Crescent Head: Hidden secrets behind his small coastal NSW town

Crescent Head may be small, but it’s no one-horse town.

The evidence is clear at dusk, when three horses stand tethered to the mango trees outside Sea Sea Hotel, nibbling grass on the council nature strip. Their riders are at the hotel’s bar, impossible to mistake in dusty cowboy hats and variations of khaki and denim.

The whole scene looks so curated — “performative” being the mot du jour — that it could almost be the work of a local tourism board. But they’re busy with other projects, namely a new coastal hiking track (though whether the local cowboys will tackle it remains to be seen).

The Mulumun Trail will eventually connect five headlands along the striking New South Wales Macleay Coast, encouraging visitors to explore the region on foot. Kempsey Shire Council estimates the project could generate $37.5 million in economic benefits over a decade, creating opportunities for accommodation providers, hospitality businesses and local guides. It’s part of a broader push to attract visitors to this part of the coastline beyond summer.

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Crescent — around 60km or an hour’s drive north of Port Macquarie — has managed to resist some of the pressures of modern life, though the arrival of Sea Sea and the development of the roughly 80km trail are giving visitors more reasons to make the journey.

South of town, Delicate Nobby and Point Plomer offer secluded beaches and coastal bushland. Improved road access has made these once-secret spots easier to find, a point of frustration for locals like Olivia Reddy, who tells ROAM: “They’re hidden gems for a reason.”

For decades, the council-managed holiday park has occupied the town’s most enviable real estate, overlooking the tidal creek and famous right-hand point break. The result has been a loyal following of multigenerational families, grey nomads and diehard surfers, many returning to the same spot each summer. But even this relatively unspoilt corner of the NSW Mid North Coast isn’t immune to gentrification.

“A few years ago you’d only see Toyotas, utes and campervans — now there’s just as many Mercedes and Defenders,” says Kristina Mendonca.

The 29-year-old Sydneysider has spent almost every summer here since she was three, recalling childhood holidays riding bikes, floating down the creek and visiting the pristine back beaches via notoriously pot-holed dirt roads. Mobile reception was once so unreliable her family had to drive up to the telecommunications tower to make a call.

These days, many of the town’s holiday rentals have a fresh coat of paint (and wi-fi), and for those who prefer their fish and chips served sans newspaper and washed down with a dirty martini and some cool tunes, well, there’s Sea Sea Hotel.

The 25-room boutique property is the creation of Ksubi co-founder George Gorrow and his wife, model and creative director Cisco Tschurtschenthaler, previously behind The Slow hotel in Bali.

The couple transformed the former Wombat Beach Resort into a considered homage to 1970s Australiana, with enough contemporary design cred to make even the most discerning aesthete reach for their phone. “We wanted to make a hotel that felt at home in Australian surf culture, somewhere you could come back to after the beach, listen to a record, have something good to eat and settle in,” says Tschurtschenthaler.

Almost every element has been curated, from timber-panelled guest rooms and vintage furnishings to contemporary artworks drawn from their personal collection.

In the lounge, a giant crocheted lobster lazes by the fireplace (how it’s withstood repeated assaults by sauce-covered toddler fingers and tequila-fuelled guests is a mystery). Elsewhere, provocative artworks featuring bums, boobs and expletives by the likes of surfer-turned-artist Ozzie Wright give the impression of being in a surf champion’s lounge room, albeit one who’s won enough competitions to afford a very nice lifestyle.

Then there’s the impossibly cool merchandise for those hoping to recreate the Sea Sea aesthetic at home. Yes, you can buy the geometric bedcover or amber glassware, but without the wood-panelled walls, Wesley Herron’s curated soundtrack and countless other details, know they’re just souvenirs.

The indoor-outdoor restaurant, heated pool, sauna, ice baths and playground make the hotel equally as appealing to families as the design-conscious crowd. And it’s not the only shiny object in town given the achingly cool Cheetah Five, which, alongside great coffee, sells its own retro-inspired clothing, bougie incense, designer sunglasses and handmade ceramic takeaway coffee mugs.

Tschurtschenthaler says that Gorrow, having spent many summers in Crescent Head as a kid surfing with his dad, holds a deep connection to the place. It was important to both of them that the hotel was welcoming to visitors and locals, too.

“We opened the hotel up to the street because we wanted it to feel part of Crescent Head, with spaces for people who live here as well as people staying with us,” she adds.

Reddy relocated north from Sydney during the pandemic and says Sea Sea’s brought fresh energy to Crescent through its live music, visiting chefs and food offering. It’s also given younger residents more reasons to stay, with somewhere to gather at the weekend and various employment opportunities.

Mendonca is similarly enthusiastic, though she still holds a soft spot for the old-school accommodation.

“For me, the real Crescent Head experience is staying in a shitty beach house with no air-conditioning,” she says with a laugh.

Despite its increasingly fashionable following, a morning walk to the point suggests the town’s daily rituals haven’t changed too dramatically. Campervans dominate the beachfront parking spots, boots open with owners assessing the waves over takeaway coffees. Nearby, a row of pensioners has set up folding chairs for a morning gossip session, watching dogs weave between their owners while pelicans cruise along the tidal creek.

Reddy says visitors are often surprised when strangers greet them on the beach. Living on 2.8ha outside town, she appreciates the close-knit community and the connection to nature.

The town still has its butcher, bakery, country club and the Christmas Eve tradition of Santa Surf, when locals in festive costume float down the creek before paddling out.

And while the fish and chips may now come served with a dirty martini, Crescent Head’s unhurried summer rhythm remains gloriously intact. The locals like it that way. So do the generations of visitors who keep coming back.seaseahotel.com