Set sail or take off on a scenic flight
One of Lake Macquarie’s major town centres, Belmont sits on the eastern shore of the lake, bordered by the oceanside Belmont Wetlands State Park and Blacksmiths Beach. It’s a sheltered spot popular with the sailing community – the Belmont 16s sailing club and Lake Macquarie Yacht Club are based here. Both clubs host regattas and sailing competitions – check the Lake Macquarie Sailing Calendar for details of upcoming events.
Take a refreshing dip at Belmont Baths, an accessible netted swimming enclosure on the Belmont bay foreshore, and restore your energy levels with a meal at a lakeside café (both sailing clubs have great dining options). Feel your everyday concerns wash away with a round of golf at beachfront Belmont Golf Club, or get a permit and take your 4WD through Belmont Wetlands State Park and onto Nine Mile Beach.
If you’re a keen cyclist, follow the 7km-long shared path around Belmont’s Green Point Foreshore Reserve, explore the coastal heathland and swamp forests of Belmont Wetlands State Park on a self-guided bike tour or tackle the Fernleigh Track, a 15km route along a disused rail line from Belmont north to Adamstown in Newcastle.
Get your thrills high above the water on a joy ride from Lake Macquarie Airport at Marks Point, just south of Belmont. Discover a bird’s eye view of the lake and its long beaches during a scenic helicopter flight with Skyline Aviation, a tandem sky-dive with Skydive Australia, an exhilarating aerobatic flight with Matt Hall Racing, which is run by a Red Bull Air Race pilot, or even an introductory flight in a quirky gyroplane or a microlight aircraft with Airborne Flight Training.
Prefer to keep your feet firmly planted on the ground? Follow the dirt track down Naru Street, right next to the airport at Marks Point, to the placid waters of secluded Naru Beach Reserve, one of the lake’s best-kept secrets.
