Public Transport to Gold Coast Theme Parks

by Ivan Leong
(Selangor, Malaysia)

Is there public transport to Gold Coast theme parks from Main Beach?

I will be taking my family for vacation in Gold Coast in September and will be staying in an apartment around Main Beach.

Is there bus/train service to Sea World and Movie World theme parks and how much is the fare roughly?

Annie answers
There is public transport that you can take to both Sea World and Movie World. However, probably the easiest way is to use either the Freedom Pass or the Gold Pass.

The Freedom Pass offers Gold Coast Airport transfers (return), shuttle to Gold Coast theme parks and public transport across the Gold Coast for one great price.

If you don't need the Gold Coast Airport transfers then check out the Gold Pass which just covers the theme park shuttle and local public transport services.

Don't forget to check out the latest Gold Coast theme park deals before you travel

Getting to Gold Coast Theme Parks on Public Buses

Alternatively if you just want to do it yourself on the public bus system Sea World is in Main Beach but is away from most of the Main Beach apartments so you need to catch a bus or taxi there. You may have to walk to one of the bus routes.

The bus I know about is the bus 750 which goes along Main Beach Parade and up to Sea World. You will have to walk to a bus stop on Main Beach Parade and catch the 750 bus. It stops directly outside Sea World.

I am not sure of the timetables but you can check on the Journey Planner for Public Transport in Brisbane and Gold Coast - make sure if you use it that you select All Available Services otherwise it doesn't work for the Gold Coast and sometimes you have to increase or decrease the walking distance to get it to work.

It isn't the best or easiest of planners to use, but it is all we have!

For the Sea World trip you are only travelling in one zone so a daily ticket which enables you to travel in this zone all day. The prices change from time to time so check out the journey planner link above for more information and up to date prices.


If you have a few of you travelling, it may be cheaper to catch a taxi to Sea World from Main Beach. The apartment where you are staying can probably book the taxi and the return journey for you. Depending where you are in Main Beach expect to pay between $8 to $12 each way, but your apartment tour desk will be able to give you a fixed quote when you get there.

MovieWorld is at Oxenford/Helensvale area which is also serviced by buses but you will have to walk to the Gold Coast Highway to catch the Theme Park Express TX2 bus.

I think the stop you will want is the Gold Coast Highway & Tedder Avenue stop so you will have to walk to there. I don't think catching a taxi to MovieWorld would be worth it, because it would likely be about $50 each way - that is why I definitely recommend the shuttle options!

There are no train stations in Main Beach or Surfers Paradise, so trains are NOT an option to get to the theme parks.

There are two other popular options for Gold Coast theme park transfers and they are to use one of the special theme park buses or to hire a car and drive yourself.

For example Gold Coast Tourist Shuttle will pick you up from your apartments (but not private residences) and take you and bring you back from the theme parks.

This is just one of the options, there are many more which you can check out in the transport section. You can even combine "transport passes" to include picking you up from the airport on arrival.

I hope this helps, if you have any more questions, please use the comment section below and I will answer them as.

Have fun and hope to see you on the Gold Coast sometime soon.

Annie from Gold Coast Australia Travel Tips

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Other related pages of interest:

• Sea World


• Latest Deals at Gold Coast Theme Parks