Byron Bay may get the headlines, but there’s a lot more beach towns out there with far less traffic, and much lower prices.
Brunswick Heads, NSW
Located another 20 minutes up the highway, “Bruns” is the ultimate surfing and fishing town. A river dissects town, offering watery views from a century-old pub and a main street of quirky cafés and quiet, but moody, restaurants. Each high tide, activity peaks as kids jump from an old wooden bridge connecting town to the surf beach beside it. Houses cost upwards of two million dollars, but “Bruns” still feels like Byron 30 years ago, except on school holidays.
Yamba, NSW
Another classic fishing and surfing town that offers that extra something Byron never can: a river that empties in the sea, a magnet for resident dolphins. While its downtown area lacks some of Byron Bay’s bohemian unpredictability, there’s adequate restaurant choice and you’ll find Australia’s best pub for surf views: the 90-year-old Pacific Hotel, built on the cliffs above it. Twin town, Angourie, offers a stunning beach with arguably the world’s best point break wave and secret water holes among vast tracts of hikeable coastal forest.
Airlie Beach, QLD
Those lamenting the loss of Byron Bay’s old-time locals (replaced by cashed-up refugees from Sydney) should look no further. Airlie Beach still boasts a legion of the saltiest sea dogs on Australia’s east coast. A long-time beacon for live-aboard sailors, Airlie Beach is the departure point to the 74 islands of the Whitsundays. But town’s an attraction in itself, with its open-air bars, restaurants and cafés which look through palm trees to masts bobbing on the blue waters of the Coral Sea, beneath the green mountains of Conway National Park.
Point Lookout, QLD
You can be guaranteed of one thing on the world’s second-largest sand island: beaches. North Stradbroke Island – located in Brisbane’s Moreton Bay – is home to some of Australia’s best. Looking out across them is Point Lookout, a retro, laid-back surfing town with just enough amenities, like a pub with views out across water where whales migrate (this is one of the best land-based vantage points on the east coast), and boutiques selling locally-made fashion. A population of 800 swells come holiday time, but with ferry access only there’s never enough cars to create a traffic jam.
Denmark, WA
Its distance from Perth (five hours) stops it being over-run by weekenders, maintaining its easy village vibe, sans traffic lights or any hint of traffic chaos. Set among tall timber country beside the Denmark River, town’s surrounded by some of the state’s best beaches in national parks, like Greens Pool, with its natural rock swimming pool. Home to 5000 locals, holiday time does attract travellers, but there’s enough karri and jarrah forest and wild coastline to get lost among.
Wye River, VIC
You probably haven’t heard of Wye River, but it epitomises the lost-in-nature vibe of the Great Ocean Road. You’ll need to rent a house – there’s no hotels – but you’ll be staying among koalas beside rugged forest climbing up the hill, looking out over a stunning white-sand bay. There’s a great pub on the point: the Wye Beach Hotel looks across the waves, and there’s a café serving the best bacon and egg rolls this side of Melbourne. Options are limited, but that’s the whole point of the place.
Broome, WA
No stranger to such a list, the appeal of Broome can’t ever be over-stated. You’d come for Cable Beach alone; toasting watery sunsets at bars on the grass beside the beach, set beside the bluest water this side of the Maldives (which shares the same ocean). While there’s plenty of tourist tack, here’s the quintessential Aussie beach town: white-sand beaches meet the red-dirt of the outback. A pearling town with a chequered past, there’s a lot more to this multicultural Mecca than camel rides at sunset.
Port Noarlunga, SA
Nothing beats a bite-sized beach town with a long white-sand beach located right on the edge of one of the country’s best wine regions (McLaren Vale). Only half an hour-or-so from Adelaide’s CBD, city folk have been coming here for 170 years, and it shows in its historic streetscape. An offshore heritage-listed reef means there’s amazing diving and snorkelling, but also that the beach is always calm. A river empties beside town and there’s spectacular red sandstone cliffs, surrounded by national park.
Coles Bay, TAS
As the world heats up, Tasmania’s beach towns come into their own: none more than Coles Bay. Located on the state’s warmer east coast, town is dwarfed by the half-kilometre-high Hazard ranges, granite and pink mountains that are part of the Freycinet National Park. One of the world’s best beaches – Wineglass Bay – is just around the corner, but there’s plenty of swimming to be had in town, beside cafés which look across the water. Holiday time – especially Christmas – gets busy, but the scale of the place means you can always find an escape.
Port Fairy, VIC
Unlike Byron Bay, you won’t have to share a wave with anyone at Port Fairy. One of the last stops on the Great Ocean Road, it’s only one of Australia’s largest music festivals, the Port Fairy Folk Festival, which brings tourists en masse to town. Instead you’ll get to surf or fish beside an historic port town with over 50 buildings classified by the National Trust. There’s a surprising underground art and entertainment scene set among its 19th Century cottages and old stone churches.
