A review of both the tourism literature and the childhood literature reveals that there is a lack of research on young people’s perceptions and experiences of tourism, particularly when the tourist destination is also the place where they live. This paper focuses on a study of the lived experiences of young people growing up in the Australian tourist destination of Byron Bay, New South Wales. Taking a critical approach, an important aspect of this research is to hear directly from young people about how they negotiate a sense of identity and belonging in their communities. The study adopts an ethnographic and participatory approach to gain a deeper understanding of the lived experiences of childhood in a tourist destination context. Preliminary findings suggest that children and young people have a strong sense of connection and belonging to their community, including the natural and built environment, which is challenged by the flow of visiting tourists. This paper contributes to the field of Critical Tourism Studies by addressing the lack of research focused on children and young people. In addition, the study brings to the fore the ‘voices’ of this silent population in tourism research with the ultimate purpose of contributing to policy and planning for social sustainability.