Guest guest90395 Posted July 8, 2015 Share Posted July 8, 2015 Hi everyone I was thinking of having a long weekend in Byron Bay in October but after doing some research it seems it may not be as nice as I remember from 10 years ago. Has anyone been recently who can tell me if it's still a cool, laid back beach resort or just a town full of junkies and drinks starting fights??! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest The Pom Queen Posted July 9, 2015 Share Posted July 9, 2015 Hi @jahooliab it sounds like it is a very popular place with backpackers. I haven't been myself for years but I hear a lot of the Cairns backpackers raving about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MancGeek Posted July 9, 2015 Share Posted July 9, 2015 Hi I've been a few times in the last 6 years. It's got better since they stopped some of the dodgy stuff that went on at Cheeky Monkeys It's still fairly laid back in the day and on the beach at night. Bars and clubs are always busy and it gets a bit rowdier at the weekend. You can always jump down the coast 15 minutes to somewhere like Lennox if you want it quieter HTH Nick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
annagilda Posted July 9, 2015 Share Posted July 9, 2015 I went 5 years ago as a backpacker and had a wonderful time. Really enjoyed the place. Ended up staying much longer than I had planned, it was just really chilled. Don't know how much it may or may not have changed in 5 years though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jumpingjellybean Posted August 20, 2015 Share Posted August 20, 2015 but after doing some research it seems it may not be as nice as I remember from 10 years ago. No its not. It use to be a brilliant little lovely town 15 - 25 years ago. But now it feels and looks rundown, tired maybe a better word. With aggressive hostile locals who seeming hate tourists. Very very odd. The natural scenery, beach and hinterlands are still lovely though. Has anyone been recently who can tell me if it's still a cool, laid back beach resort or just a town full of junkies and drinks starting fights??! Many celebs still go there and promote it as cool. And I have yoga friends who simply adore it. The only thing you are likely to get is "cool unfriendly" attitudes nowadays. We were meant to be there for six weeks but had enough after two and left to holiday elsewhere. We saw loads of junkies, druggies and drunks everyday passed out in the street or swigging from brown paper bags.......and this was at 10.00AM. The nights were worse. They were locals not tourists. The local teenage boys started a brawl in the middle of town one afternoon at 2pm and the police separated them. Chatting to a local cop he said it was becoming to be a nuisance with little gangs fighting like this. Chatting to other tourists they said they had (and heard other tales of) visitors being verbally abused and thrown off or at least told to p*** off by groups of teens saying that the beach was for "locals" only. And everyone else we met at the caravan park and local motel commented on how unfriendly all the service was in bars and cafes. I use to visit BB regularly especially when it was still a sleepily little hamlet with a laid back attitude, but after the last time I would rather take my hard earned tourist dollars elsewhere. I think but I am not sure, that the problems have arisen as lots of rich Sydneysiders have gone up to BB and built house worth $$$$$$$ and now none of the local kids can afford to buy in the area. Given BB is a tourist mecca I was shocked by the attitudes from locals. I bet if the tourists stopped pumping money into the economy and the place died financially - the locals would be the first lot complaining. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith and Linda Posted August 20, 2015 Share Posted August 20, 2015 Hi everyone I was thinking of having a long weekend in Byron Bay in October but after doing some research it seems it may not be as nice as I remember from 10 years ago. Has anyone been recently who can tell me if it's still a cool, laid back beach resort or just a town full of junkies and drinks starting fights??! We drive down there just for the day maybe 3-4 times a year, never seen any problems, but then have never stayed a night there but intend to have a weekend there this summer. We enjoy are days there and more so during the whale season, always see pods of dolphins sometimes numbering in the 50's. I would say it is OK for a weekend so it is then a been there done that tick off the bucket list. We used to think that Byron was a little like Glastonbury in the UK, but having called in at Glastonbury in June then I have to say we felt more at ease at Byron. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest90395 Posted August 21, 2015 Share Posted August 21, 2015 Thanks for all your comments everyone. We have booked but are staying just outside the town so we should be away from the rowdiness! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jumpingjellybean Posted October 3, 2015 Share Posted October 3, 2015 Thanks for all your comments everyone. We have booked but are staying just outside the town so we should be away from the rowdiness! The Byron Hinterland is gorgeous and much friendlier. We are now in the October long weekend. So would love an update from you afterwards. I really hope BB has improved as would love to go back - if it goes back to how it once was. I stayed there for 2 months in 1993 and just adored the place. Could only stand 2 weeks in 2007. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest90395 Posted October 9, 2015 Share Posted October 9, 2015 Hi jjb, We had a really great time, thanks. It was very busy in town being the last weekend of the school holidays so maybe that changed things a bit but we didn't see any trouble or have any annoyances. There were a couple of druggie looking types around but actually no more than you see in any other town centre. Granted we weren't there at 11pm on the Sat night but we did watch the AFL grand final in the pub and it was all very family friendly and well behaved. julia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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