Byron Bay Australia is a town with the most amazing atmosphere especially along Jonson St and by the beach. You will often see people playing didgeridoos, bongo drums or guitars with others just sat around listening to it all and generally chilling. It has a very laid back atmosphere but it is also a town where you can party as much as you want in any of the Byron Bay entertainment venues.
One of the most northerly resorts in New South Way, Byron Bay Australia is located about 180km and a 2 hour drive from Brisbane, 780km from Sydney and is 9km off the Bruce Highway.
The Visitors Centre is at 80 Jonson Street in the old Stationmaster’s cottage by the main long distance bus stop and has lots of information about what to do in the area and the Byron Bay accommodation available ranging from Byron Bay caravan parks to Byron Bay hostels and even luxury apartments with wonderful sea views.
If you are arriving in Byron Bay Australia having flown in to Ballina airport, the Gold Coast airport or even Brisbane airport you should check out some of the following websites for airport transfers: Xcede Airport Transfers, Coolangatta Byron Bay Airporter and Byron Easy Bus.
Byron Bay Beach
The main reason for visiting Byron Bay is to spend time on the beach and possibly do some surfing.
Main Beach runs all the way along the front of Byron Bay towards the lighthouse and becomes Clarkes Beach. Starting from the car park near Jonson Street you can walk for a couple of kilometres along it to a small island which has stairs leading up to a viewing platform which looks back along Main Beach. You can only get to these stairs when the tide is quite low. Beyond that you have the lovely Pass, Watego’s and Little Watego’s beaches. You can also walk for kilometres in the other direction past part of an old shipwreck sticking out of the sea as far as Belongil Beach.
If you would like to learn to surf there are a few options in Byron Bay. Our recommendations are the Kool Katz Learn to Surf School and Go Surfing who are located at 84 Jonson Street behind the bus stop.
The Cape Byron lighthouse is a great place to see the whales passing on their migration north from May till August and then on the return south from September till November. (Please note these are not exact dates.) You can walk up to it along a path which goes past Watego’s Bay a good surfing beach, past Little Wategos’s Beach and then walk out to Australia’s most easterly mainland point and then on up to the lighthouse. The views from there are wonderful and you can see for miles around. There is a souvenir shop which also houses an informative display about the whales that pass here every year and a little cart selling fantastic ice-cream. You can then walk down the other side of the headland through the rainforest of the Cape Byron State Conservation Park where you may be lucky enough to see a wallaby. This walk is a 5km loop and you should allow about 2 hours to stroll it comfortably. If you wanted to do this walk in the morning and go on one of the beaches in the afternoon then you should do this walk the other way round. If you don’t actually want to walk you can drive up and park in the car park just below the lighthouse at a cost of $7. Tours of the Lighthouse and Museum are available on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 11am, 12.30pm and 2pm and also at the same times on Saturdays during school holidays. You can book on to one of these on (02) 6685 5955.
There are some lovely places to visit around Byron Bay which are easily reached by bicycle. Many of the Byron Bay backpackers offer free bike hire but if you need to you can hire bikes at Cycle and Outdoor Gear at 31 Lawson Street.
Other activities that you can do in Byron Bay Australia include scuba diving, ballooning, gliding, snorkelling and sky diving. For more information on these you should go into the Visitors Centre when you get there.
There is some good shopping in Byron Bay with quite a few souvenir shops of a decent quality, a shop on the corner of Byron and Jonson Streets which sells amazing photos of the area that the owners takes himself, some good clothes and surf shops and some lovely shops to browse in.
Byron Bay Australia is also home to a great range of restaurants which you can find out more about on our Byron Bay restaurants page.
Visit the official Byron Bay Australia website for more information.