10 Cool Things To Do in Gold Coast Australia | Wealth of Geeks

The Gold Coast is known for its beautiful weather, long sandy beaches, surf conditions, theme parks, and even some celebrity sightings. Located in subtropical Queensland, about an hour from Brisbane, you can stroll along the beach all year round.

The Gold Coast is packed with a variety of entertainment venues, beautiful beaches, and natural parks. Whether you’re more interested in nightlife or the outdoors, there’s something for everyone. I’ve narrowed it down to the top nine things to do in Gold Coast Australia.

1. Go to Surfer’s Paradise Beach

Surfer’s Paradise is the most famous beach on the Gold Coast due to its long 1.86-mile stretch of sand, turquoise waters, and perfect surf conditions. The backdrop of high rises stretched along the beach makes for picture-perfect views. I highly recommend getting a hotel with an ocean view. 

However, the beach isn’t the only thing to offer in Surfer’s Paradise. From 4 to 9 pm on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays, you can stroll through the beachfront markets for a unique shopping experience from independent stalls. 

Cavill Avenue is located just in front of the Surfer’s Paradise beach sign and it’s the main strip of entertainment, dining, and shopping venues in the area. There are often live street performers playing music and there are plenty of activities to do. Surfer’s Paradise is one of the livelier and more youthful beach towns. It’s lined with adventurous games, bars, nightclubs, and food to grub on.

2. Solve Your Way Through Infinity Attraction

Infinity is an immersive light experience packed with mind-bending solvable mazes that utilize your different senses. As you make your way through the maze, you’ll encounter new challenges and illusions as you try to find your way into the next room. 

The attraction implements special visual effects, interactive displays, moving floors, rooms full of mirrors, and much more. If you like mind-stimulating activities or puzzles, this is the perfect day or nighttime activity and only takes about 30 to 40 minutes. That is, if you can find your way out!

3. Stay at or Visit The Star Gold Coast

The Star Gold Coast is a luxury 5-star hotel complex with a 24-hour casino, an array of world-class restaurants, bars, decadent and spacious rooms, spa amenities, and entertainment. You don’t have to stay at this hotel to access their restaurants or casino, but I highly recommend it. 

Relax in the giant outdoor heated pool or jacuzzis and order a poolside cocktail. Stay in a luxurious room with cozy king-size beds, automatic window shades, Nespresso machines, and 24/7 room service. 

The Star Grand usually offers reduced rates during slow seasons or on weekdays which are a steal for the value. While staying here, you must try their rooftop bar, Nineteen at the Star, accessible only through a secret elevator. Here, you can sip on some cocktails as you overlook the Broadbeach skyline or enjoy a meal for breakfast, lunch, or dinner on certain days. 

Other dining options at The Star range from fine dining to casual eats. There are six bars inside, including a 24/7 sports bar with televisions displaying live sports games and pub-style food. 

The staff is extremely accommodating and will take your bags upon arrival. It’s the best place to stay in Broadbeach if you want to be treated like royalty. They even host The Logie Awards, an annual Australian television awards show.

4. Take In Epic Views At Q1 Skypoint Observation Deck

Skypoint is the 25th largest building in the world, taller than New York City’s Chrysler building. It’s the only beachside observation deck in Australia and is the tallest building on the continent. You’ll ride an incredibly fast elevator that takes you 77 floors up to the observation deck in just 42.7 seconds. 

Once you’ve reached the 77th floor, you’ll walk into the observation deck, which offers panoramic views of Surfer’s Paradise through glass windows. Tickets gain you entry for the entire day, so you can return as many times as you want throughout the day. 

Both morning and night offer gorgeous views, but it’s more difficult to capture good photos at night because of the reflection in the glass windows. The observation deck is also a lovely cafe. Have a latte, cocktail, or bite to eat as you soak in the views of the ocean, skyscrapers, and the hinterland.

If you’re more adventurous, you can also do the Skypoint Climb, a 90-minute climb outside the skyscraper during sunrise, the day, or at night. From inside the observation deck, you can enjoy the scenery and watch participants climb the outside of the tower.

5. Go to One of The Many Theme Parks

The Gold Coast is home to most of Australia’s most famous theme parks: Dreamworld, Movieworld, Wet’n’Wild, and WhiteWater World. Best of all, they’re all located relatively close to each other, within a 20-minute (at most) drive. 

Ride iconic rides like The Aqualoop at Wet’N’Wild, one of the world’s only true looping waterslides. This was the first waterpark to install more than one Aqualoop, with riders having a selection of 4 different Aqualoop slides. 

Then there’s Movieworld’s DC Rivals – the southern hemisphere’s tallest, longest, and fastest hypercoaster. You can’t go to Dreamworld without riding the tallest and fastest ride in the southern hemisphere with The Giant Drop.

It’s a tower that climbs 39 stories high, suspends you in the air for a few minutes to get you squirming, and then plunges you back to the ground, reaching speeds of 135 kph, accelerating at the speed of gravity.

