Yamba

Proudly Yaegl Country

Yamba is one of those weirdly magical places that makes you feel nostalgic for it, even while you’re there. There’s something about the arrangement of the headlands and beaches, the nooks and crannies of the waterways, the trawlers and the pleasure craft in the marina, the pelicans and ospreys, the dolphins and whales, the flap of canvas in the caravan park, the buildings nestled into the hill, the heat coming off the bitumen in summer, the sunscreen and the aeroguard – it feels like you’re in a memory of holidays past, in the here and now. Put another way, Yamba evokes feelings you might have had as a kid – and for all it’s excellent contemporary dining, cafes, accommodation and shopping – Yamba manages to connect visitors with a sense of fun, joy, and innocence.

It’ll come as no surprise that there’s a number of excellent aquatic experiences available in Yamba: a multitude of fishing options, boat charters, river cruises, barbecue pontoons, paddleboat hire, kayaking tours, whale watching tours in season, not to mention patrolled beaches for surf bathing, and a number of great surf breaks for boardriders.

Standing proudly atop Pilot Hill is the iconic Yamba Lighthouse. From here you get a panoramic view over the surrounding beaches, the mouth of the river and Yamba Bay. Sunrise is special up here!

There are bike tracks galore around Yamba, basically running from one end of town to the other. The ride along Ford Park and Yamba Bay is great, but also try the road down to Angourie (with bike path) and check out the iconic Angourie Point surf break.

All this activity’s sure to bring on an appetite, and here’s another area where Yamba excels! From fine dining to groovy cafés, to quality pub meals to takeaways, it’s all on offer, and if you like your seafood fresh and local, well, you’re in heaven right here.