Surfers Paradise by night
Looking south over Surfers Paradise and Gold Coast hinterland
Next up you will head into Surfers Paradise, which is the centre of the Gold Coast.
Oz Experience will pick up and drop off travellers getting off here at the conveniently placed Transit Centre.
A wiki is a web page updateable by anyone. By travellers, for travellers. Update this yourself! Powered by Travel Generation.
The Gold Coast is virtually 3.5km of high-rise buildings and commercial development fronted by 42km of golden sandy beaches, waterways and canals.
It is the most commercialised resort town in Australia and is a popular spot for many tourists. Lots of tourists means lots of bars and entertainments are available night and day. For that reason some people have a love/hate relationship with the place, but at least it doesn't pretend to be anything other than what it is. As they say, it's all very GC (Gold Coast).
If you’ve got money to blow, try Jupiter’s Casino, Queensland’s first legal casino - open 24 hours. The Gold Coast is famous for its numerous, international standard theme parks. Check out Dreamworld (home to the Big Brother studio), Warner Bros Movie World, Sea World or Wet ‘n’ Wild.
Locals will also tell you there’s a lot more to do from Surfers Paradise and the region than the obvious in your face attractions.
Contents |
Surfers has awesome white beaches, is pretty cheap to stay and eat and is very commercialized. It has 70 km of beaches and several hundred km of tidal rivers and basins, water sports rule here.
Many Australians believe that Surfers Paradise has been spoilt, and the whole of the Gold Coast area now has a somewhat dubious reputation for being a place where foreign tourists go to get ripped off or locals go for a night out in seedy strip clubs (which are plentiful). Although there can be no doubt the area has been overdeveloped, this reputation is probably a little bit harsh and in recent years many of the seedier aspects of the Gold Coast have been redeveloped into more lucrative upmarket ventures. The beaches are undeniably great but be aware that high rise developments just off the main beach mean that every afternoon huge amounts of the beach sit in the shadows!
Where is it? Surfers Paradise is located on the Gold Coast of Australia, about an hour by car south of Brisbane. A train service also connects to Brisbane Airport and arrives at Robina just a 10 minute bus ride from Surfers.
Coolangatta Airport is on the southern side of the Gold Coast and is about a 20 minute bus ride to Surfers. Frequent flights are available from Sydney.
When to go? Assuming that you want to experience the sea, the best time to hit the Gold Coast in between October and March when temperatures climb.
Be aware that Schoolies Week is on in November, when the entire area is invaded by tens of thousands of 17 year olds who have just finished high school and head to the beaches to let off steam and celebrate. It's a huge party - but if drunken 17 year olds aren't your scene then you should avoid the area!!
How to get around? Surfside bus lines provides public bus services for the Gold Coast area, for time table information and prices check out http://www.transinfo.qld.gov.au. Taxi cabs are another way to go, but can be quite expensive.
If you are going to swim make sure you swim in patrolled areas (between the red and yellow flags). Each year hundreds of swimmers get into trouble in the strong currents and it's always the tourists swimming outside the flags who end up swept out to sea and drowning.
Surfers Paradise's Photo Gallery
Places to Eat in Surfers Paradise
Places to Stay in Surfers Paradise
