A SLEEPY seaside village in northern NSW has been named Best Town in Australia by a panel of tourism and travel experts.
Yamba is a township of 5600 people whose sole industry is fishing.
It's best known as the town closest to Angourie - one of Australia's most famous surf breaks.
The town beat some of Australia's tourism hot-spots to top the list of the best 100 towns.
According to the survey conducted by Australian Traveller magazine Port Douglas, Broome, Byron Bay, Port Fairy and Margaret River were among the towns pipped by Yamba.
Australian Traveller editor Greg Barton says Yamba's selection as top town, along with the second choice of Esperance in southern Western Australia, are surprising results.
He says they qualified as outsiders but both could be described as coastal fishing gems.
In a state-by state breakdown of the listings, NSW had 29 towns in the top 100, Victoria, 16, Queensland 16, South Australia 13, Western Australia 13 and Tasmania 7.
The top 100 towns are:
1 Yamba, NSW
2 Esperance, Western Australia
3 Port Douglas, Queensland
4 Broome, Western Australia
5 Port Fairy, Victoria
6 Beechworth, Victoria
7 Byron Bay, NSW
8 Apollo Bay, Victoria
9 Strahan, Tasmania
10 Margaret River, Western Australia
11 South West Rocks, NSW
12 Bright, Victoria
13 Alice Springs, Northern Territory
14 Lorne, Victoria
15 Mallacoota, Victoria
16 Hahndorf, South Australia
17 Burnt Pine, NSW
18 Mission Beach, Queensland
19 Daylesford, Victoria
20 Noosa, Queensland
21 Portsea, Victoria
22 Bowral, NSW
23 Fremantle, Western Australia
24 Kangaroo Valley, NSW
25 Broken Hill, NSW
26 Nelson Bay, NSW
27 Bellingen, NSW
28 Leura, NSW
29 Queenscliff, Victoria
30 Mudgee, NSW
31 Mossman, Queensland
32 Jindabyne, NSW
33 Katherine, Northern Territory
34 Airlie Beach, Queensland
35 Echuca, Victoria
36 Angaston, South Australia
37 Mataranka, Northern Territory
38 Coffin Bay, South Australia
39 Robe, South Australia
40 Tilba Tilba, NSW
41 Swansea, Tasmania
42 Seal Rocks, NSW
43 Pokolbin, NSW
44 Cooktown, Queensland
45 Port Lincoln, South Australia
95 Evans Head, NSW
46 Longreach, Queensland
47 Silverton, NSW
48 Huskisson, NSW
49 Streaky Bay, South Australia
50 Penola, South Australia
51 Jabiru, Northern Territory
52 Stanley, Tasmania
53 Lightning Ridge, NSW
54 Merimbula, NSW
55 Albany, Western Australia
56 Marysville, Victoria
57 Tamworth, NSW
58 Clare, South Australia
59 Birdsville, Queensland
60 Bermagui, NSW
62 Coral Bay, Western Australia
63 Denmark, Western Australia
64 Atherton, Queensland
65 Picnic Bay, Queensland
66 Seventeen Seventy, Queensland
67 Mollymook, NSW
68 Rutherglen, Victoria
69 Coober Pedy, South Australia
70 Karumba, Queensland
71 Nguiu Settlement, Northern Territory
72 Tamborine Mountain, Queensland
73 Mt Gambier, South Australia
74 Kuranda, Queensland
75 Dorrigo, NSW
76 Walhalla, Victoria
77 Mildura, Victoria
78 Berry, NSW
79 Eumundi, Queensland
80 Exmouth, Western Australia
81 Dunkeld, Victoria
82 Parachilna, South Australia
83 Sofala, NSW
84 Tumut, NSW
85 Ross, Tasmania
86 Augusta, Western Australia
87 Kingscote, South Australia
88 William Creek, South Australia
89 Wisemans Ferry, NSW
90 Halls Gap, Victoria
91 Hervey Bay, Queensland
92 Derby, Western Australia
93 Bridport, Tasmania
94 Wollombi, NSW
96 Adelaide River, Northern Territory
97 Nain, Western Australia
98 Kalgoorlie, Western Australia
99 Eagle Bay, Western Australia
100 Deloraine, Tasmania
