Ballina is a coastal town, just south of Byron Bay and Lennox Head in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales.

Get in

By plane

• 1 Ballina Airport (BNK  ^IATA), Southern Cross Drive (around 5km from the centre of Ballina). Virgin Australia, Jetstar and Rex fly direct from Sydney. Jetstar flies direct from Melbourne. It does see some low cost flights, but if your purpose of going to Ballina is to get to Byron Bay and towns northward, also check flights in the Gold Coast.  

Avis, Hertz, Thrify, Budget and Europcar all operate from the terminal building.

Blanches Bus Company operate a scheduled service to the airport, travelling as far as Byron Bay for $3.60 to Ballina downtown, $9.40 to Byron.

Airport shuttles to nearby Lennox Head and Byron Bay are readily available .

Taxis operate from outside the terminal building, but a taxi to Byron Bay is expensive.

By car

Ballina is on the Pacific Highway, around 9 hours drive north of Sydney or just over 2 hours south from Brisbane.

Get around

There is a local public bus service in Ballina, that operates every day of the week. Services can be infrequent, most useful is probably the weekday shuttle that runs between Tamar St and Ballina Fair about every hour or so.

Taxis are available, as are hire cars from the major operators.

There is a shared path running along the waterfront connecting the two sides of town, suitable for walking and cycling.

See

Ballina is home to the world's largest prawn.

Buy

Ballina has two shopping areas. One is the main street, called River Street and the side streets around it, such as Tamar Street, which runs parallel to River Street. The other location is at the end of Kerr Street, where there is Ballina Fair on one side of the road and Ballina Central on the other. There is a fairly good cross section of shops between the two shopping centers, as well as Coles, Woolworths, K Mart and Big W. There are also Red Rooster, KFC and Hungry Jacks fast food outlets in the area.

There are also smaller shopping centres at East and West Ballina however these are only of interest to anybody who would be staying nearby, being mainly groceries and other services.

Eat

Ballina RSL in the main street serves excellent meals, has great views of the river and is reasonably priced

Sleep

• Ballina YHA Travellers Lodge, 36 Tamar Street, Ballina, ☏ +61 2 6686 6737. Beds from $25.00. 
• Ballina Beach Village, 440 South Ballina Beach Road, Ballina, ☏ +61 2 6686 3347. Situated in an unsurpassed location of natural seclusion with a complement of wonderful recreational facilities and miles of priceless ocean beaches and saltwater fishing at its best. We provide fully serviced caravan sites and self contained cabins. 

There are several cheap but comfortable motels on the Pacific Highway at West Ballina starting from $60 a night through to just over $100. There are also some located on Cherry Street in the middle of town-these are slightly, but not that much more upmarket.

Go next

Byron Bay is the most well known beachside destination in the region, but the Gold Coast and theme parks are also a possible day trip from here. Ballina itself has some nice beaches, including Lighthouse and Shelly beach, which are the two beaches patrolled by Surf Life Savers, as well as the more secluded Angel's Beach, which is nice to walk along, and Sharps Beach, which also has an occasional Life Saver presence. Between Sharps beach, and Angel's Beach is Flat Rock, a large rocky outcrop into the sea. A short walk away is Boulder Beach, which has large boulders instead of sand. The walk, however is unsignposted. Lennox Head, between Byron Bay and Ballina is also close by.

Routes through Ballina

Brisbane ← Gold Coast ← Bangalow ←	N  S	→ becomes
becomes ←	N  S	→ Evans Head → Coffs Harbour
Byron Bay ← Lennox Head ←	N  S	→ END