6. Ride The Slingshot

If you’re a thrill seeker but don’t want to pay the steep admission prices to the big theme parks, why not try the gravity-defying Surfer’s Paradise Slingshot? Now even higher and faster than its original build, you and another brave soul will be strapped into a spherical cage suspended to cables that throws you into the air at a speed of 160 kph (90 miles per hour.) 

As you soar into the sky, the cage repeatedly flips you upside down before freefalling back down. This ride reaches up to 6Gs and reaches a height of up to 90 meters. Rides are $40 per person, and for an additional $20, you get to keep the funny video of the entire experience. 

7. Shop at Pacific Fair

Shop ‘til you drop at Pacific Fair in Broadbeach, Gold Coast. It’s home to over 400 casual and luxury stores. You can easily spend an entire day here selecting goodies, sipping on coffee, grabbing something to eat, or relaxing in the outdoor leisure area surrounded by relaxing water fountains and lounge chairs.

With countless retail shops, fast food, bottle shops, and multiple grocery stores, this is the only shopping complex you’ll need when staying in Broadbeach and is a must-see tourist destination in and of itself. 

The design of the complex is eye-catching and sleekly lit with LED lights. The outdoor “resort” leisure area creates the ambiance of a vacation resort. Shops are located inside the air-conditioned building as well as outdoors, and there are over 65 dining venues. Have the kids with you? Send them over to Play street, an interactive play area, and a jungle gym for kids. 

8. Crazy Cat Cafe

Crazy Cat Cafe is the only cat cafe on the Gold Coast, and it’s located right in the heart of Surfer’s Paradise. Bookings are available for half or full sessions (25 or 55 mins) to cuddle up to your heart’s content with adorable cats of all ages. 

This fully licensed coffee offers alcohol, coffee, as well as sweet and savory treats. You can bring your drinks into the cat lounge. Here, you’ll find 16 cats of varying breeds, sizes, and fluffiness. You’re free to cuddle with them or pick them up (so long as the cat doesn’t mind). 

Some cats may be sleeping, playing, or running on their giant wheel for exercise. It’s the perfect dopamine boost if you’ve been feeling down or stressed out lately or just really love cats. You can even book private sessions in the VIP Paw Lounge. This gets you an hour to yourself (or whoever you’re with) with up to 4 cats of your choice. VIP bookings come with a free hot or soft drink.

9. Play Games at Timezone

Play games, and win prizes with friends and family at Timezone. Load up a prepaid Powercard and use it to play as many games as you can in a certain timeframe. You can purchase 30 minutes for 22 AUD (about $15) or one hour for 28 AUD (about $16.)

Games are color coded as red, yellow, purple, and blue. Red means you can win tickets  to exchange for prizes later, yellow is for air hockey or driving video games, purple are prize games you have to get the claw to grab to win, and blue games are feature games like motion simulators. 

For just 28 AUD ($16) you get all-you-can-play red and yellow games for 60 minutes, two purple prize games, and one feature game. Inside Timezone, you’ll find plenty more than just arcade games.  There’s also a selection of bowling, laser tag, bumper cars, mini golf, escape rooms, and table tennis. This is the perfect night activity after you’ve lazed on the beach all day and want something more action-packed.

10. Play Glow in The Dark Mini Golf at Putt Putt Mermaid Beach

There are plenty of places to play mini golf around the Gold Coast, especially in Surfer’s Paradise, but you’ll find the best courses for the best price in Mermaid Beach. 

Putt Putt Mermaid Beach offers multiple 18-hole golf courses with colorful and whimsical themes. Choose from Fun Run, Jungle Trail, and Waterways, or don’t choose at all! The ultimate pass is just a few dollars more than the single pass, giving you entry to all three courses on any day of your choosing. 

While playing during the day can be just as fun, if you’re mesmerized by the light and color displays, I highly recommend taking part in their Twilight Mini Golf. At night, the courses are lit up with majestic colors, and even the golf balls glow in the dark! 

The best thing about this place is, you can tell they were very intentional about the design and complexity of the courses. Some require hitting your ball into a windmill, shooting it over a body of water, or spinning the wheel at each course for additional challenging instructions.

Final Thoughts on Things to do in Gold Coast, Australia

There are so many things to do in Gold Coast Australia, and this list is just the tip of the iceberg. However, it’s the perfect starting point for someone new to the area or visiting for a short stay who wants to hit all of the major tourist attractions and the best that the Gold Coast offers. 

While this guide mostly focuses on the central Gold Coast, there’s plenty more to do in Australia’s northern and southern beaches or the hinterland rainforest. 

 

This article was produced and syndicated by Wealth of Geeks.


Jill is an expert travel writer focusing on family and adventure travel as well as practical tips to help travelers get the most value out of their vacation experiences. In addition to Wealth of Geeks, Jill has written for Business Insider, MSN, Tripsavvy, Matador Network, Canadian Traveller, and Travel Awaits. She lives in San Antonio with her husband and sons but she’s usually somewhere else.


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