Payments made by partners impact the order of prices displayed. Room types may vary.
The listings of booking offers for each property take into account the compensation paid to us by our partners. Prices shown may be for varying room types. Prices displayed are the lowest available, corresponding to the least expensive room type available, as provided from our partners as of the time of the user’s search.
Tripadvisor gives a Travellers’ Choice award to accommodations, attractions and restaurants that consistently earn great reviews from travellers and are ranked within the top 10% of properties on Tripadvisor.
Nestled in the Caves Beach Dunes and overlooking the natural, raw coastlines of the Pacific Ocean, Caves Coastal Bar & Bungalows is the perfect destination to enjoy a refreshing icy cold drink, a long, lazy lunch or an out of town beach getaway. Caves Coastal is located on the eastern side of Lake Macquarie, just 1 hour north of Sydney, 25mins north of Gosford and Terrigal, 40 mins south of Newcastle and 5min from Swansea. Caves Coastal is home to the leading restaurant and bar north of Sydney. The venue has a paddock and ocean to plate ethos, offering the freshest and best local produce the area has on offer all within a newly renovated casual chic indoor and outdoor setting. The hotel boasts 18 luxury beach bungalows and 34, 2 and 3 bedroom villas and townhouses with exquisite views across Caves and Hams Beaches.
Star ratings are intended to indicate the general level of features, amenities, and services to expect. This property is classified according to Giata.
HOTEL STYLE
Modern
Business
Languages Spoken
English
Location
27 Mawson Close, Caves Beach, Lake Macquarie, New South Wales 2281 Australia
Caves Coastal Bar & Bungalows
4 reviews
Getting there
Somewhat walkable
Places to stay are graded on a 0-100 scale. The higher the grade, the easier it is for travellers to find restaurants and things to do within walking distance.
Before posting, each Tripadvisor review goes through an automated tracking system, which collects information, answering the following questions: how, what, where and when. If the system detects something that potentially contradicts our community guidelines, the review is not published.
When the system detects a problem, a review may be automatically rejected, sent to the reviewer for validation, or manually reviewed by our team of content specialists, who work 24/7 to maintain the quality of the reviews on our site.
Our team checks each review posted on the site disputed by our community as not meeting our community guidelines.
Our recent stay at Caves Beach Bar and Bungalow had its highlights but was ultimately overshadowed.
Firstly, we weren’t informed at check-in that a wedding would be taking place during our stay. We were staying in Bungalow 7, right next to the outdoor wedding venue, we returned from the beach around 2 PM, only to find ourselves effectively stuck in our bungalow until 4 PM to avoid disrupting the ceremony. It would have been helpful if staff had either relocated us or at least informed us in advance.
Our bungalow’s location next to the main walkway to the beach was challenging, especially at night with loud conversations, stomping feet, and bright floodlights. We also couldn’t comfortably leave windows open or blinds up due to the lack of privacy and noise, which made the space feel less relaxing. Being further from the beach path would have greatly improved our stay.
In the bungalow the blinds were broken, some privacy screens were missing, and the shower pressure was mediocre, accompanied by drain flies. The air conditioning struggled to maintain a consistent temperature, requiring frequent adjustment. We were also surprised at the lack of basic amenities like crockery and cutlery—only items for tea and coffee were provided.
Our dining experience on Friday night was equally disappointing. We were seated next to an open door on a cold, windy evening with no option to move due to the venue being fully booked. The food, once a highlight, has noticeably declined in quality. My $17 fish tacos were underwhelming, consisting of just a piece of battered fish, mayo, and iceberg lettuce.
While the location is undeniably beautiful, our experience didn’t live up to the premium price.
Read more
Date of stay: November 2024Trip type: Travelled as a couple
Room Tip:Request a quiet bungalow away from walkways and events, check for weddings, and bring essentials...
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
I really didn’t like the design of these bungalows. The bed is on a lower level then the bathroom is up a couple of steps and it’s all open apart from a strange screen that covers a small area in the middle . No door on the toilet or shower. If you don’t have the curtains completely closed and someone walks past they can see you come out of the shower. If there was a wall between the levels everything would be fine. There were cobwebs on the ceiling and the shower head was enormous with no other option so if you didn’t want wet hair too bad because the shelf was through the water. This is accomodation at a pub . It has a nice outlook to the beach but I wouldn’t go there again.
Read more
Date of stay: July 2023Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We had our sons wedding at this venue which was great. Food was great, wedding venue was great, staff were very professional. However we paid what I consider a large sum of money for a 2 bedroom villa for 2 nights. Our living room air conditioner did not work, the bedroom door would not close & we had no bath towels in the 2nd bedroom. All was reported to reception on day of arrival. Was told the maintenance man would be there before 10am on the Sat to take a look at the air conditioner. He was a no show so we had no living room air conditioner all weekend on what was an extremely humid weekend. However by far the most disappointing part of our experience with this accommodation was that we were out of our villa by the required 10am but were over helping pack up wedding party villas (who didn't have to be out until 11am) and then took all the keys back by 11am all together. Staff member at reception told us we had been charged a late checkout fee on our villa because we hadn't handed the key back in by 10am. I Straight away wrote an email to the manager to which they were supposedly getting back to me by the end of the week. It's now 5.10pm on Friday afternoon and no contact has been made.
