Jabiru Motel

Jabiru Motel sits on Giinagay Way in Nambucca Heads, the mid north coast town where the Nambucca River meets the sea and the holiday traffic splits between the beaches and the estuary. This is a small owner-run motel, and the guest feedback shows it: friendly hosts, welcoming staff and comfortable beds come up again and again, along with river views and a BBQ for the evening cook-up. It is the sort of place families and couples use as a base for a week of river and beach time, and the personal service guests mention is the difference between a motel and one people come back to.

Dogs at the motel

Per the motel's own site, pets are always welcome, with charges and conditions applying. The welcome is unconditional in principle but the conditions are not published in detail, so the phone call matters: ask about the charge per pet, which rooms take dogs, and any size or number limits before you book.

Owner-operated motels tend to be flexible when you talk to them directly, which is why the direct call beats a booking form here. Given the town's holiday peaks, a confirmed pet room in January or Easter is worth booking weeks ahead.

The layout does half the work for a dog traveller: a drive-through entrance means no reversing with a restless dog aboard, undercover parking sits at the rooms, and the front and back lawns give the dog a stretch on arrival. Booking platforms report a one-off pet charge around $20, and guests describe hosts who greet travelling dogs and point them to the grass.

There is no fenced run, so the lawns are an on-lead affair, and after wet coastal weather the grounds turn muddy enough that a towel by the door earns its keep.

Worth knowing

The motel's position on the highway side of town keeps it easy to find and quick to leave, with the river frontage and headland walks a few minutes away. Nambucca's beaches have council off lead provisions at designated stretches, so a morning beach walk before breakfast works from this base.

The hosts are the local knowledge source for which stretches are off lead and where the dog can swim safely.

In town, the V-Wall Outdoor Gallery along the breakwater is the walk regulars do early, before the mid-morning crowd, with the river mouth and its dolphin traffic as backdrop.

Close by with the dogs

South of town, Urunga Waters Tourist Park is another pet friendly stop on the same stretch of coast, and the Urunga dog beach gives the dog a proper off lead run within twenty minutes. For more options on this coastal corridor, browse dog friendly stays in NSW.