Byron Bay, NSW - Enjoy Great People, Beautiful Beaches, and Nature at its Finest

Byron Bay is a coastal town located on the north coast of New South Wales, Australia. It is home to Australia's most easterly point and the iconic Cape Byron lighthouse. It is also well known for it's surfing, beaches, and scuba diving sites.

Byron Bay is easily one of my favorite places I have ever been in my life. During our visit to Australia in 2018, my husband and I spent just two days there and have already decided when we go back we are spending at least a week. That is how much of an impact this small town on the east coast of Australia had on us.

Where to Stay

Byron Bay has a range of options for accomodations. From budget to luxury there is something to fit every traveler's needs. We booked our stay at the adorable Byron Springs Guest House, which is located approximately 2km south of the center of town. Depending on your comfort level, it is possible to walk into town if you are prepared (sneakers are a must!) Our first day we did decide to walk in order to truly experience every ounce of the town. We took our time, stopping to take photos and explore along the way. If you were to walk straight, it's about a 20-25 minute walk.

We were able to take a bus from Brisbane which dropped us right at the front door of Byron Springs, which was extremely helpful. Upon walking up onto the deck, our names and a friendly greeting were written on the window, welcoming us to our stay. Byron Springs is a renovated home nestled amonst gorgeous tropical gardens. The only thing you hear while enjoying sitting on the open deck or indulging in the delicious breakfast that is included, are the sounds of nature. It was incredibly relaxing and the owner could not have been kinder to us, even offering us a ride into town to catch our bus so we didn't have to walk with our packs the day we checked out. If you are lucky enough to make it to this magical town, I highly recommend staying at Byron Springs!

Things to Do and See

What I love most about Byron Bay is the focus is truly on nature. The best things to do in the area, in my opinion, involve being outside and emmersing yourself in your surroundings. Development is not allowed along the beaches so no matter where you are, you have to walk through a path of trees to get to the beach. This means that as you look up and down the beach, all you see is nature, something that's very infrequent along the coasts of the United States. My husband and I both love being outside and exploring different areas, so almost all of our activities involved walking to/from some natural place!

From the main beach along the bay, you can follow a path to hike or bike up to the Cape Byron Lighthouse, an active heritage-listed lighthouse and a favorite among travelers to the area. The views from the lighthouse are breathtaking.

Traveling tip: If you plan to hike up to the lighthouse, be sure you are wearing comfortable walking shoes and have plenty of water! It's a fairly steep road/path in areas, especially if you aren't used to it.

From the lighthouse, you can continue to follow the path further out onto the point where you eventually reach the most easterly point on the Australian main land. The really cool thing here is they have these stationary tripods that you can screw your camera into or set your phone on to easily set a timer to take photos of you and your loved ones! It's truly just a sign on a fence, but the views are amazing and personally I feel like it's a cool thing to be able to tell people!

Eat, Drink, Shop

One of my favorite things to do on vacation, especially at a beach town, is to grab an iced coffee someplace local, and then just walk around town going in and out of shops at my leisure. I don't necessarily even look to buy anything, I just love the experience. My husband, however, is the complete opposite. Since we know this about eachother, we just compromise. He finds a local spot where he can grab something to eat and enjoy some local beer, and I go exploring and meet up with him when I'm done. We both get to do what we want and it works for us.

One place he frequented during our stay was Main Street Burger Bar.

The restaurant boasts "flawless burgers, icy cold beer, real shakes and delicious soda all under the same roof." They do not disappoint! We ate there for dinner one night and lunch the next. It has a casual relaxed atmosphere, exactly our vibe, especially on vacation! There is a little something for everyone here with a menu that includes a variety of 100% grass-fed beef burgers, vegan burgers, fried chicken, filling salads and more! Pair any meal with a delicious beer, which the friendly staff is always willing to help you choose. We found this to be an option that was very affordable and had a wide enough selection that we were both happy eating there for multiple meals. I even found myself in beer form!

The shopping in Byron Bay is as amazing as you would expect in a beach town like this. I can't pick out a particular shop in general but most places had unique items, were affordable, and had the friendliest staff. I enjoyed talking to staff about visiting from the US and learning where they were from. Byron Bay is a large backpacking destination and it's day to day population is quite diverse, another thing that helped us fall in love with this little coastal town.

Traveling tip: If you came to Byron Bay via public transport and don't want to lug your bags around town while you are waiting to check in somewhere (or if you've checked out but your bus doesn't leave for a while), the visitors center will check your bag and keep it secure for just a few dollars! We had to check out of our accomodations by 11am but weren't leaving town until the evening so this was an incredibly helpful service to learn about.

As someone who has worked in the environmental and sustainability fields for the past decade, my favorite part of Byron Bay is how aware everyone is of their conservation efforts. As I mentioned, development is not allowed along the beaches and marine habitat along the coast is well protected. The residents are fiercly protective of the area. You won't find a single place that will give you a plastic straw or cup and there are recepticles everywhere to encourage proper trash and recycling habits. It felt like a community tailor made for me! If it weren't so far from my family, I'd consider living there in a heart beat.

If you ever have the chance to travel to Australia, or if you live there and have never been to Byron Bay, I can not say enough good things about it. Especially because you can grab a local iced coffee to go with an adorable paper straw like this one :)

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