The park's two camp kitchens are unexpectedly civilised, kitted out with fridges, microwaves, kettles, toasters and cooking hobs, and we found ourselves cooking up bacon and eggs most mornings before drifting across to the sand with a coffee. The communal BBQ area becomes a friendly little gathering spot of an evening, particularly when someone fires up the grill and the kids realise the playground is just metres away.

Step out the front gate and you are practically at the door of Beach Byron Bay, the beachfront restaurant and kiosk perched above Clarkes Beach. We grabbed takeaway flat whites and banana bread from the kiosk one morning and ate them barefoot on the sand watching the surfers, then came back that evening for fish and chips at sunset. It is genuinely one of the great views in town.

A short stroll into the township leads you to Top Shop, the corner store turned cafe institution beloved by locals. Order an acai bowl or a fat-as-can-be burger and grab a perch on the grassy hill out front. We did this twice in three days and would happily do it again. For pastries, Bayleaf Cafe on Marvell Street is a moody, plant-strewn favourite where we lined up for cardamom morning buns and excellent single origin coffee.

If you fancy a wander further afield, The Farm Byron Bay is a ten minute drive inland, a working farm with Three Blue Ducks restaurant on site. Grab a long lunch on the verandah and let the kids loose with the chooks and piglets. For a special night out, Rae's Dining Room at Wategos Beach is the most romantic table in Byron, with Mediterranean leaning plates and a wine list worth lingering over.

The park's biggest drawcard is right outside the gate. Clarkes Beach is patrolled in summer and is one of the calmer, more family-friendly stretches of sand in town, with beautifully clear water and easy access for boards, prams and tired legs. We watched the sunrise from here on our first morning and pretty much never left.

The walk most travellers come for begins just along the path. The Cape Byron Walking Track is a 3.7km loop that climbs through pandanus, drops into Wategos and finishes at the Cape Byron Lighthouse, the most easterly point of mainland Australia. Allow a couple of hours, take water, and look out for dolphins lazing in the bay below the cliffs. From May to November, humpback whales spout offshore in numbers that genuinely make you stop walking.

For something on the water, Cape Byron Kayaks and Go Sea Kayak both run guided paddles out into the bay where dolphin sightings are almost a given. Surfers should head straight for The Pass at the eastern end of Clarkes, one of the great longboarding waves on the east coast, while beginners can book a lesson with Let's Go Surfing at Main Beach.

Do not miss the Byron Farmers Market on Thursday mornings at Cavanbah Centre, where stallholders only sell what they grow themselves, or the first Sunday Byron Community Market in Butler Street Reserve. A fifteen minute drive inland brings you to the alternative village of Bangalow for boutique shopping, and another twenty minutes further west is the magical Minyon Falls tumbling 100 metres over rainforest cliffs.

 We found mid-week stays outside school holidays felt like having Clarkes Beach to ourselves, and the park books out a long way ahead for Easter and Christmas so plan early.