G’day from the Gold Coast: 40 Miles of Beach Paradise

We flew into Australia on Qantas, and it’s hard to explain, but the second we boarded a flight packed with extended Aussie families, I could feel a joyful energy in the air. That feeling only grew upon arrival. There is a distinct, deep-seated calmness to the locals here. They go about their daily lives with glowing smiles and a genuine brightness in their hearts.

To be honest, it was exactly the antidote we needed. We had just left the USA during the peak of a highly divisive presidential election. Back home, it was almost impossible to escape the nonstop, conflicting TV news and social media coverage. Everyone seemed completely on edge—you could practically sense the smiles and souls being drained right out of people. The emotional trauma I witnessed during our brief stay in America was immediately erased the moment we landed on the complete opposite side of the world.

Maui vs. The Gold Coast

We used to think we lived in the ultimate beach paradise back in Maui, surrounded by an abundance of world-class beaches. Well, the Gold Coast in Queensland takes beach life to an entirely different level.

Stretching approximately 40 miles just south of Brisbane, this region is famous for its epic surf breaks, relaxed lifestyle, and more than 20 spectacular, sweeping white-sand beaches. We hunkered down for a full month over Christmas and New Year’s at an Airbnb in the quaint, residential beach town of Currumbin. Over the course of that month, Barbie and I visited about a dozen different beaches towns.

After nine full years of continuous travel and visiting the majority of the best beach locations on the planet, I’m ready to make a bold statement: Australian and Hawaiian beaches are, hands down, the best in the entire world.

Top Gold Coast Beaches: From North to South

If you’re planning a trip, the Gold Coast offers an incredible variety of vibes. Here is a quick breakdown of some of the best beaches from north to south:

Surfers Paradise
Broadbeach & Mermaid Beach
Nobby Beach & Burleigh Heads
Palm Beach & Currumbin Beach
Kirra, Coolangatta, & Rainbow Bay
Kingscliff & Cabarita (Just over the NSW border)

Surfers Paradise

With its towering high-rise condos, Surfers Paradise looks a lot like Miami Beach. It gets the most notoriety because it’s the entertainment and tourism epicenter of the coast. When Barbie and I were younger, we stayed right here because we wanted to be in the thick of the action. These days? In my opinion, the beach suburbs further south are significantly more desirable. Surfers Paradise does have a nice sweeping beach, is great for a quick day trip to wander the way too touristy, honky-tonk town center, but a day is really all the time you need.

Burleigh Heads

On past trips, we’ve stayed in Burleigh Heads, which is incredibly popular with locals. It has a youthful, happening scene packed with bustling cafes, great restaurants, and nightlife. Beyond the main town beach, you can easily access Echo Beach and Tallebudgera Creek via two beautiful coastal walking tracks that wind along a very cool, small National Park headland.

Currumbin, Tugun, Kirra

For this stay, we headed even further south and rented an Airbnb in Currumbin. Barbie and I both agreed that this is our favorite area on the Gold Coast. It offers a large, sweeping white-sand beach, a distinct residential feel, and the most relaxed atmosphere on the coast. The adjacent towns of Tugun & Kirra would also be an excellent choice to hunker down for a while.

Flashpacker Tip: If you have a car, drive an hour south across the state line into New South Wales to visit Byron Bay. It’s not technically part of the Gold Coast, but its young, vibrant, boho vibe makes it one of my absolute favorite beach towns in Australia.

Gold Coast to Cairns

The Gold Coast is just such a mellow, clean, and pleasant place to live. After our extended beach stay, we headed up to the Tropical North for a couple of weeks in Cairns to see one of the natural wonders of the world: The Great Barrier Reef.

Barbie and I both absolutely loved our time in Australia. More than anything, we just enjoyed being surrounded by the locals. We’ll miss their kindness, their friendly demeanor, and those Aussie accents—which I still can’t stop Barbie from imitating to this day.

But the road calls. Now, it’s back to Southeast Asia, where we have to pack away our spoken English once again and retrain ourselves to communicate using only our eyes, facial expressions, body language, and hand gestures.

G’day, mate!