Taking the dog out around Harrington

27 August 2026·8 min read

Dogs are welcome on the deck

You don’t need to ask first and you don’t need to tie them up somewhere out of the way. Dogs are welcome in the outdoor seating, and there are fresh water bowls out there.

The deck runs along the front of the clubhouse above the fairways and the water. It’s shaded in parts, there’s room between the tables, and it’s the sort of place a dog can lie down and go to sleep while you have a second coffee.

A fair few of the regulars walk up, have a coffee with the dog under the table, and walk home again. That’s a normal morning up here rather than something anyone makes a fuss about.

The easiest way up with a dog is the big staircase at the back of the clubhouse, which takes you straight onto the deck. If stairs don’t suit you, the front entrance is step free and you can come through that way instead.

The one thing to know before you plan a day

Crowdy Bay National Park is the big natural drawcard near Harrington, and you cannot take a dog into it.

NSW National Parks puts it plainly: “Dogs and other pets are not permitted in most NSW national parks and reserves.” Crowdy Bay is a national park, so its beaches, campgrounds and walking tracks are not a dog outing.

This catches visitors out every summer. People drive up with the dog in the back, plan a day at Diamond Head or Kylies Beach, and find out at the gate. It’s a long way to come to sit in a car park.

The reason is native wildlife, which national parks exist to protect. The same page notes dogs are allowed in some NSW regional parks under effective control, and in State forests, which are managed differently.

So where can a dog actually go?

Beaches, reserves and parks outside the national park are managed by MidCoast Council, and the rules genuinely differ from one beach to the next. Some areas are off-leash, some are on-leash, and some are prohibited outright, usually where shorebirds nest.

Rather than repeat a list here that could be out of date by the time you read it, the honest answer is to check the council’s own page: MidCoast Council, dogs in public spaces. That’s the current, official list, and it’s the one the rangers work from.

It’s worth two minutes before you drive anywhere. Shorebird nesting is the usual reason a stretch of sand is restricted along this coast, and those restrictions change with the season rather than staying fixed all year.

What we have for them

Nothing elaborate, but the things that actually matter on a warm day.

• Fresh water bowls out in the outdoor seating.
• Room between the tables, so a dog isn’t lying across a walkway.
• Shade in parts of the deck, which matters more than anything else in summer.
• Parking on site, so it’s a short walk from the car rather than a hot one.
• Step-free access from the car park, which helps with an older dog as much as with a pram.

And staff who are used to dogs. Nobody is going to look at you sideways for bringing one.

The practical bits

The café is open seven days a week. The kitchen serves 8:30 to 11:30am for breakfast, then bar snacks, light meals and lunch until 2pm, with coffee, teas and cake from the display cabinet all day. On Wednesday, Friday and Saturday the bar and café stay open until 5:30pm, weather permitting.

You order at the bar rather than waiting for table service, which is easy enough to do one at a time if the dog is settled outside.

It’s at 41 Josephine Boulevard, Harrington, inside the clubhouse at Harrington Waters Golf Club. You don’t need to be a member and you don’t need to play golf. There’s parking on site and you walk straight in.

If the weather is against you

Worth being straight about this. The dog spot is the outdoor seating on the deck. Indoors is air conditioned and comfortable, but the deck is where dogs go.

So on a wet day or a very hot one, ring the café on (02) 6556 0409 before you set off and ask what’s workable. It’s a thirty second call and it beats standing in the rain deciding.

Takeaway is also available, and you can call ahead on the same number to have it ready. Coffee on the deck, or coffee in hand and a walk, both work.

Why the national park rule exists

It’s not arbitrary, and knowing the reason makes it easier to plan around rather than resent.

National parks exist to protect native animals and plants, and NSW National Parks is explicit that this is why pets are kept out. A dog doesn’t have to chase anything to have an effect. Scent alone changes how ground-nesting birds and small native animals use a place.

The same page notes two places dogs can go that are often confused with national parks. Some NSW regional parks allow dogs under effective control, and dogs are welcome in NSW State forests. Those are managed under different rules, so “it’s bush, so it’s fine” is not a safe assumption in either direction. Check what you’re actually standing in.

What to order while they sleep under the table

Since you’re likely to be here in the morning, breakfast runs 8:30 to 11:30am. A bacon and egg roll is $9.50, raisin toast is $6, toasted banana bread is $7.50 and a ham and cheese croissant is $10.50.

After 11:30 the light meals come on. A toasted ham, cheese and tomato sandwich is $10.50, a chicken or ham salad wrap is $13.50, and a basket of beer battered fries is $8.50 if you want something to pick at.

Coffee, a selection of teas and cake from the display cabinet run all day to close. Oat, almond and soy are all available. The full list is on the menu page.

The view, which the dog will not care about

The deck sits above the fairways and the waterways, looking out across the greens to the water with a long horizon behind. It is, by some distance, the best thing about sitting up here.

Your dog will be asleep. That’s fine. The point is that you get somewhere genuinely nice to sit for the price of a coffee, and you didn’t have to leave them at home to do it.

If it’s a Friday, Happy Hour runs on the same deck from 4 to 5:30pm, though the café’s own day finishes at 2pm. There’s more on that in Friday afternoon on the deck.

On a hot day

Summer is when a dog outing goes wrong, and it usually goes wrong on the walk rather than at the table.

The café opens at 8:30, which is the coolest useful part of the day and the reason most of the dog-walking regulars turn up then rather than at noon. Parts of the deck are shaded, and the water bowls are kept filled, so once you’re here it’s manageable.

The car park is on site, so it’s a short walk in rather than a long one across hot bitumen. If you’ve driven any distance, that matters more than it sounds.

And if it’s genuinely too hot to sit outside, takeaway is available. Call ahead on (02) 6556 0409, park, collect, and go somewhere shaded.

Being a good visitor with a dog

None of this is complicated and most people do it already, but it’s the difference between dogs staying welcome and not.

• Keep them with you at the table, not roaming between other people’s.
• Bring a lead even where off-leash is allowed. There are prams, walking frames and small children up here.
• Pick up after them, obviously, and take it with you.
• Check the council page before a beach, not after.
• Don’t chance the national park. It isn’t a grey area.

Come up and have a look

If you’re walking the dog around Harrington and want somewhere to stop, the deck is open from 8:30 in the morning, there’s water waiting for them, and the view is the best in town.

No booking, no membership, no fuss. The café is open to the public seven days, you don’t need to play golf or belong to anything, and there’s always somebody up here with a dog already.

Call (02) 6556 0409 if you want to check anything first. Otherwise, we’ll see you on the deck.