The town economy is strongly based on fishing and tourism , but has a diverse range of influences, due to the 'Sea Change' phenomenon and the large number of baby boomers who are starting to retire to the warmer climates. At the census , Yamba had a population of 6,, [ 1 ] but as a popular tourist destination, it can triple its population in the holiday period. The Yaegl and Bundjalung people are the traditional custodians of the coastal areas around Yamba, Iluka and Maclean.
Matthew Flinders described large bark huts with rounded passageway entrances to protect dwellers from wind and rain. Similarly Captain Perry described canoes of a superior construction. In , Matthew Flinders landed on the present southern headland at Yamba. He'd been despatched from Sydney to find a new Eden, but from his vantage point atop a craggy promontory , now Pilot Head, he dismissed the turbulent estuary as dangerous and unworthy of further examination, and then sailed away.
In the s, timber harvesting commenced. In , the townsite was surveyed, and by October construction of the breakwater Clarence River Heads Post Office was completed.
Originally named Shoal Bay in , it was renamed Yamba with a population of approx In , the Yamba Surf Lifesaving Club was formed and is one of the oldest surf clubs in the world.
Guesthouses were replaced by motels and holiday apartments following the sealing of the main road in , with visitors now able to use bridges rather than punts and ferries. Fishing and oyster industries were established in the s, with prawn trawling pioneered in the s.
