Byron Bay: what to see, where to stay and how to get around
Byron Bay sits under Cape Byron, the easternmost point of mainland Australia. It was a town of whaling, a meatworks and sand mining until the 1960s, when the surfers came, then the hippies, and then the very rich. Three hours on foot, best starting before sunrise.
A short history of Byron Bay
In 1770 Captain Cook named the cape here after the seaman John Byron, the poet's grandfather. The town grew up at the end of the 19th century as a port for timber and farm produce, and in 1901 the lighthouse was built on the cape, the easternmost point of the Australian mainland. For years it had a meatworks and a whaling station, which closed in 1962. In the 1960s and 1970s surfers and hippies arrived, and since then it has been a resort town.
The ten best sights in Byron Bay
1Cape Byron LighthouseWhales from June to November
2Cape Byron Walking TrackThe loop over the cape, at dawn
3Main BeachThe town beach, patrolled
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4Clarkes Beach
Gentle waves for learners
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5The Pass
The long right-hand wave
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6Wategos Beach
The sheltered cove under the cape
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7Belongil Beach
A long walk north of town
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8Tallow Beach
Seven kilometres of wild sand
9Arakwal National ParkRun with its Aboriginal owners
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10Broken Head
Rainforest down to the beach
Scan with your phone camera to open the map there
What is an audio walk?
Tours in Byron Bay →A guide in your headphones: open the walk on our site, walk from stop to stop, and at each one your phone tells its story. No guide, no group, and free. This is the first walk in Byron Bay:
Free walking tours in Byron Bay
The easternmost point
Byron Bay sits under Cape Byron, the easternmost point of mainland Australia. It was a town of whaling, a meatworks and sand mining until the 1960s, when the surfers came, then the hippies, and then the very rich. Three hours on foot, best starting before sunrise.
- Jonson Street · Cook named the cape in 1770 after John Byron, a navigator and the grandfather of the poet. The surveyors who laid out the town assumed it was the poet, and named its streets after other writers — Jonson, Marvell, Fletcher, Shirley.
- Main Beach · The town beach, facing north — unusual on Australia’s east coast — so the sun sets over the sea behind the hinterland mountains, and the drummers gather on the sand at dusk.
- The Pass · A point break where the swell wraps around the cape into a long, slow right-hand wave, the one that drew the surfers here in the 1960s; it is crowded and has its own etiquette.
- Wategos Beach · A sheltered cove named after the Wategos, a family of South Sea Islander descent who grew bananas on the slopes here; its few houses are now among the most expensive in Australia.
- Cape Byron Walking Track · The path passes the easternmost point of the Australian mainland, often the first place on the continent to see the sunrise; dolphins ride the waves below, and humpback whales pass from June to November.
- Cape Byron Lighthouse · A white lighthouse of 1901 on the headland, whose light is among the most powerful in Australia; on clear nights its beam reaches some forty kilometres out to sea.
The coast south of the cape
South of the cape the coast turns wild: seven kilometres of open beach, rainforest down to the sand, and headlands from which paragliders launch. Half a day by car or bicycle.
- Arakwal National Park · Created in 2001 under an agreement with the Arakwal people, the Bundjalung clan of Byron, and managed jointly with them — one of the first such parks in New South Wales.
- Tallow Beach · Seven kilometres of open beach running south from the cape, named after the tallow washed up from a wrecked ship in the nineteenth century; there are no lifeguards, and rips are strong.
- Suffolk Park · The quiet suburb behind the south end of Tallow Beach, where much of Byron’s workforce now lives as the town itself has become unaffordable.
- Broken Head · A reserve of littoral rainforest that runs right down to small surf beaches, one of the last remnants of the Big Scrub, the great rainforest of the region that was almost all cleared for farms in the nineteenth century.
- Lennox Head · A village with a famous point break and a headland from which paragliders and hang-gliders take off over the sea; behind it lies Lake Ainsworth, stained dark brown by tea trees.
- Julian Rocks · Back off the town, two rocky islets in a marine reserve where warm and cool currents meet; divers see turtles, rays and, in summer, leopard sharks resting on the sand. Their Aboriginal name is Nguthungulli.
The hinterland
Behind Byron rise the green hills of the hinterland, the rim of an ancient volcano, with rainforest, waterfalls and villages that kept the counterculture alive. A full day by car.
- Bangalow · A village of old timber shopfronts with verandas, built for the dairy farmers who replaced the forest, now full of cafés and a farmers’ market on Saturday mornings.
- Killen Falls · A small waterfall into a pool where a path leads behind the curtain of water, a short walk from the road.
- Minyon Falls · A fall of about a hundred metres over the rhyolite cliffs of the old volcano’s rim, into a gorge of rainforest; a trail descends to its base.
- Nightcap National Park · Part of the Gondwana Rainforests World Heritage site. In 1979 protesters at Terania Creek blocked the loggers here for weeks, one of the first forest blockades in Australia, and the forest was saved.
- Nimbin · A dying dairy village until 1973, when the Aquarius Festival brought thousands of students and hippies, many of whom stayed and founded communes; it still lives on that history, painted on its shopfronts.
- Mullumbimby · A real working town of the hinterland, on the way back to the coast at Brunswick Heads, where locals shop away from the crowds of Byron.
Getting to Byron Bay and getting around
- Ballina Byron Airport · About thirty-five minutes south
Cheap eats in Byron Bay
Byron eats healthy and on the go: açaí bowls and smoothie bowls after the morning surf, fish tacos and poke by the beach, a pie or a sausage roll from the bakery. Byron is expensive even for Australia — a bowl costs about fifteen to twenty dollars.
- Jonson Street · Bowls and juices
- The Farm · Breakfast on the farm
- Bangalow · The Saturday market
Nature and day trips near Byron Bay
The cape, the reef of Julian Rocks and the rainforest of the old volcano.
- Julian Rocks · Diving and snorkelling
- Minyon Falls · The great fall
- Nightcap National Park · The saved forest
Things to do in Byron Bay with kids
With children: gentle waves, whales from the lighthouse and a farm.
- Clarkes Beach · Surf lessons
- The Farm · Animals and a playground
- Cape Byron Lighthouse · Whale spotting
Nightlife in Byron Bay
Byron’s nights are pubs with live music and backpacker bars, busy most of the year.
- Jonson Street · Pubs and live music
- Main Beach · Drummers at sunset
Museums in Byron Bay
Byron has no great museums; its history is in its villages.
- Nimbin · The Aquarius legacy
- Arakwal National Park · Arakwal country
Frequently asked questions about Byron Bay
What is there to see in Byron Bay?
The top sights in Byron Bay are Cape Byron Lighthouse, Cape Byron Walking Track and Main Beach. The full list on this page has 10 sights, each with a photo and a short note.
How many days do you need in Byron Bay?
Three to four days are enough to see the best of Byron Bay without rushing, including at least one walking tour.
Is there a free walking tour in Byron Bay?
Yes. sleepntrip has 3 free audio walks in Byron Bay, with no guide and no group: your phone tells the story at every stop. The first one: The easternmost point.
How do you get to Byron Bay and get around?
The main ways are Ballina Byron Airport. Full details are in the transport section on this page.
Where to stay in Byron Bay, and for how much?
sleepntrip shows only rooms in Byron Bay that meet nine conditions: a good location, high guest scores, cleanliness, and a price of up to $80 a night for two. Pick your dates and see what is free.
Looking for a hotel in Byron Bay for your dates?
Only rooms that meet nine conditions, up to $80 a night.