Main Beach Gold Coast Queensland

What does Main Beach Gold Coast have to offer?

Main Beach is a very under-rated suburb of the Gold Coast and one of my favourite places to stay on the Gold Coast!

Close to the activity of Surfers Paradise and Broadbeach, but much quieter.

With the Nerang River and Broadwater to the west and the Pacific Ocean Beaches on the eastern side this combination makes for a great spot for just about everyone!

The area has a good assortment of apartments, some even have boat mooring facilities! And, there are the prestige hotels such as Palazzo Versace, Sheraton Mirage Gold Coast and Sea World Resort - which is fabulous for familes.

Main Beach looking south
towards Surfers Paradise

Getting up early and going for a stroll along the ocean beach, and then having breakfast in Tedder Avenue! Priceless!

If you enjoy beach walks, you can walk along the beach either north along The Spit, or south towards Surfers Paradise. If you don't enjoy the sand there is also the Oceanway path just beside the beach.

Main Beach is also partly home to the Gold Coast 600 Motorsport event (formerly known as the Gold Coast Indy) which is held each year in October with the track just touching on the southern end of this suburb. It is also conveniently located for the evening entertainment which is based around the Broadwater Parklands in Southport.

Surf can be dangerous.
Swim between the flags.

The week of the GC600 event in the Gold Coast has lot of exciting additional activities, which makes this a great place to stay during October if you are interested in motor racing and all its glamour!

However, if you are not interested in GC600 or motor racing, then it is not such a great place during this week late in October!

Main Beach is a convenient and quieter choice whilst still being close to the attractions of Surfers Paradise. It is a popular choice for older couples and families with children and teenagers.

You can also find accommodation right on the beachfront, unlike Surfers Paradise which doesn't have any accommodation right on the beach.

There are some great places to stay in Main Beach including the highly recommended Pacific Views Resort reviewed below by a friend.

It is still easy to get around the area, and travel times to Gold Coast theme parks are not too much different than Surfers Paradise.

Attractions

• Narrow Neck surfing Reef
• Main Beach - patrolled surf beach.
• Tedder Avenue - restaurants, cafes and boutique shops.
• The Spit
• Southport Surf Lifesaving Club – visitors can enjoy breakfast on the balcony, music and entertainment on certain nights and poker machines if they want!  It has the most outstanding views and the food is great and very inexpensive.
• Southport Yacht Club and Marina – A great place to rub shoulders with the local yachties!  They do breakfasts on the weekends and have rooms for functions that have great outlooks across the marina.  They often have functions on that are open to the public which are well priced and fun. 

Marina Mirage for fine dining,
shopping and tours.

• Marina Mirage – Great shopping, restaurants and gateway to Gold Coast water activities.  
  
  Many cruises, fishing trips and other water based activities depart from Marina Mirage.  There are some great boutique shops including Charlie Brown -  a must for the fashion concious ladies!
  
  Food court ranges from McDonald's right up to fine dining at Omeros Bros, probably the best seafood restaurant on the coast and some other outstanding restaurants.

• Palazzo Versace - an elegant hotel with excellent fine dining in Vanitas Restaurant, a beautiful beach lagoon style pool and a spacious lobby where you can enjoy a sumptuous high tea overlooking the pool.
• Sea World - Theme park with animal adventures and encounters, fun rides for all the family and water park areas.  A great day out, but if you want to try some of the special activities such as dives or dolphin encounters, it is well worth booking ahead so you won't be disappointed.
• Beach Walking - you can walk along the great expanse of beach all the way to Burleigh if you really wanted to... or north to the Gold Coast seaway.
• Golden Door Spa at Sheraton Mirage - relax and enjoy some pampering, also has swimming pool, tennis courts and gym.
• Macintosh Island Park – a favourite of my kids - a great place to explore! Good playgrounds, bigfoot's grotto and great tracks for bicycle riding or scootering.  BBQ facilities and picnic tables also make this a great place to spend an afternoon.  Sadly there are no kiosks or cafe's really close by, so make sure you are prepared for a visit!

Accommodation

One of the advantages Main Beach has over Southport is that most of the apartment accommodation is within walking distance of both a beach and the great restaurants and cafes either in Tedder Avenue or Marina Mirage.

There are some great accommodation options, ranging from the cabins in the Main Beach Tourist Park through all types of apartments to the six star Palazzo Versace. You can even find some accommodation right on the beachfront.

Main Beach Hotels and Resorts

Note - the following hotels and resorts are located on Seaworld Drive and will require transport to Tedder Ave, although Palazzo Versace and Sheraton Mirage are within walking distance of Marina Mirage.

Palazzo Versace

Palazzo Versace Hotel overlooking the Marina

Palazzo Versace is the only 6 star hotel in the Gold Coast. It is pure elegance created by the passion of Donatella Versace.  If you cannot stay here, go look - it is beautiful Italian style at its best.

205 hotel rooms, 72 condominiums, 3 award winning restaurants, 90 berth marina (11 to 32m) and a full health spa.  All tastefully decorated and exquisitely maintained.

Palazzo Versace Gold Coast information, availability and bookings.

Sheraton Mirage Resort and Spa

Sheraton Mirage Resort and Spa is a 5 star luxury resort right on the beach and away from the main hubbub of Surfers Paradise and even Main Beach itself.  

