Northbound traffic into Ulladulla in the early afternoon was the worst affected.

Cars were bumper-to-bumper in a queue that stretched 15 kilometres to the south through Burrill Lake and towards Lake Tabourie.

At Milton, west of Mollymook, there was a southbound queue that was six kilometres long and another queue two kilometres long in northbound lanes at about 4pm.

Berry also suffered heavy southbound tailbacks in the afternoon, with traffic backed up for about seven kilometres.

Earlier in the day, lunchtime traffic caused havoc on southbound lanes into Batemans Bay.

Further north, there was a queue seven kilometres long at Nowra, while it was slow-going south at Gerringong.

Traffic eased later in the afternoon.

Despite the coastal congestion, traffic on the Kings Highway moved smoothly throughout the day, with only minor delays at Braidwood.

On the north coast, holidaymakers crawled in long queues along the Pacific Highway.

Macksville, on the mid-north coast, reported southbound lanes banked up for 14 kilometres, extending travel times by up to an hour.

Nearby, northbound traffic at Kempsey stretched up to nine kilometres, adding an extra 30 minutes to journeys.

Queues about three kilometres long frustrated southbound travellers at Hexham, near Newcastle.

Further north, southbound lanes were clogged for four kilometres at Woolgoolga and two kilometres at Woodburn.

Live Traffic NSW, run by Transport for NSW, tweeted messages to warn travellers to plan ahead, allow additional travel time and expect delays.

Motorists can visit livetraffic.com for live updates and travel information on NSW Roads.