Bonnells Bay, NSW 2264

We have lived here for 3 years. Moved here from Morisset, 5 km away with our three children. There is a good local Primary School and local Christian School. We have found wonderful walkways, plenty of boat access to the lake, great area for cycling, and excellent parks by the lake for picnic, swim or bbq. Lots of new housing in a bushland or waterfront setting. This is a place where people seem to be be happy to live, we are. We have good neighbours all along the street and children can be heard playing in gardens or on the street. There is a happy atmosphere in our area. There is a good mix of all ages in the area. On Shiraz Drive we have no issue with traffic. People claerly take pride in their area. Nice homes and gardens with garden centres nearby.

There is a new small shopping centre with Coles, Post Office, chemist, fruitshop, bakers, butchers, newsagent, health centre, firness centre, take away (Chinese, fisn'n'chips, pizza), a few cafe's, hairdresser and bottle shop. Local Bonnells Bay Hotel has a great restaurant, and good bars. Park for kids to skate board opposite shopping centre, and good trail bike riding.

Shingle Splitters' Point is a great park for a walk, picnic, bbq, fishing, safe swimming area, and boat entry to the lake.

Morisseet Hospital (largely closed down now) has amazing grounds for walking, cycling, picnic, bbq, or to show visitors kangaroos in the wild. The old chapel is beautiful and often used for baptisms or weddings.

Morisset is only 5km away with a golf course, tennis courts, swimming pool, local churches, and its famous Megga Market on Saturday and Sunday. Morisset is a substantial suburb with many of the big stores that one would expect to find. The Railway Station has lots of car parking space, and goes south to Sydney or north to Newcastle, and Morisset is just off the FWY. The Industrial Estate just keeps expanding with great new stores.

We are 40 minutes away from the beaches on a good road, we have good shopping centres 20 minutes away at Westfield Tuggerah, and lots of good resteaurants locally or not too far away. The Wattagan mountains are on our doorstep with great views, camping, trail bike riding or walking. Great place to live.

We moved here almost 4yrs ago.. into the Winery estate section, the lake is perfect, water is warm and clean and is huge so its not crowded, kids love riding their bikes around the peninsula and have made great friends.. have found most ppl will say hi when walking by, and all our neighbours surrounding us are super friendly. We even have bbqs together and do Anzac Day and Xmas street lunch together. It's fairly quiet however there are some young hoons that get around sometimes.. majority of kids are respectful and kind but there are some that are not but you'll find that anywhere these days. It seems to be busier now compared to when we moved here.. suburbs around are growing and have noticed lots of Sydney siders are moving up. But it's still fairly quiet.
We are so thankful we decided to get out of the rat race and move here. A few of our close friends and their families have also moved up here since we moved here and love it also.. Its so relaxing and in the warmer months its a fantastic place to live.

If you like bogans by the lake that leave their soiled mattresses out, leaning against your fence line, for all the street to see, then Bonnells Bay is the place to be! A couple of years ago I bought an investment property in the suburb, a couple of streets back from the water (off Thornbill Drive). When visiting and inspecting properties, I thought it was a great spot. Close to the supermarket, nice scenery around the place, etc. I should really have visited at night to get to really know the place. Come nightfall, there were screaming kids, neighbours having loud parties and the throwing of half-finished bottles of beer for all the world to see, smell, hear and enjoy.

Driving in and out of the Morisset Peninsula can be a near-death experience. The single lane in and out, and the general predisposition of locals towards being constantly enraged for no discernable reason, makes driving the single lane Fishery Point Road a tad frightful. Despite driving the posted speed limit, you will have someone usually up your rear end, who invariably overtakes you, at speed, and flips you the bird as they go past. Had this happened only once or twice, I would think nothing of it. Unfortunately it's a common occurrence when driving around up there.

But this general tendency towards anger from the locals is not limited to the roads. Walking the streets and saying Hi to people as you walk past will invariably be met with "What did you say to me?". That's if you can get past the hordes of discarded and broken furniture left out on the verge, without a council cleanup organised to come pick said items up.

Even the park, down by the water would be a nice place to go visit, right? Wrong. The amount of times I came across used condoms and other paraphernalia which spoke to the activities of the night before was uncanny. Not sure why people can't quite get their used items into the multitude of bins provided by Lake Macquarie Council at Pendlebury Park, but seemingly, this is too much of an ask for some.

Public transport to the Morisset Peninsula is sporadic at best and hopelessly unreliable. You really need a car per adult to make living here work, unless you have a strong desire to walk the 45 mins - 1 hour that it takes to get to Morisset CBD on foot. The other thing to remember is that the Morisset Peninsula is a *long* way from anything. This might be great, if you're looking for a place to retire and see out your years, but the adults, as much as the kids, are pretty bored around these parts, hence the behaviour that you see exhibited by all and sundry.

While I would have loved to have retained the house and maybe even moved up there to live next to the natural beauty of Lake Macquarie, the local population in my neighbourhood were nothing if not feral. There are some beautiful parts of Bonnells Bay, especially around Waikiki Road. If you are looking to move to this suburb, may I recommend looking up that end. Otherwise, steer well and truly clear of the bogan paradise by the water.

While living there we experienced a lot of crime, hoon drivers, and unsavoury people. If you keep to yourself you’ll be fine

I moved to Bonnells Bay about 20 years ago from Sydney. To me, it's the perfect suburb. Surrounded by lake. Whilst we don't live on the water, we are grateful to have a beautiful view of the lake. The suburb has expanded greatly over the years. There are new estates, and even newer estates. We now have traffic lights! There is a great shopping centre that is a walk from most streets. The shopping centre has a Coles, butchers, Bakery, post office, chemist, newsagency, take aways, doctors, a gym, a great pub & bottleshop. Separately there is also a vet & child care centre.

The public school has a good reputation.

Bonnells Bay is minutes drive to Morisset (or a walk if you're energetic) which has Coles, Woolworths, Bunnings, Target, library, a super clinic with large array of medical facilities and loads of other shops, school, etc.

If you love the water, you will love Bonnells Bay. There are public boat access areas, play ground, picnic area. It's great if you like a good walk with loads of places to walk around.

Access to the freeway is five minutes away. You could not find a better suburb to live in. We love it here.

Bonnells Bay is nestled on beautiful Lake Macquarie on the central coast. It is quiet, safe and peaceful, with friendly locals. The Bay Village Shopping Centre and nearby Morisset provide almost all amenities, and the F3 is only 10 minutes away. There are good schools and local childcare centres, and a youth centre with skate park caters for younger people. Unfortunately, there are also the occasional car hoons, who do burnouts in local streets. In regards to nightlife there are local RSL's and the Bonnells Bay pub, which is very family friendly and has a lovely beer garden, and discos on Friday nights. The area is populated mainly by families and some retirees. Houses range from weatherboard to the more predominant brick and tile houses - some of which are quite grand. Many houses are very close to (or on) the water or boast water and mountain views. 20 minutes drive to Birdie Beach. I would be happy to keep living here for many years to come.