Worimi Conservation Lands

Embrace incredible adventure and Indigenous heritage in the Worimi Conservation Lands, a place of cultural significance to the Worimi Aboriginal people and home to the magnificent Stockton Bight Sand Dunes. This beautiful sandscape has to be seen to be believed, towering as much as 30m above sea level and constantly changing.

Sun setting over the Stockton Sand Dunes in Port Stephens

The Worimi Conservation Lands cover 4,200 hectares, including 1,800 hectares of forest of blackbutt, smooth-barked apple gums and paperbark. In front of the dunes, stunning Stockton Beach curves 32km from the Hunter River at Newcastle to Birubi Point in Anna Bay, Port Stephens.

Recognised as the largest moving coastal dunes in the Southern Hemisphere, the shifting sands are forever covering and uncovering ancient Aboriginal cultural sites, including middens, which contain shell deposits and tool-making artefacts, campsites and burial sites.

As well as its Indigenous significance, the sand dunes are an adventure playground, with an exciting range of activities on offer, from 4WD experiences and fishing along NSW’s longest beach to Aboriginal-guided quad bike cultural tours and horse riding and camel adventures.

Couple enjoying a Sand Dune Adventure tour with an Aboriginal Guide in Port Stephens, Destination NSW

Aboriginal culture

You can explore the ancient sites and learn about the area’s Indigenous heritage and traditional foods with Sand Dune Adventures, a quad bike cultural tour company owned and operated by the Worimi Local Aboriginal Land Council. You’ll be given instructions on how to ride your quad bike before the adventure.

Quad biking experience on the Stockton Sand Dunes in the Worimi Conservation Lands, Port Stephens

Sand dune adventures

Saddle up on a horse with Sahara Trails or camel with Oakfield Ranch and discover the area’s extraordinary natural beauty as the dunes meet the ocean at Birubi Beach. Try sandboarding down the dunes with Sand Dune Safaris or take a tour with Port Stephens 4WD Tours or Quad Bike King.

4WD tour across Stockton Sand Dunes with Sand Dune Safaris in Port Stephens

Many tour companies, including 4WD Tours R Us, offer the chance to visit the Tin City – a unique village hidden amongst the dunes that was originally built by shipwreck survivors in the early 1900s. Eleven dwellings now make up the ‘city’, which was a filming location for the 1979 Mad Max movie.

Fishing shack made of corrugated iron located in Tin City, Stockton Beach (Port Stephens)

Beach and dune driving in your own 4WD is a popular way to enjoy the area at your own pace. You’ll need to buy a special beach permit, which you can get from various locations throughout Port Stephens, before steering your way onto the sandy stretch at either Lavis Lane in the south or Gan Gan Road in the north.