Lake Macquarie (Awabakal: Awaba) is Australias largest coastal lagoon. Located in the City of Lake Macquarie and Central Coast Council local government areas in the Hunter and Central Coast regions of New South Wales, Australia, it covers an area of 110 square kilometres and is connected to the Tasman Sea by a short channel. Most of the residents of the City of Lake Macquarie live near the shores of the lagoon.
Lake Macquarie is twice as large as Sydney Harbour and is the largest coastal salt water lagoon in the Southern Hemisphere. It is slightly smaller than Port Stephens, which is about 43 kilometres to the northeast of the lagoon.
