrounded by the island's grassy slopes and pristine bays. If you're travelling with a crew, you're in luck: there's room for 12 in the head keeper's cottage and eight in the assistant keeper's. Take a tour, which gives you some insight into Montague's history, and come evening, join the ranger on the daily little penguin count. Keep in mind that this lighthouse stay is for the more adventurous — those ready to take a boat trip across from Narooma, then climb the island ladder and up a steep hill upon arrival. Access to and from the island can be cut off due to sea and swell so make sure you come well prepared.
GREEN CAPE LIGHTHOUSE, BEN BOYD NATIONAL PARK
Found at the end of a winding dirt road, overlooking treacherous Disaster Bay, Green Cape is the most remote lighthouse on the list. If your aim is to travel backwards in time, make this one your choice. The cosy keepers' quarters come with open gas 'fireplaces', plus a clawfoot bath found in one of the cottages, and between June and November, the whale show can be pretty impressive — especially from September to November when the whales head south with their young. When you're not kicking back and relaxing, take a walk through the rugged, invigorating wilderness of Ben Boyd National Park and make sure you take the lighthouse tour: the views from the top are extraordinary.
Make sure you plan ahead for your lighthouse stay to ensure you can book accommodation. Find and book lighthouse accommodation here.
For more inspiration to get outside and explore, visit National Parks NSW and check out their Instagram @nswnationalparks.
