I found an incredible 'Mexico alternative' just 3 hours from Sydney

If you take selective shots of the scenery and bring your own burritos, you almost feel like you're in Baja at this wild, uncrowded destination, just a short road trip from Sydney.

Did you know there is a hidden part of NSW that most tourists miss? One where cacti sprout, fires crackle, and uncrowded beaches beckon? One that feels (with a generous pouring of home-made Margarita) a bit like Mexico?

Full disclosure: I've never been to Mexico. But after spending a weekend in Seal Rocks - a holiday hamlet 3 hours' drive north of Sydney - spying a cactus, and tricking almost half my Instagram followers into thinking I was overseas, maybe I don't need to?

After spending Friday night at Treachery (a beach 7 minutes drive south of Seal Rocks) followed by two nights at Reflections Holiday Park Seal Rocks (a caravan park right on Seal Rocks' main beach) in mid winter, I've had my eyes opened to a completely new side to this community.

Seal Rocks is about half an hour's drive from the highway, down a windy asphalt road, with chalked signs welcoming you.

I used to associate it with parking struggles, Formula 1 type crowds and social media announcements warning tourists to stay away. But that's just January. If you visit in June or July, it's about as close a place to heaven as a Sydneysider can find with $80 worth of petrol.

That's my two (Flyby applied) cents anyway, as I return to the world of emails and emojis, after three days in the reception-free outpost.

Serene, pristine and lacking in phone reception, Seal Rocks is a bit like an international holiday without the price tag.

To give you a sense for the place, Seal Rocks is (for most of the year) a sleepy fishing and surfing village. It has no restaurants, no supermarkets, and just one cafe (which is only open at mysterious times of day, which I am yet to figure out).

I got there on a Friday night at about 9pm and drove straight past Number 1 Beach and Boat Beach (the main two Seal Rocks beaches) and rattled 5 minutes down a dirt road to Treachery Campsite - the 'secret' side of Seal Rocks a lot of people neglect to visit. 

Treachery Campsite, Seal Rocks. The perfect spot to start a day of surfing, fishing, snorkelling or whale-watching.

Here, I sussed out a good camp spot, lit a fire, heated up some spag bol, had a bit of a ~moment~ looking up at the stars with my tea, had said ~moment~ ruined by the campers opposite setting up a bliding floodlight... and went to bed. 

I then spent three days surfing, snorkelling, reading and whale watching myself into a state of oblivion (to the point where I was so deliriously relaxed I started comparing NSW to latin American countries I'd never been to). Here's everything I learned along the way - and why I reckon winter is the best time to visit Seal Rocks.

The beaches are empty

Sunny with a chance of coffee... Treachery beach wasn't exactly crowded, even on a Saturday.

If you visit in winter, you'll find - especially midweek - the beaches are barren. In fact, even on Saturday, the beach at Treachery was pretty much empty, aside from one corner where there were about 10 people surfing. Then, when I came back on Monday, there was not a single soul. 

There's (almost) always surf 

A solo surf in conditions like this in Sydney would be unthinkable.

It might not be Barra de la Cruz (a famous surf-break in Mexico) good, but there's always an option at Seal Rocks. Thanks to the shape of the peninsula, one side or the other will always be receiving swell. Even better: one side or the other will (pretty much) always be clean and protected from the wind. So if there's big enough waves, you're sure to find somewhere to surf. 

On Monday, for instance, after rocking up with zero expectations (the forecast was tiny), I shared a magic moment with my partner, where we took it in turns surfing solo at Treachery with nothing but whales and seagulls for company. Given this was barely three hours from Sydney, where a solo surf is pretty much unthinkable, this blew my mind. 

The snorkelling is seriously impressive

If you want to see Grey Nurse sharks, head to this rocky outcrop at Boat Beach. But do your own safety research, and be careful.

And by serious, I mean not for the faint hearted. If you're bold enough to blow bubbles with sharks, Seal Rocks is one of those rare places where you can see Grey Nurses by simply swimming out from the beach (rather than booking a boat and going scuba diving). You'll need to be confident in your ocean skills though, as you'll need to swim out to a rocky outcrop about 300 metres off Boat Beach, across an open ocean channel. On a dropping tide the current can prevent you from swimming in, so try to visit on a rising tide, with a small south swell in the water to avoid this.

If you make it to the rocky outcrop though, you'll be able to see Grey Nurse sharks in the caves and overhangs. Personally, having a mild phobia of any kind of shark (even the friendly ones like Grey Nurses), I was extremely reluctant to snorkel in Seal Rocks. My partner forced me to though and I ended up having a great time. Navigating the masses of Jellyfish took my mind off 'other' sharks as we swam across the channel, and we were rewarded by seeing a majestic Grey nurse shark and a giant Wobbegong shark for our efforts. 

There were also giant schools of fish, starfish and - though we didn't see them - turtles. For a more relaxed snorkelling experience, one of the Holidays Reflection Park staff also told us that you can snorkel a little closer to the sand at Number 1 beach (the beach in front of the holiday park), and still have a similar (though less dramatic) experience. 

There's no reception - so you become a 'main character' in your own life

No phone, no worries.

One of the quirks of my mobile phone carrier is that I consistently get better reception in foreign countries than I do on the East coast of Australia (outside of the major cities). Frustrating as this normally is, in Seal Rocks it proved a blessing as no-one was able to contact me. If I didn't already realise how unnecessary it is to see other people's sunset pictures, random drinks clinking, and inane polling questions (i.e. an average scroll through my friends' Instagram stories on a Friday night) then now I do.

All that said, I must admit I did briefly use the holiday park Wifi to log on and post a quick couple of cute sunset pics, surfing videos and inane polling questions of my own. You might call it hypocritical but I call it a life hack (post things but don't look at anyone else's posts while on holiday - it's a game-changer).

The scenery is spectacular 

Reflections Holiday Park at Seal Rocks has one of the best sunset drink spots on the East Coast.

Seal Rocks might not be known for hiking, but there are plenty of walks around, from wide open beach strolls, rock scrambles, and 'bush tunnels' through the sand dunes. There are also nice tracks that take you out to the Lighthouse and Treachery headlands, with lookouts over the ocean (and at this time of year, whales).

In winter, it's (slightly) easier to get a booking

You've got to get in quick to score a weekend booking in both summer and winter, but in winter it's definitely a little easier.

Yet another reason why I would visit Seal Rocks in winter again, rather than summer, is because it's much easier to get a convenient booking (i.e. a Friday and Saturday night stay, rather than a Sunday and Monday). 

The writer travelled as a guest of Reflections Holiday Parks Seal Rocks.

Originally published as I found an incredible 'Mexico alternative' just 3 hours from Sydney