Sails Holiday Park

Sails Holiday Park is a lakeside caravan and camping park at 30 Gerald Street in Belmont, close to the shore of Lake Macquarie. It is dog-friendly all year round, including school holidays, which puts it ahead of many parks that suspend pets over peak periods.

Dogs at the park

The park runs one designated pet-friendly cabin, which comes with a small enclosed fenced yard, plus pet-friendly tourist sites for caravans and camping. Because there is only the single dog cabin, it books out, so call ahead and secure it rather than hoping for availability. Management must approve pets at the time of booking, and up to two dogs are permitted per approved site or cabin.

Inside the grounds the rules are standard: dogs on a leash and under effective control outside your accommodation, kept out of amenity blocks and out of cabins that are not pet-designated, and cleaned up after. The standout for dog owners is the on-site dog wash, a genuine plus after a sandy or muddy session at the lake.

Max: book the dog cabin the moment your dates are set because there is only one. The dog wash sold it for us after a week of lake swimming.

The park itself

Reviewers point to big level sites, some with concrete slabs, a camp kitchen, BBQ area and clean amenities, and glamping tents for the cabin-averse. The lake foreshore is effectively on the doorstep, so twice-daily walks are easy without driving anywhere.

Getting there and out and about

The park sits on Gerald Street in Belmont, a short drive off the Pacific Highway at the lake's southern end. Belmont Dog Park is the off-lead option in town, the Fernleigh Track starts nearby for a long leashed rail-trail walk, and Redhead Dog Beach is a few minutes north for an ocean run. If the dog cabin is taken, the Blacksmiths Beachside Holiday Park just south also takes dogs in cabins and on sites.

More options are on the New South Wales pet friendly stays guide and the Belmont destination page.