How to visit a coastal town and not be an idiot

Australia’s coastal towns, once considered the hidden gems of our country, are these days heaving under the weight of tourists during peak season. Towns like Noosa, with an ordinary population of around 53,000, experience up to 2.3 million visitors throughout the year.

Meanwhile, the beaches located along the south coast of New South Wales, encompassing the hugely popular Jervis Bay, Hyams Beach and Mollymook, all swell in size during December and January.

While the towns themselves try to build enough infrastructure and tourist-friendly attractions to handle the swell of visitors, there is still something to be said for keeping each coastal town as “unspoiled” as possible. Here are some guidelines from the locals on how not to be an idiot when you visit.

Listen to episode one of Somewhere Else:

The first thing to consider: traffic. Peak season can mean traffic congestion, so try to catch a train or a plane. If you must take a car, car-pooling is a good idea.

Now, about the accommodation.

“If you’ve booked a place with Airbnb or via an accommodation website, stick to the number of guests you’ve booked. Right now, this is a big problem, and there have been complaints to the council about it.” So says the owner of a rental accommodation business in Noosa who wished to remain anonymous.

“It’s so contentious at the moment, I’d rather people not know who I am,” she says, adding that after booking more than 1000 properties for visitors on her own site, she’s had no more than two or three issues herself. “But that’s because I strongly vet them. I’ll ask for photo identification and passports, and I think everyone should do the same.”

But others aren’t quite so strict, she says, which is where the issues lie. “If you stay in a house that has room for two, don’t suddenly turn up with six or it can have a terrible impact on parking, rubbish and the house itself.”

Then, there are the parties. “People don’t realise that their neighbours are not on holidays – they are there all year round so that one party can generate four or five complaints to council because of the noise,” she says.

Another local, Michelle, from a small south coast town in New South Wales, agrees, adding that people tend to forget that their huge summer blowout is just another Saturday night for everyone else.

“Not everyone is there to party, and while we understand that New Year’s Eve can get a bit rowdy, a week’s worth of parties can be heard loud and clear three blocks away,” she says.

“And on the third or fourth night of blaring music and drunken yelling, we’re a bit fed up.”

Parties on the beach are another controversial move. “Water carries noise, so even if you think you’re being quiet, we can still hear you,” says Michelle. “I don’t want to be a party-pooper, I know young people are there to have fun, and we welcome that, it’s just that between the noise and the rubbish the next day, you just wish they were a bit more considerate,” she says.

Speaking of beaches: if the beach says don’t let your dog off the leash, then don’t let your dog off the leash. “If I’m taking my cocker spaniel for his walk at dusk, and you’ve decided to let your Doberman run riot, there is going to be trouble.”

Worse trouble, says Michelle, are powerboats and jet-skis. “We might be enjoying a pleasant afternoon just paddling around, and out of nowhere some idiot zooms right up on the beach, and you honestly worry for your life!”

But more broadly, many residents wish for a time when their little slice of heaven was not so well known. One local, who did not want to be named, said that Byron Bay remains a cautionary tale to him and his friends.

“I see these wealthy types building three-storey homes right on the beach, throwing off the whole flavour of the place, upping the housing market and obscuring the view,” he says. “It’s enough to make you want to pack up yourself.”