Surrounded by stunning coastal and hinterland landscapes, Byron Bay is a nature-lover’s haven, filled with breathtaking moments and awe-inspiring experiences.
From hinterland waterfalls, native rainforests and a coastline known around the world for its pristine beaches, crystal waters and rich marine life, here you’ll find the serenity of nature all around you. Not to mention, plenty of ways for the entire family to enjoy it.
To help you to plan your holiday, we’ve created this in-depth guide to nature in Byron Bay. It’s filled with ideas and information for what and where to visit, including some local secrets that will help you see this famous place through fresh eyes.
From sunrise to sunset and beyond, we’ve offered ideas for every moment of your days. Read on, get inspired and start planning.
Your 5 days of a pure Byron Bay nature holiday begins right here.
Day 1
Afternoon
You arrive at the resort and the kids’ untapped travel energy and excitement is just about to bubble over. Leave the bags in your villa and head straight to the Central Lagoon Pool to get this holiday started.
Surrounded by immaculate resort gardens, the Central Lagoon Pool is the watery heart of the resort. Watch your kids’ faces as they climb into a hanging bed over the pool, choose a group of lounges or claim a cabana as your poolside base then dive in!
The temperature-controlled pool offers plenty of space for make-believe mermaids and pirates, Marco Polo and even a spa to warm up in. Feed growing bodies with snacks and drinks from Breeze Poolside Bar and Café.
Evening
Get dressed for dinner and start the experience at the edge of Belongil Beach. You’ll find sunset drinks from the vintage camper bar at Botanic Beach Club. Clink your glasses together in a family cheers with your toes in the sand and your eyes to the sky, watching the rare shorebirds flying home to Belongil Estuary to nest for the night.
Take the short walk back through the resort to Azure Bar and Grill https://elementsofbyron.com.au/azure-bar-and-grill/. There is an authentic warmth to the service offered in both the poolside Terrace and the Azure Dining Room, and a true sense of place served on the menu. Ingredients have been foraged or sourced locally and perfectly balanced with flavour and dishes designed to suit all tastes, including a children’s menu.
Day 2
Begin Your Day
Wake up your bodies with yoga on the edge of Belongil Beach care of the First Light Club. The early morning glow warms up the sky and awakens the ocean. Our resident yoga instructor creates flows suitable for the whole family, and at all levels of experience.
Head to Azure Bar and Grill where you’ll find a breakfast buffet that’s sure to fuel bodies and satisfy everyone’s tastes. Traditional breakfast dishes are on offer alongside an egg station and served with delicious coffee, tea and other drinks.
Morning
Introduce the kids to the secrets of the forest. With dunal, wetlands, littoral forest and rainforest ecologies all immediately on the resort, the sublime diversity of nature is at your fingertips.
Discover elements of the forest you’ve never noticed before and have the chance to taste native bushfoods on a guided rainforest walk with our resident Naturalist.
Dive back into the Central Lagoon Pool to cool off and indulge in that delightful holiday art of having lunch delivered and devoured in your poolside cabana. Breeze Café and Bar is waiting for your order.
Afternoon
Time for a little family adventure that will introduce the forest and beach from an entirely new perspective and bring out the cowboy and cowgirl in the whole family.
Receive expert instruction and be introduced to your trusty steed at Zephyr horse ranch. Following your instructor, weave along forest trails before emerging onto the expansive beach. The sea breeze cools you and the ocean creates a melody for the rhythmic plod of your horse’s hooves.
This unique coastal horse ranch offers personalised tours of the rainforest trails and Belongil Beach, giving you an exhilarating experience of discovering the awe-inspiring coastline on horseback.
Evening
With everyone no doubt still reliving their unforgettable horse-riding experience take a short seven minute walk to Habitat. Just down the road from the resort, Habitat is a shopping and dining precinct with a genuinely relaxed, neighbourhood feeling.
The entire family will love dinner at Barrio where you can share plates of Mediterranean and Italian food. Deliziosa!
An easy walk home and everyone will be ready for bed, dreams of horses on the beach lulling you to slumber in the resort’s premium, sleep-optimised beds.
Day 3
Begin Your Day
Head to The Farm for a delicious breakfast and paddock to plate, educational farming experience. Start your day with breakfast in The Three Blue Ducks before signing the kids up for a practical workshop.
Depending on the day you visit, you can find school holiday workshops, kids’ activities or private classes in paddock rotation, pollination, organic farming, crops, healthy soil, composting and other ethical farming practices.
