Grand Pacific Drive

Understand

Most other states of Australia do not have their coastal roads as well situated as this one, with the views, the access, the length, and the variety of environments. Driving from Sydney along this route, even only in sections if restricted by time or budget, is an experience that has an impact on most travellers.

Prepare

If you're the person who dislikes the cold, you might need to carry special clothing for this itinerary — the climate in this area is a lot cooler than it is in Sydney. It can get mildly windy in some coastal parts especially near the southerly part of this route. The route does go through the Royal National Park, so you must pay a park fee of $8 between Sutherland and Otford. However, south of Otford, the road is free to use. Like many other medium-distance tourist drives, ask whether you want to stop and each and every point of interest along the way, or just the important ones. Stopping at each and every point of interest will certainly take you over half a day, assuming you rush everything, while just visiting the important ones may only take the half the day. You could of course, just whizz through the entire drive, but you would miss out on most things the drive has to offer. You can do the road in a long day, starting quite early from Sutherland (7AM) and finishing the drive back quite late. If you're used to driving any reasonable distance the drive in a day should be tolerable, even solo.

Time

If you drive without stopping, then it will take just over 2½ hours. However, during holiday season, this can all change. If you were to stop at Wattamola, Bald Hill, Sea Cliff Bridge and some of the Wollongong beaches, it alone can take more than 4 hours. If you continue along heading east of Lake Illawarra, and stop at Kiama, Gerringong and Geroa and the Shoalhaven River, it may take 3 hours alone and the whole day to do explore everything.

Get around

There are several modes of travel that are used on the Grand Pacific Drive.

By bus or train Most of this route is not covered by buses. Buses do operate through Wollongong, but apart from that, it isn't not a practical means of exploring the drive, especially in Royal National Park. Trains do operate through most of the route's corridor south of Helensburgh, but it does not always parallel the scenic drive.

By car See Driving in Australia Some spur sections of the Royal National Park are unpaved. In some parts, it can also be a freeway or a freeway-grade road, especially from Shellharbour to Gerringong.

By bike

This route is one of the most bike-friendly routes in New South Wales. In some parts, bikes have a shared path along with pedestrians especially in Wollongong and Kiama. The only places where cyclists have to dismount are in some steep parts of Lawrence Hargrave Drive.

Drive

While not its part of the itinerary, most people will start from Sydney and head south for around 45 minutes.

1 Royal National Park. Begin your journey from Australia's oldest national park. (updated Jan 2021) 2 Wollongong. Explore some of the divine beaches here. (updated Jan 2021) 3 Shellharbour. Experience one of the southern parts of Wollongong and do some surfing. (updated Jan 2021) 4 Kiama. Stay back to see both the blowholes in action. (updated Jan 2021) 5 Jervis Bay. See one of the whitest beaches in the world. (updated Jan 2021)

Royal National Park to Wollongong (Thirroul) Distance: 52 km (32 mi) Time taken: roughly 1 hour. Routes taken: Farnell Ave, Sir Bertram Stevens Drive, Lady Wakehurst Drive, Lawrence Hargrave Drive Speed limit: 40–100 km (25–62 mi) This is the only section of the road that is not free to use. As of June 2019, the fees are $8. The road here is mostly a winding route, with sharp bends and steep cliffs, but still a very scenic one to go on. You don't need to be too experienced to drive here, but you need to be a proper driver. The route passes through the famous Wattamola, Wedding Cake Rock, and finally out through Bald Hill Lookout. Once out, then you pass through the internationally known Sea Cliff Bridge, but before that, you pass the small village of Stanwell Park, a famous popular tourist spot for the beaches. Once past Sea Cliff Bridge, you are nearly there to Thirroul, the northern most bit of metropolitan Wollongong.

Wollongong (Thirroul) to Shellharbour Distance: 34.1 km (21.2 mi) Time taken: Routes taken: Lawrence Hargrave Drive, B65 Speed limit: 50–90 km/h (31–56 mph) While some might classify this route as "boring", others might like an urban coastal drive. However, this can be classified as the least enjoyable bit of the drive, as the drive here mostly just passes through Wollongong, and Shellharbour.

Shellharbour to Kiama The northern bit in Shellharbour is mainly just a port of little interest but the M1 Princes Highway can be very scenic and coastal. There's not a whole lot to stop for – Minnamurra is around halfway between the two cities but it mostly resembles like any other coastal settlement with beache

Stay safe

The crime rate is high in Wollongong and continually increasing. Avoid parking your car on the streets at night. Try to book a hotel/motel that has a closed carpark. There are some side trips on the Royal National Park. Some tracks aren't paved. Carry a satellite phone with you if you're using those side tracks.

Go next

Stanwell Park Dharawal National Park (Tharawal National Park)