Gold Coast, Australia

57 km of surf beach, hinterland rainforest, and Australia's theme-park capital. Summer is December to February.

beachsurffamilytheme-parksbackpacker

Best time to visit

Month	High	Low	Rain	Season
Jan	27°	22°	135 mm	prime
Feb	27°	22°	147 mm	prime
Mar	26°	21°	115 mm	prime
Apr	24°	19°	64 mm	prime
May	22°	16°	79 mm
Jun	20°	14°	68 mm
Jul	19°	13°	36 mm
Aug	21°	14°	41 mm
Sep	23°	16°	41 mm	prime
Oct	24°	18°	79 mm	prime
Nov	25°	19°	94 mm	prime
Dec	27°	21°	119 mm	prime

30-year averages (1995–2024) from ERA5 reanalysis via Open-Meteo. Rain is the monthly total.

Serves travellers at Backpacker→Premium level. Typically around $140 a day on the ground.

Ranges are typical costs, not quotes. Check the real price before you book.

Cards and phones for everything, including parking and buses. Tipping is not expected.
money · editorial
Swim between the flags. The beaches here are open ocean with real rips, and the patrolled sections are narrow compared with the amount of sand.
know before · editorial
School leavers take over Surfers Paradise for a fortnight in late November. Midsummer brings humidity and afternoon storms, and the whole coast is booked out over the Christmas school holidays.
when not to go · editorial
Surfers Paradise is towers and nightlife. Broadbeach is the same coast with adults in it. Burleigh Heads and Currumbin are the surf towns people actually like. Coolangatta sits by the airport. The hinterland around Tamborine is a different holiday entirely.
where to stay · editorial
A light rail line runs the length of the built-up coast, which covers most beach-to-beach movement. You need a car for the hinterland, the rainforest and the national parks behind the strip.
getting around · editorial
Gold Coast Airport at Coolangatta sits at the southern end of the strip, half an hour from Surfers Paradise. Brisbane airport is the bigger hub, about an hour and a half north by road or train.
getting there · editorial

Surfers Paradise
Tower block, beach, and nothing at all in between.
Burleigh Heads
The point with the long right-hander and the park on the rock.
Currumbin Alley
The river mouth where everyone learns to surf.
Snapper Rocks
The start of the Superbank, the longest sand-bottom wave in the country.
Springbrook, Purling Brook
Ancient forest an hour from the beach, with a hundred-metre drop.
Natural Bridge
The cave with the waterfall coming in through the roof, and glow-worms at night.

Eat fish and chips on the breakwater, with no ambition at all
Eat fish and chips out of the wrapper, sitting on the sand
Late afternoon, and a gull that will not give up.
Have a flat white before seven in the morning
The city wakes early and takes coffee seriously.

Catch the first wave of the day at Snapper Rocks
Swim between the red and yellow flags
Outside them no lifeguard is watching. It is that simple.
Watch the sun rise over the sea at Burleigh
East coast: the sun comes up out of the water.