Explore Byron Bay (Aunty Delta Kay)

Our review

Aunty Delta Kay runs 90-minute Bundjalung walks at Walgun (the Bundjalung name for the Cape Byron headland), Bangalow, and Broken Head Nature Reserve, plus 1-hour and 2.5-hour Cape Byron Lighthouse tours. Indigenous-owned and led — the only first-person Country tour in Byron. If you're going to do one cultural experience in Byron, this is it. Cape Byron and the surrounding region is Bundjalung Arakwal Country, and walking it with a Traditional Custodian is a fundamentally different experience to walking it as a tourist with a brochure.

Who it suits: every visitor with respect for Indigenous-led storytelling and the cultural context of the place they're visiting. Especially valuable for international backpackers who otherwise won't get any direct exposure to Australia's First Nations cultures during their trip; for school groups; for couples and travellers wanting to slow down a Byron visit beyond the surf-and-bar circuit.

What you'll experience: a small-group walking tour through Country with traditional naming, plant medicine teaching, story-sharing about the area's deep history (well predating European settlement), and contemporary Bundjalung culture. Aunty Delta Kay is an Arakwal Bundjalung woman and Traditional Custodian; this is not a re-enactment or a packaged experience, it's a personal relationship with Country shared at her pace.

Pricing: tours from $60 per person (varies by tour and group size). Bookable through explorebyronbay.com directly. We don't earn commission on this one and we list it without asking.

What stands out: the Gold award for Excellence in Cultural Tourism at the 2024 North Coast Tourism Awards, and the fact that this is one of very few Indigenous-owned tour operations in Byron — a town built on Cavanbah (the Bundjalung name meaning "meeting place") that doesn't always foreground that history in its mainstream tourism offering. Aunty Delta is widely respected; this is a serious cultural offering, not a tourism product.

The respect note: this is Country, and Aunty Delta is sharing knowledge generously. Show up on time, pay attention, ask thoughtful questions, leave the experience changed. Don't approach this as a "thing to tick off" — it deserves your attention more than the kayak tour.

We'd actively recommend booking Aunty Delta's tour over almost anything else listed on this page. Surfing and skydiving and breweries are great. Walking on Walgun with someone whose family has been here for thousands of years is another category entirely.

Wider context: see also Bundjalung of Byron Bay (Arakwal) RNTBC at arakwal.com.au for the formal Native Title body. Arakwal National Park is co-managed with Traditional Custodians. The Wollumbin (Mt Warning) summit track has been closed since 2020 (NSW National Parks has extended the closure to 30 June 2027) and the mountain is deeply significant to Bundjalung people — please respect this if you're heading into the hinterland.

Written by the Byron Bay Backpackers editorial team. Independent. No paid placement.