what's better coffs harbour or byron bay

Even better is to stay at Lake Ainsworth caravan park in Lennox Head. It is quiet but only metres from the ocean and fresh water Lake Ainsworth.

There are numerous nice cafes and shops. It is 20 kms south of Byron Bay where paid parking is around the CBD. It is 10 kms from two big shopping centres in Ballina.

Coffs Harbour has its beautiful areas but does have the Pacific Highway running through the middle of town.

Hope that helps.

DW

Both are beautiful areas, but if you can indicate how long you want to stay and the sort of things you want to see and do then maybe we can give you a better answer.

Cheers,

Val

G'day Mac

If those are your two options, then Byron Bay.

Cheers
John

Byron smaller than Coffs, trendier boutiques cafes etc. Nice beach and less than 1 hour from Surfers.

Don't personally like Coffs itself - too big, busy and ugly but immediate surrounds are nice and plenty of day trips around the place and 4x4 action.

We're off to SW Rocks in a week or so.

Depends what kind of place you want. There are other options apart from these too.

The town of Coffs is big and busy with nothing much to recommend it. If you are after a lovely beach and just normal services like supermarket etc there are many nicer places to stay along that stretch of coast, Woolgoolga for one.
Byron Bay is trendy, usually crowded and very expensive but a bit more interesting than Coffs with lovely country around it.
Is there any special reason you have chosen these two places out of all the NSW coast? Do you need to book ahead? Unless you are travelling in school holiday time or under a sadly tight schedule, just try leaving Sydney, heading north and checking out a few places. The local tourist info centres all have heaps of stuff and will usually post local guides etc to you if you contact them. Lynne and John

I live in Coffs Harbour.
All the replies are true.
There is vacant land down at the Coffs foreshores where people have been stopping overnight.
The council have deemed it is not going to continue and will fine you and move you on.
So not friendly to free campers in the area.
There is no parking for vans etc. near the supermarkets unless you arrive there early.
Fuel is expensive unless you shop at Woolworths.
Twenty five minutes to the north you will find Woolgoolga.
The Pacific Hwy now bypasses this town.
It has three supermarkets and a soon to be commenced Woolworths.
One fuel station
The caravan park on Lake road is on the beach and has no jumping castles etc. is tidy and well maintained and if you wish to have an evening walk on a pristine ocean beach twenty metres from your caravan this your place.
There is a pub and restaurants and you can walk back home along the the beach.
Thirty minutes further north You will find Yurigur NP and Station Creek ( which we like to keep a secret)
Emerald Beach is another nice caravan park between Coffs and Woolgoolga.

My wife found these places and said these could be ok to stop at but since we haven't done any travel on the east coast other then to major cities we don't know where to stop.

She was looking for something halfway between Sydney and gold coast.

We also have the kids in tow so like to get them out of the car when we can. Since we won't be in our rig just a hire car it won't have the dvd players and gear so they won't last overly long without fighting.

We are thinking that Byron bay is too close to gold coast and we could just drive in if we went there. So something about halfway would be ideal.

I presume you won't be stopping for long, you will just be driving through?

IF you haven't travelled to regional NSW before the big contrast to WA (I travelled the WA wheat belt often), is that to a Sandgropper what looks on a map like a town with population 2000 people, will in fact be 10-15 000 people.
So any place will be fine.
IF you are just passing through, it makes no difference where you stop, the country either side of Coff's or around Byron is picturesque, different to anything in WA.

Coff's will be just over half way, if before May, you may want to stay in a cabin in one of the numerous caravan parks on the beach from Sawtell just south of Coff's to Corindi 40km north of Coff's and let the kids go swimming.

We live in Sawtell and highly recommend the caravan park. I'm sure it will tick all your boxes.
Sawtell caravan park

Another thought to consider. Compared to travelling up the West Coast you will find the Pacific Highway from Sydney to Qld very slow! Once you are past Taree there are many two lane stretches and currently lots of road works with extensive 40k zones and, of course, many trucks. To reach Byron Bay would be a long hard trip. With children in the car you might have a much more enjoyable trip with two stops or one longer stop close to a good beach for the kids. Lynne

The lorikeet Tourist is a perfect place, 5 hrs from Sydney, 4hrs fromGold Coast
It is a top tourist park, small but really lovely, and 100 mtrs from a lovely beach. They have a heated spa to relax in after your day driving, and you can get the amble Inn to collect you and yours for a nice meal 5 min from park I their courtesy bus.
Check this on your computer, we use it all the time.