Contact
Tell us the date and the number of people
That is enough to start. We answer within one business hour, Monday to Saturday, and every quote comes in writing with the vehicle and the inclusions spelled out.
Send an enquiry
Fields marked with an asterisk are required. Everything else helps us quote accurately first time.
Call us
Monday to Saturday, 8:00am – 6:00pm AEST. Bookings and pickups run seven days; the office is staffed Monday to Saturday.
Email us
Include the date, the passenger count and the pickup suburb and we can usually quote on the first reply.
Head office
14 Dakara Street, Southport QLD 4215
This is our depot and administrative office, not a shopfront. All Byron Bay and Northern Rivers work is door-to-door — there is nothing you need to visit.
Where we operate
Byron Bay, Bangalow, Ewingsdale, Suffolk Park, Lennox Head, Ballina, Brunswick Heads, Mullumbimby, Ocean Shores, Tweed Heads, Kingscliff, Murwillumbah, Nimbin, Lismore, Casino, Gold Coast and the surrounding Northern Rivers and Gold Coast region. Travelling further afield? Ask — we run interstate charters regularly.
Which channel
Phone, email or the form — and when each is better
The price is identical whichever way you reach us. What differs is how fast you get a useful answer.
Use the form for anything with details
Charters, weddings, group transfers and tours. The form captures the things we would otherwise have to ring you back for — passenger count, pickup address, times, luggage — which usually means the first reply you get is a quote rather than a question.
It is also the only channel that works at 11pm, which is when a surprising share of wedding planning happens.
Call if it is urgent or complicated
A transfer tomorrow, a coach that has not arrived, a change to a booking that is already confirmed, or an itinerary with enough moving parts that a conversation beats an email thread. You get a person, not a menu.
Call if you are not sure what you need, too. “I have got thirty people and a wedding at a place near Federal and no idea what to do” is a completely normal opening and we will work it out with you.
Email for documents and follow-ups
Flight manifests, guest lists, gear inventories, purchase orders, and anything your finance team needs in writing. Also the right channel for compliance documents — accreditation, driver authority, certificates of currency.
What we cannot do by any channel
Quote a charter without knowing the date, the passenger count and roughly where it is going. Those three things are the minimum. Everything else we can work around.
Response times
- Within opening hours: one business hour
- Outside them: when we open next
- Office staffed: Monday to Saturday, 8:00am – 6:00pm AEST
- Travel itself: seven days, any hour, by arrangement
Writing a good enquiry
What to include, by job type
Every one of these lists exists because leaving something off it is what causes a quote to change later. Include them and the first figure is the final figure.
Wedding
- Ceremony and reception venue names, not areas
- Where guests are staying — suburbs or hotel names
- Ceremony start time and the venue's curfew
- Adult and child numbers counted separately, with the ages of any children
- Anyone with mobility needs
- Whether the wedding party travels with the guests
Airport transfer
- Flight number and arrival date — not just the time
- Destination address
- Passenger count
- Boards, clubs, bikes, prams, instruments
- Return flight details if you have them
Day tour
- Preferred date, and whether it is flexible
- Group size and age range
- Mobility needs and dietary requirements
- Budget per head, if there is one
- Pickup suburb
Corporate or conference
- The arrivals list with flight numbers, if you have one
- Venue and accommodation addresses
- Whether you need a looping shuttle or point-to-point runs
- Offsite dinner details and a published return time
- Departure day flight list
- Purchase order requirements
School or youth group
- Student numbers and supervising adults
- Student ages, for restraint requirements
- Which compliance documents your school requires
- Departure and return times, and the school address
- Any student with specific access needs
Party bus
- Date, start time and expected finish
- Passenger count and whether anyone is under 18
- The venues, in order
- Whether you want alcohol on board
After you send it
What happens next
1. A person reads it
Not a quoting engine. If something in the brief will not work — a coach that cannot reach the driveway, a timing with no margin — you hear about it in the first reply.
