The Pass, Byron Bay: the lookout and the town behind it
Compiled by Surf Haunts · Updated 2026-09-21
The little rock with the wooden lookout gives The Pass a recognisable shape. There are surfers in the water, sand beside the headland and trees behind the beach. It's an easy scene to picture. The town behind it has changed rather more than that view might suggest.
The lookout beside the beach
The Pass sits within Walgun Cape Byron State Conservation Area. The national park's description of Palm Valley and nearby Fishermans Lookout puts names to the beach, vegetation and lookout that appear together in so many photographs.
That helps with the geography: The Pass is one particular part of Byron's coast. A story about Byron Bay as a whole didn't necessarily happen on this beach.
When Byron had a whaling station
Commercial whaling began in Byron Bay in 1954 and ended in October 1962. The local historical society's account of the whaling station describes a working waterfront quite different from the holiday town people know now.
This was part of Byron Bay's industrial history, rather than something centred on The Pass. It belongs in the wider picture of a town whose relationship with the sea has changed over time.
Boards arriving by train
In a 2017 interview with ABC, a local historian remembered surfers arriving by train and living on the beach during the 1960s.
It's a useful glimpse of how people came to Byron before the town became such a familiar holiday destination. It doesn't give us a single date when surfing started at The Pass, and the change from industrial town to surf destination wasn't one tidy overnight event.
What do you remember?
Do you have an old photograph of the lookout, or remember coming to Byron with a board? We'd be interested in the details, including anything we've missed.
You can email us with a memory, correction or source. We'll ask before publishing a contribution and agree how to credit it.
Our The Pass print
Our illustration follows the lookout stairs and rock beside the beach, with the headland and water around them. You can see the The Pass · Byron Bay print in the collection.
Compiled from public historical sources and fact-checked against them at the time of writing – not a first-hand or local account. Corrections and memories are welcome; we verify before publishing anything sent in.