Yamba

Yamba is situated at the mouth of the Clarence River in northern New South WAles and is the biggest river on the east coast of Australia. Yamba has a relaxed lifestyle with access to all services and within easy reach of major regional centres and capital cities.

Yamba is surrounded by Yuraygir National Park, the Clarence River, Pacific Ocean and rural land. The Yaegl people are traditional custodians of the coastal areas around Yamba, Iluka and Maclean

A great quiet spot for fishing or prawning, Yamba also contains a host of beaches that are super for surfing or other waterways for diving. In particular, the rock pool at Yamba Beach is an excellent swimming set-up for any family. Views from the Yamba Lighthouse are striking and two nearby coastal parks, Yuraygir and Bundjalung, are day trips all on their own.

For some 60,000 years Aboriginal tribes were the sole inhabitants of the Yamba region, the best known being the Yiegara people. Then the great English explorer and navigator Matthew Flinders came ashore at Shoal Bay in July 1799, just 11 years after Port Phillip, later known as Sydney was established.

Yamba town was officially gazetted in 1885, as the area’s varied tourist attractions became known. In 1908 the Yamba Surf Lifesaving Club was formed, guesthouses and hotels arose, the region’s fishing industry began to expand and sugar cane became an established crop.

Riverboats and steamers that plied between Grafton and Sydney were gradually replaced by rail and better road connections and from the 1970s Yamba’s appeal as a holiday resort started to impact on the people of both New South Wales and Southern Queensland.