2. A written quote
Vehicle class, itinerary, inclusions, total with GST shown separately, the additional hourly rate if the job runs long, and the cancellation terms for your booking.
3. Compliance on request
Operator accreditation, driver authority, Working With Children verification and the certificate of currency. Ask and they come with the quote.
4. A deposit confirms it
25% without a credit account, balance due four days before travel. Nothing is held tentatively — a booking exists when we confirm it in writing.
5. Confirmation and a driver
You get the itinerary, the driver's name and a direct mobile number before the day. Not a switchboard.
6. Bus Buck$ afterwards
Ten per cent of what you paid, against your next trip with any operator in the group.
Making the booking
Deposits, payment, changes and cancellations
A summary in plain language. The binding version is on our terms page, and nothing here limits your rights under the Australian Consumer Law.
Confirming a booking
A quotation is not a booking. We do not hold tentative bookings, because holding a Saturday coach in December for someone who has not committed means turning away someone who has. A booking exists once we issue a written confirmation.
For customers without a credit account, a deposit of 25% confirms it, with the balance due no later than four days before travel. With an approved credit account, no deposit is required unless the booking exceeds your limit — in which case the deposit is the difference. Customers outside Australia pay in full seven days before travel.
Paying
Card payments carry a surcharge of 1.75% for Visa and Mastercard, which reflects our cost of acceptance and is disclosed before you pay rather than added at the end. Bank transfer carries no surcharge. GST is shown separately on every invoice.
Changing a booking
Amendments are subject to availability, must be requested in writing, and are confirmed in writing. An amendment fee of up to $50 may apply where substantial rescheduling is involved, plus any third-party costs the change causes.
Extending on the day is usually possible. Additional hours are charged at the rate shown on your confirmation — a number you will have seen before the day, so it is never a surprise on the invoice.
Cancelling
More than four days out, up to 25% of the booking value. Inside four days but not on the day, up to 50%. On the day of travel, up to 100%. The fee never exceeds the value of the booking. Third-party cancellation charges already incurred on your behalf are payable in addition.
If we cancel for any reason other than your breach of the terms, you choose between a full refund and a rescheduled date at no extra cost.
Your consumer rights
Our services come with guarantees that cannot be excluded under the Australian Consumer Law — that they are provided with due care and skill, fit for the purpose we agreed, and supplied within a reasonable time.
Where a term above appears to limit that, the law prevails. If we fail to supply the service, the cancellation table does not apply to you.
Complaints and feedback
If something goes wrong
Tell us first
Call 0409 661 342 or email bookings@byronbaybuses.com. We aim to acknowledge a complaint within two business days and resolve it within ten. Most things — a driver who was late, a vehicle that was not what you expected, an invoice that does not match the quote — are fixed in one phone call.
If it happened on the day and it is still happening, ring the driver's direct number rather than the office. That is why we give it to you.
If our answer is not good enough
You can take it to the consumer protection regulator in your state: NSW Fair Trading, the Queensland Office of Fair Trading, or the ACCC. We would rather resolve it directly, but we are not going to pretend those options do not exist.
Privacy requests
Email bookings@byronbaybuses.com with “Privacy request” in the subject line to ask for a copy of the personal information we hold about you, or to have something corrected. We respond within 30 days and there is no charge. Full detail is in our privacy policy.
Feedback that is not a complaint
Equally welcome, and genuinely read. If a driver did something well, say so — it gets passed on, and it is a lot of what keeps good drivers here.
Everything in one place
- Phone: 0409 661 342
- Email: bookings@byronbaybuses.com
- Office: 14 Dakara Street, Southport QLD 4215
- Hours: Monday to Saturday, 8:00am – 6:00pm AEST
Coverage
Where we collect from as standard
Everywhere listed here is inside the standard service area, which means the run from our depot to your pickup is already inside the quoted price rather than added afterwards as a call-out fee.
