The South Coast will celebrate Rock Oyster Week from 26 April 2025, elevating NSW's reputation as the oyster tourism capital of Australia.

Restaurants, cafes and farm gates from Shoalhaven River to Pambula Lake will offer immersive visitor experiences throughout the week. View the program here.

Complex flavours and lingering sweetness are just two of the reasons Sydney rock oysters are regularly voted among the best in the world. Native to Australia, these molluscs have been cultivated since the late 1800s and can now be found up and down the state’s coastline.

Rock Oyster Week will be followed by the 18th Narooma Oyster Festival from 2-4 May, featuring program favourites including Oyster Farmers Alley, cooking demonstrations, the Australian Oyster Shucking Championships and Australia’s Biggest Oyster. View the program here.

Supported proudly by Destination NSW, the Narooma Oyster Festival will attract thousands of visitors to the region, with 65,000 oysters expected to be harvested, shucked and consumed throughout the weekend.

More than 8700 people attended the 2024 festival, with 86 per cent of visitors from outside the Narooma region, drawn primarily from Sydney, Canberra and the Illawarra.

More than $4 million was injected into the local visitor economy by the event. Read the full Narooma Rocks report here.

Further north in Woy Woy on the Central Coast, the Brisbane Water Oyster Festival will be held on 10 November 2025. This day-long festival will highlight the region's oysters, food and wine. Learn more here.

Tathra Oysters claims President’s Medal

Ahead of Rock Oyster Week, Tathra Oysters has been awarded the Royal Agricultural Society of NSW’s 18th Annual President’s Medal.

Tathra Oysters was selected from 4274 exhibits and 110 Sydney Royal Champions awarded throughout the 2024 Sydney Royal year.

Owned by the Rodely family for more than 36 years, Tathra Oysters grows Sydney rock oysters in the Mimosa Rocks National Park.

The solar powered farm produces around one million mature oysters each season and up to 10 million juvenile oysters for other farmers to grow to maturity.

Tathra Oysters also took out Champion Boutique Sydney Rock Oyster at 2025 Sydney Royal Fine Food Show during Sydney Royal Easter Show. Learn more here.

Oyster agritourism success for NSW

In-water oyster farm experiences are enjoying rising popularity in regional NSW.

Often offered on boat tours or with in-water dining, the experiences allow visitors to learn about oyster farming and enjoy fresh oysters directly from the water.

At Sydney Oyster Farm Tours in Mooney Mooney visitors can don waders and try oysters right in the water.

Managing Director Sheridan Beaumont said: “Then the guests put on waders and we take them to dining tables set up in the water.

“They learn to open the oysters themselves and then enjoy them with prawns and champagne. People are learning a skill and also creating a memorable dining experience.”

Among other oyster agritourism experiences on offer in NSW are Region X’s Oyster Tasting Kayak Tour where, over a two-hour tour, visitors kayak the river, sample delicacies and meet a fourth-generation oyster farmer; and Navigate Expeditions’ Kayak and Shuck tour where visitors paddle the Pambula River and learn about oysters and how to shuck them at Broadwater Oysters.

Destination NSW has produced a guide to the best oysters along the NSW coast. View it here.