Port Stephens Koala Sanctuary

Absolutely beautiful stay with our two young children. We went to see the koalas every day, and after the tour on the first morning, we were able to spot them well on our own. We loved seeing the birds and dragonflies throughout the park as we went for a walk and waking up to the cacophony of bird song every morning. Less so a snake and lace monitor, but it's all nature. My husband was worried about the noise and smells being so close to the koalas, but we had absolutely no issues. Everything is clean and still feels brand new (opened in 2020).

Staff are incredibly attentive throughout, especially Renee and the cleaners.

The breakfast hamper was generous (see picture), and we were offered a refill on items halfway through our stay. Such a great place for families, the pool is well shaded, and two new umbrellas were added during our stay. Could do well to add a playground, even a natural one, to complement the surrounds

Great spot for a short visit. Koalas easy to see in the trees, lots of information about with extra available via qr codes. Cafe not bad, lovely staff, slices nice, coffee so so. Gift shop interesting.

Wonderful experience being able to get close to the koalas. Get work done by this organization.

Visited here on a Monday afternoon. Was nice and quiet. The volunteers were providing fresh leaves to the koalas (and apparently do so at 3pm ish each day) which meant that we saw a lot of activity and movement from them. Great site and brilliant information

Nice place to stay with family. Nice staff with all the required information given. Kudos to all the staff for their support and efforts providing to Koalas.

Great to stay and play with a code friend or the family plus money spent there goes to a great cause

Great experience. Koalas are so beautiful. Peaceful place. Learning lots of Koalas and their Life.

Port Stephens koala sanctuary needs a play area when a family is staying in the accommodation needs somewhere young children have something to do. And need more bbq facilities.

I've found my little hideaway. Accommodation was clean and comfortable. Staff went above and beyond their duty, making sure I was well looked after. Recieved text if I needed room service or replenishment of breakfast cereal etc, and updating me on events around the area like markets and where they are on. Most importantly the tour and commentary about the koalas was most interesting and lovely to see them up closely. Bushy outlook and central to beaches and shops by car. Will definitely visit and stay again.

Visited the Koala Sanctuary with my partner & we loved it. Great way to view the Koalas in their natural habitat. The staff were friendly & the center was very educational and well set out. Highly recommend & very enjoyable.

Loved our stay here. Friendly informative staff, on site laundry was a big plus for us. Stayed in one of the hotel rooms and it was nicely equipped with a nice shower and comfy bed in a very quiet area. Seeing and learning about the koalas was a big plus. This is a sanctuary, not a petting zoo. Would definitely stay here again.

It was over price and the receptionist with a tattoo on her leg is on a serious power trip and just a rude person.

Brilliant place. Very good at what they do. Injured koalas are treated and if possible returned to the wild. Glam Camping! Not to sure for where it is.

Local family. Arrived at 3.15pm. Noted it closed at 4pm. No guests or customers so totally deserted sans two desk staff. Asked if they were still open and they said “Yes, hospital on the left as you go through to the koalas”… charged full family freight despite it being dark and almost closure.
Walked through the deserted “swanky glamour tents”, past umpteen plastic giant koalas… hospital was closed with the sole occupant eventually coming out saying, “sorry, we’re closed and there’re no koalas here anyway”… carried on to see the injured and rehabilitating koalas and counted 9. All in all, took 20 minutes.
Not whining about spending what I now think is quite an excessive amount for a 20 minute walk to see koalas, but if you’re advertising a hospital visit on purchasing tickets (for the hospital which has closed for the day), and your staff acknowledge you’re only open for another 45 mins in reduced light, you should consider a reduced entry fee commensurate to the fast approaching closing time similar to Taronga zoo.
Anyway, happy to have helped some koalas with our fees, but feel a little rorted to be brutally honest. Afterwards, checked other reviews and saw very similar dissatisfied opinions. Subsequently we turned away about 4 other visiting families to the region the following day staying at our hotel, who decided against visiting, purely from info gleaned from our own disappointing visit. You do the math.
Oh yeah, absolutely zero internet/Wi-Fi signal if you’re staying in a “glamping tent” (if internet access is important to you). Not sure if they advertise THAT bit of information.we didn’t stay in these “tents” but would describe them as “spartan” at best. Noted their prices in the web. Very over-priced. That’s Sydney CBD prices in a 5 accom with views of the Harbour!
Despite being local, we certainly won’t return as opposed to Hunter Valley zoo which sees us numerous times throughout the year.

We had a great time Glamping in the luxury tent. It was great experience for my wife, daughter and elderly parents. We had tent each.
Friendly service from all the staff, detailed guided tour and the Koalas have plenty of space and are well look after while they recovery from injury’s. Highly recommended to stay more than a night to relax and enjoy time around Port Stephen

Such a lovely place to visit or stay in one of many glamping cabins. Friendly knowledgeable volunteer staff who care for our special furry friends whilst recovering mostly from motor car injurys. Plenty of parking and a new Cafe and gift shop.
Well worth a visit.

I found this place relatively easily and I was pleased to see that there was ample of free parking. I walked up to the reception, shop area and paid 19 AUD for a concessionary ticket. The guy at the ticket office was very friendly and helpful and explained what I should be able to observe. I then followed the well laid out path and took my time to read quite a number of interesting signs explaining the whole life of the koala "bear". It's not a bear, by the way, it's a marsupial but you knew that already didn't you? Each Koala here has had a sad history of misfortune - road accidents, injuries etc. And here, they are either on the road to recovery or have found their new permanent home here as re-establishment into the wild is sadly not an option for them.

As I strolled along I was intrigued to see so many modern looking chalets which I guessed were used for overnight accommodation.

The main goal here is to walk the boardwalk to the main "enclosure" where I think that 6 Koalas were living. But, my goodness you have to look hard. Eventually, with the help of a couple of other young visitors we found 6 - all asleep and curled up high in the branches of the mature eucalyptus trees. I learned that Koalas sleep for up to 20 hours per day and eat almost exclusively eucalyptus leaves. And they rarely drink, obtaining all their fluids from the moist leaves.

From there, I wandered over to the hospital building but there was nothing going on. And that's about it really.

Really happy with them. The services was really good. They need to promote their facilities more. Love to go again there.

Me and my wife had a fantastic time! A really great setup for Koala’s, the volunteers and cafe staff were super friendly, kind and informative of the sanctuary. We didn’t stay there but did the walk and had a cuppa at the cafe. The glamping looks awesome and will be on our list to stay at next time we are in the area. Make sure you have lots of money as the gift shop is expensive.

Amazing visit to both the hospital and the sancuary. Definitely worth the visit. I would recommend to check the timing before going as at specific time you can ask questions at the hospital (I think between 10 and 12) and a vollunteer explains about the hospital (11.30) not sure if it's the same every day.