Byron Shire
Byron Bay, Wategos, Suffolk Park, Broken Head, Ewingsdale, Tyagarah, Bangalow, Federal, Newrybar, Brunswick Heads, New Brighton, Ocean Shores and Mullumbimby.
Ballina and south
Lennox Head, Skennars Head, Ballina, Ballina Byron Gateway Airport and Alstonville.
Tweed and the border
Tweed Heads, Kingscliff, Cabarita, Casuarina, Pottsville, Murwillumbah, and the Gold Coast side including Coolangatta, Currumbin and the airport.
Inland
Lismore, Nimbin, Casino, Coorabell, Possum Creek, Montecollum and the Nightcap villages.
Somewhere not on the list? Ask anyway. Interstate and longer-range charter is routine through the wider group, and Brisbane, the Sunshine Coast and beyond are normal requests rather than unusual ones.
Common situations
Answers to the things people ring about
“I need something for tomorrow”
Call rather than using the form. Same-day and next-day work is often possible outside peak season, and the phone is the only channel fast enough to be useful. In December, January and across festival weekends the honest answer is frequently no — not because of price, but because every vehicle in the region is committed.
“How much is a bus to Byron Bay?”
We cannot answer that without a date, a passenger count and a starting point, and any operator who gives you a figure without them is quoting something they will revise later. Send those three things and you will have a real number within the hour.
“Can you beat this other quote?”
Send it to us and we will tell you honestly whether it is comparable. Frequently it is not — a cheaper figure that excludes tolls, airport parking, waiting time or GST is not a cheaper job. If theirs genuinely is better, we will say so.
“Do you do one-way drop-offs?”
Yes. Point-to-point transfers are quoted as a fixed price rather than on the three-hour charter minimum. Tell us both addresses and the time.
“My group size might change”
Normal, especially for weddings. Give us your best estimate and the likely range, and we will tell you at which number the vehicle class changes. Then you know exactly when to call us back, and there are no surprises either way.
“We are not sure of the date yet”
Ask anyway. We will tell you which dates are already tight, which is often the deciding factor for a wedding or a conference. It costs nothing and it can save you booking a venue for a weekend when no coach in the region is available.
“Is there a shopfront I can visit?”
No. Our office and depot are at Southport on the Gold Coast, and there is nothing to visit in Byron Bay. Every job here is door-to-door, and everything can be arranged by phone, email or the form.
“Who actually turns up?”
A named driver whose details you receive before the day, in a vehicle of the class stated on your confirmation. If the specific vehicle matters — it occasionally does for photography — say so at booking and we will commit to it in writing.
Working with us
Accounts, purchase orders and recurring work
Most of our corporate, school and community clients run on an account rather than paying per trip. If you expect to book more than a few times a year, it is worth setting one up.
Credit accounts
An approved account removes the deposit requirement for bookings inside your limit and lets you consolidate invoicing. Schools, councils, aged care providers, hotels and event companies typically operate this way. Ask and we will send the application.
Purchase orders
We accept POs and will reference them on the invoice. Tell us the number at booking rather than after the fact — matching an invoice to a PO retrospectively is avoidable work for both of us.
Standing arrangements
Recurring staff shuttles, weekly community transport and regular club outings run on rolling monthly agreements with a fixed monthly figure, so it can sit in a budget rather than arriving as a variable cost. Groups on standing arrangements also get consistency of driver, which regular passengers notice more than anything else we do.
Tender and procurement
If you need us to respond to a formal tender or supply a compliance pack for a procurement process, email rather than calling. We will need lead time, and the documents you require listed explicitly.
Send us three things
The date, the number of people, and where it is going. That is enough for a written quote on almost any job we do.
Everything else on this page is detail that helps. Those three are the minimum, and without them nobody can quote you honestly.
Planning ahead
How far in advance to get in touch
The most common reason we have to say no is not price. It is that somebody called in November for a Saturday in December.
