Cheeky Monkeys: what we know about the venue change

After 24 years, the iconic backpacker bar at 115 Jonson is transitioning. Here's the current status.

By Byron Bay Backpackers editorial team

Cheeky Monkeys, the backpacker institution directly across from the old Holiday Village site, has been winding down its original-format trading since early 2024 under new ownership reported by Echo NetDaily. We had it marked "transitioning" on our venues page and have been getting reader emails asking what's actually open.

Status as of this week: Cheeky Monkeys is no longer running its original beer-pong-and-$5-dinner format. The space is being reformatted under hospitality-group ownership. We're holding off on a full review until the new concept lands and stabilises.

For the de facto replacement: Woody's Surf Shack a block away on Jonson is where the late-night backpacker crowd has migrated. The Beach Hotel sunset lawn still works. The Rails (Railway Friendly Bar) has the live music every night that Cheeky used to run on Wednesdays. None of them are 1:1 — Cheeky was its own thing — but the social density has redistributed.