The on-park kiosk handles the morning coffee run and the late-afternoon ice-cream emergency, and on weekends and through school holidays a rotating line-up of food vans pulls in beside the camp kitchen. We loved wandering down with our camp chairs, grabbing wood-fired pizzas and a paper cone of hot chips, and eating them at the picnic tables while the kids tore around the playground. The communal fire pit by the creek is the unofficial dessert spot once the sun drops.

A two minute drive takes you to Moonee Marketplace, the unassuming little centre that punches well above its weight. The Black Apple is the one we kept returning to: wholesome, homestyle plates built around ethical local produce, with sourdough toast and brekky rolls weekday mornings from 7am and weekends from 8am. Order the fritters and a flat white, and grab a loaf of their bread for the cabin on the way out.

For dinner, Aloy Dee Thai Street Food is the family-favourite takeaway, doing fragrant green curries and crispy pad see ew that travel beautifully back to the park. The Moonee Beach Hotel has the schnitty-and-cold-beer end covered, with a sunny beer garden that suits long lunches when the southerly is up.

If you have wheels and a free morning, push fifteen minutes south to Coffs Harbour Jetty Strip for proper coffee and bakery action, or twenty minutes north to Woolgoolga for fish and chips and a Sikh-influenced food scene that surprises a lot of first-timers.

The park's quiet trump card is its position right where Moonee Creek meets the sea. The estuary is shallow, sheltered and dog-friendly, so kids spend hours paddling in the calm tidal pool while the more adventurous head out to the surf side of the spit. We hired a kayak from a local operator and spent a slow morning nosing upriver between the mangroves, spotting sea eagles and the odd ray gliding underneath. Tennis courts, the playground and the seasonal communal fire pit handle the in-park fun.

A short drive south brings you to the Big Banana Fun Park, still a rite of passage on any Coffs trip, with a water park, toboggan run and the obligatory novelty photo. The Coffs Coast Wildlife Sanctuary nearby is a gentler option for younger kids. Save half a day for the Coffs Harbour Botanic Garden, where boardwalks weave through mangroves and rainforest pockets.

The whole stretch sits inside the Solitary Islands Marine Park, one of the best snorkelling zones on the east coast, with charters running out of Coffs Marina to the islands and reefs. From June through November, humpback whales pass close to shore, and the headland walks at Look At Me Now and Diggers Beach are excellent vantage points.

Set aside a day for the hinterland. An hour inland takes you up the escarpment to Dorrigo National Park, where the Skywalk drops you above the rainforest canopy and the Crystal Shower Falls walk threads behind a curtain of water. Stop in Bellingen on the way back for second-hand bookshops, sourdough and the monthly community markets if your timing is right.

 We found the creek-mouth swimming hole stays warm and glassy long after the surf turns choppy, so on windy afternoons we just walked back over the dune and swam there instead.