Gold Coast Tourist Attractions
Gold Coast Sights & Destinations
The Gold Coast covers a 1400km2 stretch of area in the south-east corner of Queensland. It is renowned for its excellent weather, great surfing beaches, high-rise apartment buildings, and most of all, its huge range of tourist attractions. In this section we take a look at some of the attractions that keep up to 10 million people visiting on an annual basis.
Most people associate the Gold Coast with the district of Surfers Paradise, though there are a further six districts that also make up the area, these being: Coomera, Currumbin, Gaven, Mermaid Beach, Mudgeeraba and Southport.
Surfers Paradise
Characterized by high-rise apartments and holiday accommodation, Surfers Paradise is the destination for thousands of visitors every day, from both home and abroad. Around 50,000 high school graduates head for the destination in November alone, for the infamous Schoolies week.
The biggest building of all is the Q1 Building, which is the second highest vantage point in the Southern Hemisphere and offers panoramic views in all directions from its 77th floor observation deck. The viewing deck is 230 meters up in the sky, whilst the whole building measures in at a whopping 322.5 meters tall.
The main street in the CBD is Cavill Mall, an extremely busy shopping strip that is named after a local hotelier. This is also the busiest strip when it comes to nightlife, with a number of bars, nightclubs and restaurants to choose from. On top of this, Cavill Mall is home to numerous other attractions, such as various tenpin bowling outlets, Timezone indoor entertainment centre and Ripley’s Believe It Or Not! Museum. Nearby, the Esplanade is another hive of activity, with many more shops, bars and restaurants to choose from. One thing is for sure – you will never go hungry or get bored in Surfers Paradise!
Surfer’s (as it is colloquially known) also boasts a wide surfing beach, which is regularly voted as one of the best and cleanest beaches in the country. A huge range of water sports are available from the beach, including windsurfing, parasailing, jet boating – and of course plenty of surfing. There are a total of 57km of beaches along the Gold Coast, with other notable sandy stretches at Snapper Rocks, Coolangatta and Burleigh Heads.
Surfers Paradise also has attractions for culture lovers. These include a number of galleries in the area, such as the Spirit of Australia Gallery and the Lotus Gallery (both on the Gold Coast highway), the Wax Museum on Ferny Avenue and Budds Beach Art Gallery.
Many people head to the Gold Coast for the theme parks, the majority of which are situated a few kilometres north of Surfer’s Paradise, in Oxenford. Warner Bros. Movie World is the biggest park of its type in Australia, and is home to 17 rides that cater for all members of the family. The movie-related theme means top rides such as the Batwing Spaceshot, Superman Escape and Scooby-Doo Roller Coaster, and a number of costumed characters can be spotted around the park during the day. Add in the many shops, stalls, street shows and other attractions – such as the excellent Hollywood Stunt Driver, and the park makes for an excellent day out.
Next door to Movie World is Wet’n’Wild, the third largest water park in the world. 15 rides and various other attractions combine here to make another full day out, with the recently-developed Kamikaze ride and the half-pipe rollercoaster known as Surfrider arguably the biggest thrills of all.
Outside of Surfers Paradise
Situated in Coomera, Dream World is Australia’s largest theme park, with a whopping 45 rides to choose from. Next door is the recently-opened WhiteWater World. These two offer direct competition to Movie World and Wet’n’Wild, but it is the customers who benefit as they can of course go to all four! Coomera also has plans to develop Australia’s biggest shopping centre, so keep an eye on this up-and-coming suburb.
Southport is the central business district of the Gold Coast, but still has attractions for tourists, such as the Southport Broadwater Parklands (which is undergoing substantial redevelopment) and the 233-store Australia Fair Shopping Centre.
The main attraction in Currumbin is Superbee Honeyworld, a working honey bee factory where you can sample and buy honey products, watch live bee shows and learn about the honey making process, from the bee to the jar! Another great option is Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary, the Gold Coast’s leading native wildlife experience.