This is a large resort with full facilities, fantastic pools, grand entertaining rooms which is popular for conferences, meetings or family holidays.  Hotels rooms, suites and private villas available. Sheraton Mirage does a traditional high tea, and has a rather famous Seafood buffet. Don't forget to take a walk around the beautiful gardens and pools.  

Sheraton Mirage Gold Coast Resort and Spa information, availability and bookings.

Sea World Resort Gold Coast

Sea World Resort on the Gold Coast was formerly known as Sea World Nara Resort.  It is located at the northern end of Sea World Theme Park and attached to it by monorail.

This is the perfect place to stay if you have kids and want to do the theme parks, especially Sea World. There are perks for staying here too, plus a great water play area for the kids with a cafe that looks out so parents can keep dry but watch their kids! 405 international standard rooms in three 3 storey accomodation wings. Rooms cater for couples through to family groups of up to 8. Some have kitchenette facilities.

The grounds are beautifully tropical and include heated lagoon pool with waterfall, private beach and amazing kids water playground.

Kids Club caters for 4½ to 12 year olds has X Boxes with latest games, children's movies and activities. The kids club offers parents the opportunity for a little time out from the kids including dinner sessions, but it is not a FULL kids club.

Resort facilities are pretty much what you would expect from a familly oriented resort.  

You can dine in with room service or try Japenese food (Teppanyaki, Sushi Bar and a la carte), fine dining, poolside food or relax with a drink and snack in the Lobby lounge.

Other than walking to Seaworld - you will need transport to go anywhere from this resort.  So depending upon your plans you may want to hire a car, use shuttle buses, organise transfers, take taxis or splash out on limos to get you around.

More information about Sea World Resort Gold Coast

Main Beach Apartments

Pacific Views Resort

Pacific Views Resort has luxury 1 and 2 bedroom apartments with airconditioning, balconies and ocean views.  It is directly across the road from Main Beach.  

Spa, pool, tennis court, gym, games room, bbq, undercover parking, cable TV and internet access.

Accommodation Recommendation

Pacific Views Resort

Source: My neighbour and friend Coleen

Coleen tells me that she books this resort for all friends and family visiting the Gold Coast.

The main reasons are:

• every apartment has ocean views
• standard of accommodation is consistent
• facilities are great
• indoor heated pool as well as outdoor one, great for kids or when it is raining
• cafe downstairs called (used to be called Skinny Dippers) is very convenient for breakfasts

Skinny Dippers Cafe

• convenience store is next door so you don't even have to walk down the street to Tedder Ave for milk and newspapers!
• across the road from the surf at Main Beach 
• short walk to Tedder Ave cafes and restaurants
• Main Beach is in the hub of things, but quieter than Surfers Paradise or Broadbeach
• Close to Southport SLSC with great food and views of the beach

Pacific Views Resort for more information, availability and on-line bookings.

Pacific Views Resort is very popular during the peak seasons, so book ahead to avoid disappointment.

Other Accomodation Options

Main Beach Tourist Park  What a spot!  Prime real estate and some great family cabins.  Walk across the road to the ocean beach and the Southport Surf Life Saving Club.

Great spot for family holiday, but book early as it is very popular during the main school holiday periods.

Check out a selection of Main Beach Accommodation.

Golf Information

There are no golf courses in Main Beach.

Golf Courses within a 20 to 25 minute drive are:

• Palm Meadows Golf Course - Carrara
• Royal Pines Resort - Benowa
• Emerald Lakes - Carrara
• Lakelands Golf Course - Merrimac
• Hope Island Resort Golf Course - Hope Island

• Lakeside Country Club - Coombabah - 9 holes only
• Merrimac Public Golf Course - Merrimac

• Surfers Paradise Golf Club - Clear Island Waters
• Southport Golf Club - Southport

• Parkwood International Golf Club - Parkwood

Beach Information

Main Beach looking north along the
beach towards the Spit

Main Beach has two beach frontages, one to the Broadwater and the other to ocean surf beach.

There are several Surf Life Saving Patrol areas which are easy to spot with the red and yellow flags on the beach.

The main beaches in the area are generally patrolled every day of the year. From 1 December to 31 January (the peak summer period) from 7.30am to 6.30pm and from 1 February through to 30 November from 8.00am to 5.00pm. That is of course, unless they are closed due to weather or marine conditions.

Southport SLSC has a major Nippers program, so if you head down to the beach, particuarly on Sunday mornings you are likely to see swathes of kids in Nippers outfits testing their beach and surf skills.

Oceanway Walk up to the
Gold Coast Seaway at the end of the Spit

Make sure you are aware of the beach and surf conditions and only swim between the flags - I cannot stress this enough!

Going through this area is The Gold Coast Oceanway.

It is a 36km long track that enables walkers, runners and cyclists to travel all the way from Gold Coast Seaway on The Spit down to Point Danger Lighthouse at Coolangatta.

Along the way there are markers with local information and interesting facts or history.

Travel Times

Approximate travel times by motor vehicle - please note travel times can be affected by many factors including traffic hazards and roadworks. These are just an indication.

Directions for Car Travel

For directions and other information I recommend you use Google Maps Australia. On this website there are several google maps including a map of Surfers which you can click on to get directions which will also give you an idea of travel times for driving.

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