Captain Cook Lookout & Picnic Area

The easternmost point of mainland Australia sits just beyond this lookout, and on a clear morning the light here does something the rest of Byron can't replicate. Perched on Lighthouse Rd above the cape, the Captain Cook Lookout gives you the full sweep: ocean on three sides, the lighthouse behind you, humpback whales passing through between June and November. There are picnic tables, which means this is genuinely one of the few spots in Byron where you can eat your own food with a view that would cost you sixty dollars at a restaurant. No entry fee, no queue, no menu. Arrive early to beat the tour buses that start pulling in mid-morning. Sunset draws a crowd too, but the real move is dawn, when the light comes in low off the Pacific and the cape is almost entirely yours.