Weekday transfers, off-peak
A few days is usually enough. February, March, September and October are the easiest months of the year to get a vehicle at short notice, and they are also the best months to be in Byron Bay — which is a happy coincidence rather than a coincidence at all.
Weekend charters, off-peak
Two to three weeks. Saturdays go first, and they go earlier than people expect.
Weddings
Six to eight weeks minimum, and more if the date is in December, January or across Easter. Byron Bay runs out of coaches long before it runs out of guests, and a wedding with no transport plan is a wedding with fifteen hire cars at a hinterland venue.
Festival weekends and December Saturdays
Three to six months. Across Easter and the big camping festivals, every coach in the Northern Rivers is committed to shuttle work, and a Christmas party on a December Friday or Saturday should be booked by September.
January
Book in October. This is not a sales tactic. The first three weeks of January are the single hardest period of the year to source a coach in this region, and by December there is frequently nothing available at any price.
Conferences and multi-day events
As soon as the venue is confirmed. Ground transport is the part organisers leave until last and the part that runs out first, and a timetable built early is cheaper than one assembled under pressure.
If you are not sure yet, get in touch anyway. We will tell you which dates are already tight before you commit to a venue, and that information alone has changed more than a few wedding dates for the better.
Accessibility
Telling us what your group needs
The earlier this comes up, the better we can handle it. Almost every access requirement is straightforward when it is known at booking and difficult when it is discovered on the morning.
Limited mobility
Several vehicles have a low first step and grab rails, and drivers are used to unhurried boarding. We also choose drop points closer to entrances and build extra time into the schedule.
Wheelchair access
Arranged case by case rather than guaranteed across the fleet. Tell us whether the chair folds and whether the passenger can transfer to a seat, and give us as much notice as you can.
Assistance animals
Welcome on every vehicle at no charge, with no notice required. Other animals are by arrangement only.
Child restraints
Supplied on request. Give us the ages rather than just the number of children so we can confirm what the law requires for that vehicle class.
Comfort stops
Built into long routes at roughly ninety-minute intervals. If anyone in the group needs them more frequently, say so — it changes the timing, not whether we can do it.
Dietary requirements
Where a tour includes catering, give us allergies and dietary needs at least 72 hours ahead and they are handled at no extra cost.
Language and communication
Our drivers operate in English. If your group needs commentary or safety information in another language, tell us at booking — for tour work we can often arrange it, and where we cannot we will say so rather than leaving you to discover it on the day.
We would rather say no than get it wrong
If we cannot meet a requirement for your date, you will be told plainly at quote stage. A group that arrives to find the vehicle does not work for one of its members has had its day ruined, and no amount of apology afterwards fixes that.
The short version of this whole page
Send us the date, the number of people and where it is going. You will have a written quote within one business hour, and the figure on it is the figure you pay.
Everything else here — the checklists, the lead times, the deposit terms, the access information — exists to help you get a good answer on the first reply rather than the third. None of it is required. A one-line message with those three details is a perfectly good enquiry, and we will ask you for anything else we need.
If you would rather talk it through, call. That is often faster for anything complicated, and you will get a person who can actually make a decision rather than someone reading from a screen.
Before you book
Before you enquire
How quickly will I hear back?
Within one business hour during opening hours — Monday to Saturday, 8:00am to 6:00pm AEST. Enquiries sent outside those hours are answered when we open.
Is it cheaper to phone?
No. The price is the price whichever way you reach us. The form is usually faster for charters because it captures the details we would otherwise have to ring you back for.
Do I have to pay a deposit?
For customers without a credit account, a 25% deposit confirms the booking and the balance is due four days before travel. Full terms are on our terms page.
Can I change the booking later?
Yes, subject to availability. Amendments must be in writing and we confirm them in writing. An amendment fee of up to $50 may apply where substantial rescheduling is involved.