Surfers Paradise, Gold Coast Queensland Australia

The Gold Coast Surfers Paradise has one of the best reputations for tourists around the globe. Thousands of local and foreign visitors came to this city to check out the spectacular skyline and beaches. Not just beaches, it has more such as shopping and dining with local and international cuisine.

We flew in from Singapore to Gold Coast Airport and check in the hotel in Surfers Paradise.  Ready to explore Gold Coast Queensland for a few days.  If you asked me how many days to spend in the Gold Coast I would suggest you stay for 3-4 days.  You can also add in the theme parks such as Movie World, Sea World into your itinerary plus Brisbane city.  Brisbane is the capital of Queensland and it is about an hour drive from Gold Coast.  There is also an international Airport in Brisbane if you choose to touch down in Brisbane Airport.

Accommodation in Surfers Paradise

Finding a place to stay in Surfers Paradise is not an issue at all, you will be amazed at how many service apartment available in the city.  We have booked a place at Mantra Towers of Chevron which is in the city center, great location for shopping and restaurants and within walking distance to the Surfers Paradise Beaches.

Why Surfer’s Paradise is so popular?

Well, the Surfer’s Paradise beach stretches over 3 km with its golden sand and runs alongside towering skyscrapers right in the heart of the Gold Coast. It is really gold sand? It is due to the all year round sunshine in Queensland.

Available All Year Round

You can visit Surfer’s Paradise all year round, even in the winter.  In fact, many of the local Australian who live further down in NSW or Victoria State would love to escape winter and visit Surfer’s Paradise.  It is very comfortable in the winter but really hot in the summer.  I had been here in the summer years ago and I don’t like it because it is just too hot for me.  But summer has a long day to play than the winter month.

Sunset in Surfer’s Paradise

Catch the golden hour in Surfer’s Paradise, you get to see the sunset and the different colors of the sky and water.

Furries at Surfers Paradise

Spotted a pair of furries on the Surfers Paradise beach. These days there are many furries lover, similar to cosplay but they dressed in furry costumes but walk with two legs. These group of people appreciates anthropomorphic animals.  Furries are widespread.  You can also see some of them just wearing their big tails without the full costumes and walk around, in the pub or bars.

River Cruise & City Tour with the Aquaduck

Similar to our Duck tour in Singapore, you may like the amphibious Duck vehicle with its big yellow beak touring Cavill Avenue, Surfers Paradise city tours with unique Gold Coast river cruising.

G:link – The Gold Coast Light Rail

G:link only started 5 years ago in 2014, it is a light rail system. There are six stations in Surfers Paradise and the most trafficked station is Cavill Avenue. (Picture as below).  You need a go card for the ride and go card can be obtained from go card online or any 7-Eleven store or Queensland Rail stations during ticket office opening hours.

Cavill Avenue

Cavill Avenue is a street and a pedestrian mall in Surfers Paradise. The was named after a guy called Jim Cavill also the founder of Surfers Paradise. Cavill’s drive to promote the town heavily, he pushed to change the original name Elston to Surfers Paradise and make it very successful.

This is the heart of all the entertainment and nightlife. Shopping and restaurants are abundant here.

There are so many restaurants here that we don’t have to worry there is no food for you.  You can choose Vietnamese, Korean, Thai, Chinese, Western, Pizza, Kebab.  You name it and they have got it.

We have some Chinese, Mabo tofu, Kyoto spare ribs, Mongolian beef and seaweed soup with eggs. (Above)

We also have kimchi fried rice and Korean BBQ beef from another stall called Rice Vs Noodles Shop.

After the meal, we have a free movie show in the open space near the mall.

Landmark Icon in Surfers Paradise – Q1 Tower

One of the iconic landmark in Surfers Paradise is Q1 stands for Queensland Number One. It is a residential tower.  We are able to spot the Q1 Tower from our apartment.

Surfer Paradise Night View

Final thoughts:

If you love beaches, shopping, clubbing, bars and pubs Surfers Paradise is great for you.  It has all the beach culture here.  Weather is great even in the winter month.