Although famous as a party resort Surfers Paradise has much more to offer.
It is the largest resort on the Gold Coast Australia and is located about 90km from Brisbane along the Pacific Highway and can be reached from there in less than an hour by car. It is by far the ugliest of the resorts on this coast with lots of tower blocks which are reminiscent of Benidorm or Torremolinos but on a smaller scale. But with this it does have the most pubs, restaurants, clubs, accommodation and things to do so if that is what you are looking for Surfers may be the place for you.
The Gold Coast Highway (Surfers Paradise Blvd) runs through Surfers a block or two back from the beach and is where you will find most of the shops. Cavill Avenue runs from there to the beach and is really the main street in Surfers and Orchard Ave which is parallel to the Esplanade is where most of the nightclubs are to be found.
The visitors information centre is on Cavill Avenue and they have lots of information about tours and Gold Coast theme parks and will help you with booking tickets for any of these. There are also lots of kiosks scattered around that will help you book tours or tickets for any of the Gold Coast attractions.
As with all of the resorts on the Gold Coast, Surfers has a great beach. It has beautiful golden sand and it runs for miles all the way to Main Beach in the north and Burleigh Heads in the south with plenty of patrolled swimming areas. There is also plenty of surfing to be done on this stretch of coast as the name suggests.
If you would like to try your hand at learning to surf check out our Gold Coast activities page.
If you already know how to surf and just need a surf board you can hire one for as long as you want from Gold Coast Surfboards.
A shared path runs behind the beach from Surfers to Miami Beach in the south and to Main Beach and beyond to the north. You can walk along the beach for miles in both directions. If you walk beyond Main Beach you will see a very interesting jetty which is used for sand pumping and has a level of pipes above the actual pier which looks very strange and further on is the Spit which has the lovely Seaway Kiosk which serves sandwiches, pies and other snacks and is a great spot to have a drink and a snack and look across at South Stradbroke Island.
Take a look at our Gold Coast activities page for information about other water sport activities to do in and around Surfers Paradise and our Gold Coast Attractions page for places to visit and things to do.
Surfers Paradise Shopping
There is a night craft market along the Esplanade on Wednesdays and Fridays from 5.30pm till 10pm where you will find more than 120 stalls selling a variety of crafts and such like. It is an interesting place to have a wander round and possibly pick up a few gifts.
For shopping the Australia Fair shopping centre in Southport is a large place with plenty of shops and a multi screen cinema.
More upmarket shopping is available on Elkhorn Street which is the Rodeo Drive of Surfers Paradise. There you will find Hermes, Prada and Cartier to name but a few. This street bodes well for the wealthy Asians who visit Surfers rather than the backpackers.
There is no shortage of Surfers Paradise accommodation which means that you can usually get a good deal in the off season but you do have to book during peak times such as school summer holidays, during the Indie car race and possibly during schoolies.
As mentioned above one of the main reasons to come to Surfers is to party and there is plenty of partying available. Check out our Surfers Paradise Pubs page for information about pubs and clubs in Surfers.
There are a few possible excursions that you can do from Surfers and you will find our recommendations on our Gold Coast Excursions page.