It is the second most populous city in the state and the sixth most populous city in Australia. It is an area well known for its expansive waterway, canal systems, subtropical climate, surfing beaches and a skyline filled with high-rise apartment buildings.

The nightlife is active and there are a variety of tourist attractions.

See also

• History of the Gold Coast
• Beaches of the Gold Coast
• http://www.gold-coast.info/2007/10/25/film-tourism-of-the-gold-coast/
• Gold Coast

Another explorer, Captain Matthew Flinders sailed by in 1802. Still, the region was uninhabited by Europeans until 1823 when explorer John Oxley landed on Mermaid Beach on the Gold Coast.

The areas red cedar supply caused large numbers of people to the area to move there in the mid 1800s. Later, Southport was surveyed and established as a secluded holiday destination for the upper class Brisbane residents.

Tourism grew rapidly in 1925 when Jim Cavill established the Surfers Paradise Hotel which later became a shopping mall and resort apartment complex.

The Spit, Main Beach, Surfers Paradise and a dozen or so other famous surfing beaches.

The Duranbah beach is one of the world’s best known surfing beaches and is located just across the New South Wales state border in Tweed Shire.

There are beaches along many of the Gold Coast’s navigable waterways, and these are popular with sunbathers and swimmers as well.

This was the site of the recently produced Scooby Doo films and The House of Wax.

The Warner Roadshow Studios are associated with the Warner Brothers Movie World Theme Park at Oxenford. The studios consist of eight sound stages, production offices, editing rooms, wardrobe, water tanks and construction workshops.

Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia is the second largest populated city in the state, and sixth in the entire country. Boasting the title of Australia’s number one tourist spot, the Gold Coast hosts nearly 4.5 million visitors each year. Q1, the world’s largest residential tower, stands proudly within the limits of the city.

The Gold Coast has been a surfer’s paradise since 1925, when the first hotel, not surprisingly called, The Surfer’s Paradise Hotel, was built.

Attractions

From lion safaris to wine tasting, hot air balloon rides to eating lunch with a vampire, the Gold Coast has every imaginable attraction a tourist can ask for. The following is but a small sampling of the things to see and do.

• Aquaduck Safaris
• Gold Coast Gondolas
• Bruce Watling Art Gallery
• Mirage Boat Hire
• Gold Coast Skydive Centre
• Oz Jet Boating
• Historic Rivermill
• Tamborine Mountain Pioneer Homestead
• Ripley’s Believe it or Not
• The Wax Museum
• Springbrook Observatory
• Tropical Fruit World
• Gold Coast Ballooning
• Tiger Moth Joy Flights
• Gliding Adventures
• Wildcat Fishing Charters
• Olson’s Bird Gardens
• Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary
• Sea World
• Dreamworld
• Warner Bros. Movie World
• Sirromet Winery

Let’s eat

Like most tourist towns, the Gold Coast has an over abundance of good restaurants. Unlike other towns, however, most of the area’s eateries serve either Asian cuisine, or native Australian cuisine. Of course, there’s the corner bistros with a good ol’ hamburger and fries, or fish and chips.

• Alto Cucina & Bar-Mediterranean.
• Beer Thai Garden
• Bojangles on Broadbeach-Piano bar.
• Bugzies Seafood
• Captain’s Table-Seafood
• Champagne Brasserie-French
• D’Arcy Arms Restaurant and Bar-Irish
• Donto Sapporo-Japanese
• Dracula’s Cabaret-dinner theatre
• Fermented Grape-wine restaurant
• Flames on the River-pizza and pasta
• Four Winds Seafood and Asian Buffet-revolving
• George’s Paragon-seafood
• Hog’s Breath Café-steaks
• Imperial Thai Restaurant
• Jack’s Pizza and Pasta-free delivery
• Mama Roma-Italian
• Mandarin Court-Chinese, Yum Cha
• Mario’s-Italian and Pizza
• Max Seafood Restaurant
• Montezuma’s & The Aztec-Mexican
• O-Me-Ly-Vietnamese
• Pancakes in Paradise
• Pink Poodle Bar and Grill-Belgian
• Raj Palace-Indian
• Saks Restaurant and Bar-Oyster Bar

Accommodations

A visitor looking for any type of lodging, will surely find it in the Gold Coast. From luxurious to budget, quaint cottages to splendid spas, each guest is warmly accommodated.

5 Star

• Palazzo Colonades
• Royal Woods Resort
• Conrad Jupiters Hotel
• Gold Coast International Hotel

4 Star

• Atrium Resort
• Sandcastles on the Broadwater
• Surfers Tradewinds
• BreakFree Neptune Resort

3 Star

• Chidori Court
• Imperial Surf
• Vibe Hotel
• Bilinga Beach Resort

unique

• O’Reilly’s Rainforest Guesthouse
• Avocado Sunset
• Ruffle’s Lodge
• Mt Tamborine Stonehaven Manor