Belongil or Clarkes: Which Byron Bay Beach Wins
Published 2026-09-17. Conditions described are typical and never guaranteed.
The short answer before you read on
If you want a swim, go to Clarkes Beach. If you want a walk, go to Belongil Beach. That is the whole comparison compressed into a single line, and most of the time it holds. Clarkes sits in the sheltered eastern curve of the bay, it is patrolled in the summer season with flagged swim areas, and the water tends to read softer and calmer than the open coast. Belongil runs the other way, west out of town toward the creek mouth, and it is generally not patrolled, an open ocean beach that can carry surf, rips and shifting sandbanks. One is a place you get in the water. The other is a place you watch the water.
So the choice is not really which beach is better. Both are lovely, both are free public sand, both sit close to the town centre. The choice is what you actually plan to do when you arrive. Below I split it by the kind of morning you are after, and I flag the specific conditions that flip the answer, because they do flip.
Clarkes for the swimmer and the family
Clarkes is the calm version of Byron. It curves between the central town sand and The Pass, backed by pandanus and casuarina, narrower and more gathered than the big open beach, with shaded edges that stay pleasant well into a warm morning. That shelter is the point. Tucked into the eastern hook of the bay, the water here is usually gentler than the exposed centre, and it is patrolled in season with flags to swim between. For anyone travelling with children, for a nervous swimmer, or for anyone who simply wants to float rather than fight the shore break, this is the sounder pick of the two.
The best of it is early. Head for the eastern end toward The Pass at first light, where the curve does the most work on the water and the pandanus throws shade before the sun climbs. You get a still float and a slow walk before the sand fills. Come mid morning in the summer peak and the calm gets shared with a lot of other people who have worked out the same thing, so the genuine quiet belongs to the early risers.
Be honest with yourself about what Clarkes is not, though. It is still ocean. In a swell or an onshore wind it can carry surf and rips like anywhere along this coast, and the patrol setup shifts along the town to Clarkes stretch through the day. Swim between the flags, read the sea on the day, and treat conditions as typical rather than promised. There are also no daybed clubs on this sand and fewer facilities than the central beach, so bring your own shade. That plainness is part of why it stays restful.
Who Clarkes suits
- Families who want a patrolled, gentler swim close to town
- Early swimmers chasing a still float before the crowds
- Anyone who wants coffee a short walk away but the noise left behind
Belongil for the walker, the dog and the sunset
Belongil is the slow, bohemian side of Byron. It is a long, soft run of golden sand heading west toward the creek, backed by dunes and homes, wider and noticeably quieter than the central beach. Where Clarkes is a swimming curve, Belongil is a walking line. It rewards a dawn stroll with the light coming up behind you, an unhurried sit, and an evening that ends with the sun dropping over an open horizon. This is the beach for the people who came to Byron to decompress rather than to tick things off.
It has long been one of the more relaxed, dog associated stretches in the area too, which pulls a particular kind of visitor: locals with a lead, travellers who want space, couples who would rather share a long table under the trees than a busy patch of sand. Council rules and any off leash areas and times do change, so check the current signage before you arrive and keep dogs under control and away from wildlife. But the easy, low key feel is real and it is the main reason to choose Belongil over Clarkes.
The catch is the water, and it is a firm one. Belongil is generally not patrolled. It has no headland to shelter it, so it can carry surf, rips and changing sandbanks, and it reads far more convincingly as a place to walk and sit than a place to swim. This is not me being cautious for the sake of it. If a real swim is on your list, that swim should happen elsewhere. Come to Belongil to move slowly along the sand and watch the light, and save the water for a beach with flags.
Who Belongil suits
- Walkers who want a long, open, quieter stretch of sand
- Dog owners, subject to current council signage
- Couples after a slow sunset and a relaxed table behind the beach
The situations that flip the answer
The head to head is clean until the weather and your plans complicate it, so here is where each beach quietly overtakes the other.
When Belongil wins even though you wanted a swim. If the bay is flat and glassy at dawn, and what you actually crave is solitude and a long uninterrupted walk with no one else on the sand, Belongil beats Clarkes hands down. On a calm, still winter morning it is beautifully empty, and any gentle wade you take is a bonus rather than the reason you came. The width and the quiet are things Clarkes cannot match once the town wakes up.
When Clarkes wins even though you wanted a walk. If there is any swell running, if it is peak summer, or if you have children who will want to get wet within ten minutes of arriving, Clarkes is the responsible answer. A walk on Clarkes under the pandanus is still a fine walk, and you get the safety net of a patrolled swim beside it. Belongil offers no such backup on a lively day, and a beautiful walk is small comfort if half your group wanted to cool off.
Rule of thumb: pick Clarkes when the sea is up or the group is mixed, and pick Belongil when the sea is down and you simply want to wander.
Sand, water, facilities and crowd, side by side
On sand, both are soft and golden. Belongil is longer, wider and more open; Clarkes is narrower, more sheltered and better shaded. On water, this is the real divide: Clarkes is gentler and patrolled in season, Belongil is open and unpatrolled. On facilities, neither is lavish, and both keep the town centre a short walk or drive away, though Belongil has the relaxed eateries set just behind its sand while Clarkes offers showers and access tracks with the cafes and bakeries further west. On crowd, Belongil generally feels the quieter and slower of the two, while Clarkes stays calm early but gathers a proper summer crowd by the middle of the morning.
If neither is quite right
Sometimes the honest call is that both of these are close to town and you want to go further. For a rainforest backed reserve and a wild, thin crowd swim for confident swimmers, Broken Head is the quiet green antidote south of town. For a sheltered local nook at the southern end of Tallow, Cosy Corner is a gentle early swim away from the parking battles. If a slow, low key trip is the whole point, our roundup of the area's more secluded beaches and the notes on the best months to visit will help you time it, and couples can read our Byron for two picks for the sunset end of things.
Planning a club day in Byron Bay
Neither Belongil nor Clarkes is a daybed scene, and that is deliberate: they are public sand for walking and swimming rather than booking. If a lounger, a table and service by the water is what you are after for one day of the trip, look at the destination's dedicated venues instead. Browse our Byron Bay beach clubs guide to compare the options and enquire about a club day, and see the wider Byron Bay hub for how the whole coast fits together.