During the summer school holidays in December and January, Australians converge here by the thousands.
The restaurants, boutiques and streets are packed and traffic on single-lane roads is often backed up for kilometres.
But people continue to flock here, year after year, building holiday homes up and down the coast.
Despite the influx of trendy urbanites, the region has managed to maintain its earthy, bohemian lifestyle.
Few people seem to be in a rush. Many of the locals know one another by name and stop to exchange pleasantries and news when they bump into one another around town.
It is taken for granted that the fantastic produce, which comes straight to the table from neighbouring farms, is organic and sustainably produced.
Surfers, backpackers and the eco-conscious remain a core presence, so does a strong spiritual community.
Town billboards are covered in notices for reiki healers, yoga retreats and energy workshops.
Crystal Castle and Shambhala Garden (www.crystalcastle.com.au), a private park 20 minutes inland from Byron Bay, offers aura readings, meditation paths and some of the biggest crystals in the world.
The region's mild climate, with sunny days and warm temperatures almost year round, also makes it easy to avoid the busy summer season.
While July is the coldest month, with temperatures dipping into the teens, spring from September to November is ideal, when the weather and water are warmer and there is low chance of rain.
Late summer to autumn is also a good time to visit. In February, when the crowds are gone, visitors can still enjoy the summer weather and temperatures stay in the mid-20s through May.
You want to go when the weather is good because there is so much in the Northern Rivers to see and do, from sea kayaking and stand-up paddleboarding to mountain biking and hiking the magnificent coastal walks.
Go hang-gliding or fly in a microlight aircraft. Learn to surf with one of half a dozen surf schools in Byron, or attend the world-renowned Byron Bay Blues Fest (www.bluesfest.com.au).
When it started in 1990, the festival attracted 6,000 people. Today, more than 100,000 people attend the annual event, held over five days of the long Easter weekend on a tea tree farm a few kilometres north of Byron Bay.
The festival showcases more than 200 performers across seven stages and attracts big names such as Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, Alabama Shakes, John Mayer, Joss Stone and B.B. King.
Or you can eat your way through the region, as I did, hopping from one restaurant to another.
The restaurant at The Byron at Byron Resort & Spa, built amid 20ha of subtropical rainforest (www.thebyronatbyron.com.au), where I had a salad of fresh burrata and bright red, juicy tomatoes, fresh spring risotto and perfectly cooked white fish, was the best meal of my trip and a particular highlight.
But with the freshest of produce and seafood caught right off the coast, it is hard to go wrong with any restaurant one chooses.
An hour's drive north of Bryon Bay takes visitors into the Tweed Shire, where the award-winning Halcyon House (halcyonhouse.com.au) luxury boutique hotel opened on Cabarita Beach in 2015.
Every detail, nook and cranny of the uber-stylish blue and white themed hotel has been designed to an Instagram-worthy T.
And the food at the hotel's restaurant Paper Daisy, led by ex-Noma chef Ben Devlin, highlighting local, coastal flavours, is divine.
My starter of handmade semolina pasta with clams in a garlic cream sauce, topped with lemon myrtle, native pepper and purple flowers, was as tasty as it was pretty.
And the catch of the day, grilled in paper bark with onion, seaweed and beach plants, was smoky, delightfully different and perfectly cooked.
The area's mild climate and fertile volcanic soil mean that the region can grow a wide variety of fruit, vegetables and nuts, including the macadamia nut, which is native to the area.
Coffee has been grown here since the 1800s and travellers can pick up a bag of freshly roasted beans at Zentveld's (shop.zentvelds.com.au), a coffee farm in Newrybar, a 20-minute drive from Byron Bay.
Be sure to buy a bottle of Ink Gin (inkgin.com), a remarkable spirit which is handmade locally with native herbs such as lemon myrtle, Tasmanian pepperberry and liquorice root.
An infusion of butterfly pea flower (the same one used to colour Nonya kueh such as pulut tai tai) gives it a unique indigo hue that changes to shades of lavender when mixed with tonic water, though the gin is light and floral enough to drink on its own.
With so much to eat, experience and explore, it is easy to see why Byron Bay and the Northern Rivers region are among Australia's top holiday spots.
On my last morning in Byron Bay, I take a walk along Tallow Beach, marvelling at the purity and immensity of it.
Digging my toes into the soft white sand, enjoying the sound of the wind and the waves, I try to absorb as much of Byron's calm, honest energy as I can.
There is something intangibly special about the place.
And one thing is clear - life is good here.
Tropical Fruit World
Tropical Fruit World (www.tropicalfruitworld.com.au), a working farm in an area called the Tweed Valley, is one of the region's most popular sites - and for good reason. The Tweed Valley, about a 45-minute drive north of Byron Bay, was formed 20 million years ago by a volcano eruption which left behind rich volcanic soil.
The rich earth coupled with a sub-tropical climate has made Tweed Valley, along with the Daintree Rainforest in Northern Queensland and Kakadu National Park in Northern Territories, one of the most bio- diverse regions in Australia.
The 65ha Tropical Fruit World grows more than 500 types of fruit, including 12 varieties of avocados and 42 types of mangoes. It also grows exotic fruit such as the jabuticaba, a grape-like fruit native to Brazil; the mamey sapote, which tastes like spiced pumpkin pie; and the rollinia deliciosa, a type of custard apple which reminds one of lemon meringue pie.
Fruit grown here is sold at markets in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane and Perth, but visitors can buy the fruit straight from the source.
The gift shop is also a great place to pick up souvenirs such as jams and sauces, avocado and lemon myrtle soaps, nuts, honey and locally crafted homeware.
Visitors can explore the farm on a two-hour plantation safari - a fully guided tour by tractor train.
The ticket to the farm, which costs A$45 (S$48) an adult, A$25 a child and A$110 for a family of four (two adults, two children), includes the tour, fruit tasting and access to the farm's facilities such as its mini putt golf course, flying fox ride and barnyard with animals including sheep, donkeys, goats and a Clydesdale horse.
The Farm
Nowhere is the farm-to-table ethos exemplified more than at The Farm (www.thefarmbyronbay.com.au), a 32ha working farm less than 10km from Byron Bay.
The Farm grows fresh flowers and vegetables such as garlic, ginger, broccoli and kale, as well as 4,500 trees, including the indigenous macadamia tree.
In addition to that, it raises about 500 chickens, 31 heritage-breed pigs and dozens of Scottish Highland cattle.
One can taste the vegetables at the on-site restaurant, Three Blue Ducks (www.threeblueducks.com), which uses all produce within three days of being harvested.
The restaurant's first outlet is in the Bronte Beach neighbourhood of Sydney, which also had a farm-to- table philosophy.
Opening the second outlet in early 2015 at the farm seemed a natural fit.
The restaurant uses eggs that come directly from the farm's chicken coop and its chefs go straight to the paddock to pick the animals to be butchered.
As a result, the dishes are as fresh as one can expect, complemented with baked goods from the on-site bakery, Bread Social.
The farm also has a produce store and a florist, where you can buy vegetables and flowers.
The farm is free to enter. Guests can pick up or download a map at the entrance and tour the property to see the fields and animals on their own.
Alternatively, they can join a guided hour-long tour at 10am every day (admission: A$10 an adult, A$5 a child or A$25 for a family of four).
The Farm organises workshops, yoga, live music shows and courses on topics such as ethical farming, bee keeping, organic growing and natural building, to inspire people to reconnect with the land.
A playground and hen house next to the restaurant provides entertainment for children.