Read more
Date of stay: March 2024
Value
Location
Service
Trip type: Travelled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We called in for lunch and were put off by how dirty this place looked. The cushions on the bench seat were stained and grubby. Seriously guys just take them off and give them a good wash!! The whole place looked like it needed a deep clean, even the menus were sticky!! The disinfectant dispenser at the entrance was empty so couldn’t be used. Needless to say that we went elsewhere.
Read more
Date of stay: May 2024Trip type: Travelled as a couple
Room Tip:Just avoid🤨
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Stayed in unit 3 and was extremely filthy dirty ! - a Band-Aid was holding our remote together ! Leaking shower , no plug for the bath so I couldn’t bath my two babies Filthy stains all over the carpet I emailed them these issues when I arrived and didn’t they stated would change remote asap and was not done until the day before we left Very very dissatisfied with quality considering it cost a fortune for the weekend ! Staff really didn’t seem to care about these issues didn’t offer some refund or anything for the inconvenience Would not recommend for the price you pay
Read more
Date of stay: November 2023
Value
Location
Service
Trip type: Travelled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Went there for lunch, sadly it looked run down in need of maintenance. Good was disappointing. Fish tacos are miniscule. I don't think it is value for money. Beer battered on the fish was very thick & hard, it's a shame cause the location is lovely
Read more
Date of stay: January 2024Trip type: Travelled with friends
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
A fabulous location - walk across the boardwalk and reserve to the beach. The Ocean Bungalows are just great - with a deck overlooking a lagoon which is full of birdlife (and a few large eels, very interesting) and then out to the reserve and onto the ocean. Large, clean room with all needs. I thought the rooms had a great design, though, if using the toilet, your partner may wish to go out on the balcony to 'maintain the mystery' as there is no door to the toilet. The large pool looked good though we didn't use this time. Great bistro with friendly team providing warm service and very decent food - Pizza was very good indeed! Glad to have stayed here and extended a night as was so nice.
Read more
Date of stay: September 2024
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Travelled as a couple
Room Tip:As the bungalows are 'duel'. a little noise comes through.
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Beach Bungalow no3 was terrific. It was clean and the bed so comfortable. Great view and perfect stay.
Booking was easy and my request by phone for no3 and one not too far away from parking but quiet and with a view was rapidly and easily fulfilled.
The underground carpark had plenty of space and the exit at one end by ramp up to the boardwalk led to the beach bungalows quickly and quite manageable using my two walking sticks.
Although the hotel is adjacent there was no noise and It went to sleep listening to the frogs croak.
There is an IGA just in the road that had smoke supplies if you did it want yo eat at the hotel bistro.
Everything was clean and worked well. We really enjoyed our stay thank you to the management and staff.
Read more
Date of stay: July 2022Trip type: Travelled with friends
Room Tip:Parking in the underground carpark is easy and the access to the boardwalk is in the corner to...
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Unit 3 & 4 were terribly maintained, they were riddled with ants dripping taps air con didn’t work and stunk like dog hair.. I asked for someone to look into air con although no one came although charged $550 a night. Also checked in at 5pm no sorry or refund or actually any help.. caves are happy to charge a fortune to be on the beach so people be aware you are paying for the beach NOT the accomodation. Will never stay again and very rude staff.
Read more
Date of stay: March 2023
Value
Location
Service
Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Firstly I tried to book a table at the restaurant by phone. I was put on hold and then cut off. I tried 4 more times to connect until a message advised that there was no one available to help me( at mid afternoon)! I left a message asking for a table for two at 6pm and asked for a call back to confirm- no one called me back. I later booked a table on line for 7pm as this was the only time available on line! When we arrived at 7pm there was no one there to greet and seat us, and the huge restaurant was probably around a third full. We could have arrived at 6pm and got a table in what is nothing more than a pub venue! I ordered our meal at the bar, and asked for an entree prior to the main meals. The food finally became available around 35 minutes later, and it all arrived at the same time! I ordered the beef cheeks at $33, and it was cold and had 3 undercooked carrots! My wife ordered prawn pasta and was served a huge bowl of pasta with 3 prawns! I had to queue up to collect our food and could see at least 8 other orders lined up in the kitchen, no wonder our dishes were cold! Although it is in a fantastic location, I am glad that we booked our accomodation at a different location!
Read more
Date of stay: August 2023Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Reception Desk Computer, General Manager at Caves Coastal Bar & Bungalows
Responded 28 Aug 2024
Hi, Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback. We’re sorry to hear that your experience at Caves Coastal Bar & Bungalows was not up to our usual standards. Your concerns are important to us, and we would like to investigate this matter further to ensure it doesn’t happen again. Please contact us directly at hello@cavescoastal.com.au, so we can address your concerns more thoroughly. We value your input and hope to have the opportunity to make things right. Kind Regards, Caves Coastal Bar & Bungalows
Read more
Report response as inappropriate
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Hi Chris h
Sorry for tardy response.
The room we stayed in had steps to go up to toilet & shower.
It may best to call them and ask them if they have a room which is suitable.
I understand how tough it is to find suitable accommodation as I have a niece with cerebral palsy who is chair bound .
Good luck
Robert
There are more places to choose from in the Caves Beach area.
PRICE RANGE
AU$227 - AU$319 (Based on Average Rates for a Standard Room)
LOCATION
AustraliaNew South WalesGreater NewcastleLake MacquarieCaves Beach
NUMBER OF ROOMS
52
Prices are provided by our partners, and reflect total costs of the stay, including all taxes and fees known to our partners. Please see our partners for more details.
Is This Your Tripadvisor Listing?
Own or manage this property? Claim your listing for free to respond to reviews, update your profile and much more.