Or simply take the opportunity to stroll the farm after breakfast and introduce yourself to some of its animal residents.
Morning
While Byron Bay’s surf beaches are iconic, you won’t have to worry about choosing the right wave with one of the destination’s pro surf schools.
Book a group or private family surf lesson with Let’s Go Surfing and have the whole family strap on a leg rope, practice their pop ups then hit the water. There’s nothing like the feeling of catching your first wave to connect the family in a core memory!
Head into the thrumming community of Bryon village for lunch. With world-class cafes and restaurants all around, and plenty catering to families, you’ll be spoilt for choice.
The Mez Club offers feel good vibes, and flavours and an interior design aesthetic straight out of the souks of Morocco, south of France and coast of Spain. This is a funky family lunch.
Nutritious, delicious and with a penchant for the organic, Combi is a casual and oh-so-Byron café that the entire family will love.
High Life Byron Bay might be renowned by locals for its incredible coffee, but you’ll find just as many people making a pilgrimage to its street-front tables for delectable food with plenty of vegan and vegetarian options.
Afternoon
Head back to the resort and settle into your favourite cabana for an afternoon by the Central Lagoon Pool. If the kids need to expend some more energy, take them to the parkour inspired, outdoor playground.
Tucked into native bushland the playground offers physical challenges through natural agility obstacles that spark the imagination.
Evening
Wander down to the Heart of the Bay with a picnic blanket. This elevated grass area offers unbroken views of Belongil Beach, the ocean and sunset beyond. Stay a little while longer and try to spot shooting stars.
Then wander to Azure Bar and Grill for a family dinner.
Day 4
Begin Your Day
Start your day with an iconic Byron Bay experience. Of all the walks offered in the Byron Bay area, the Cape Byron Lighthouse Trail is unforgettable, especially at sunrise.
Perched on Australia’s most easterly point, Cape Byron Lighthouse is a Victorian era structure rising 118 metres above sea level.
It’s an iconic marker on a 3.7km loop track that also features dramatic cliff views with soaring eagles and possibly migrating humpback whales. You’ll also pass by iconic Byron Bay beaches such as The Pass and Wategos Beach.
The Pass Café is a great place to stop for breakfast with a view of rolling waves with surfer passengers.
Morning
For families with older children, Sundive offers scuba diving in a world-famous marine site. Nguthungulli Julian Rocks is home to a spectacular mix of tropical fish, rays, turtles and colourful nudibranchs.
Please note that children need to be 12 years of age and older to participate. The Sundive team offers plenty of confidence-building tuition before an unforgettable under the sea adventure the family will never forget.
Your dive finishes in Byron village just in time for lunch. Head to Top Shop for great burgers and diner food served with a 1950’s milk bar feeling. Take a seat under the umbrellas or on the grass for a casual feast.
Or head to Beach Kiosk for easy takeaway meals that you can enjoy on the grass or eat on Clarkes Beach just steps away.
Afternoon
Back at the resort, add a little magic to your nature-focused holiday. The Elements of Byron Fairy Trail will see the family following clues on a map to find a magical community of fairies hidden throughout the grounds of the resort.
Find fairies and colourful fairy houses hanging from trees and built into tree trunks. For those with a keen eye, you’ll also spot owls and kookaburras. Watch out for trolls and gnomes.
Evening
After a day exploring the stunning beauty of Mother Nature, take time to relax and soak in your villa bathtub, order in room dining and have a family pyjama party.
Day 5
Begin Your Day
Take in the wonders of Belongil Beach on a morning beach walk. Leave footprints along the 2.5km stretch of sand that lies between the Main Beach seawall and the Belongil Creek mouth.
Aside from spotting shore birds, migrating whales and the occasional dolphin, you can also spy the tip of the sunken ship Wollongbar. Breaking free from its moorings during a 1922 storm, the ship sunk and became what is today a popular surf spot we call ‘The Wreck’.
Indulge in one final buffet breakfast on the al fresco terrace of Azure Bar and Grill.
Morning
Make the most of your final holiday moments with a play session at the Central Lagoon Pool. Sometimes it’s the simple shared family moments like these that will be remembered so fondly in the future.
Leave Elements of Byron with smiling faces and memories of sharing the boundless wonder of Byron Bay nature that you’ll call upon in years to come.
Take advantage of our special 4 night Escape to Elements package for your nature-filled holiday.
Want more inspiration for things to do in Byron Bay? Check out our Ultimate Guide to Byron Bay.