Hugging the water's edge on the Southport side of the Broadwater estuary, this large park features free barbecues, beach volleyball, a swimming pontoon, restaurants and the Great Lawn, where big public events like the Mayor's Christmas Carols are held. Best of all is Rockpools, a free water park for toddlers, where colourfully painted marine critters squirt water into a series of paddling pools. It's also home to the large outdoor pools of the Gold Coast Aquatic Centre.
Broadwater Parklands
Gold Coast
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
Tweed Regional Gallery & Margaret Olley Art Centre
24.46 MILES
This exceptional gallery overlooking the river is an architectural delight and home to some of Australia’s finest works. An extension devoted to acclaimed…
8.72 MILES
Burleigh Head is known to the local Kombumerri clan of the Yugambeh people as Jellurgal, who trace its formation to a creation spirit called Jabreen. As…
18.14 MILES
A 27-sq-km national park, Springbrook is an ancient volcanic landscape with a 900m-high plateau cut through with gorges and a few even loftier outcrops…
24.88 MILES
The 200-sq-km Lamington National Park is a Unesco World Heritage Site with more than 160km of walking trails. This is a wonderful place for bushwalking,…
12.03 MILES
This nicely restrained, old-style operation includes Australia’s biggest rainforest aviary, where you can hand-feed a technicolour blur of rainbow…
15.52 MILES
The headland of Point Danger marks the border between Queensland and New South Wales. There are amazing views from here both ways along the coast, and you…
17.58 MILES
Just off Springbrook Rd, the feathery Purling Brook Falls drops a rather astonishing 106m into the rainforest: worth braving the vertigo-inducing lookout.
15.61 MILES
Queensland’s oldest national park comprises 13 sections stretching across an 8km plateau. Pick up a map at the information centre in North Tamborine for…
Nearby Gold Coast attractions
0.55 MILES
The lovely but somewhat shabby Spanish Mission–style Pavilion (1934) is a remnant from pre-boom days. Inside there's a cafe, toilets and changing rooms,…
1.57 MILES
Budds Beach is the narrow, riverside beach on Surfers Paradise's Nerang River. It's great for kids and beginner stand-up paddleboarders.
1.95 MILES
Lose the kids for an hour (literally) in this walk-through maze, cunningly disguised with elaborate audiovisual displays.
4. Surfers Paradise Beachfront Markets
2.21 MILES
The beachfront plays host to many stalls selling the usual array of fashion, accessories and artworks, plus photographs and homewares.
2.44 MILES
For an eagle-eye view of the coast and hinterland, zip up to this 230m-high observation deck near the top of Q1; at 322m, it's the world's tallest…
4.81 MILES
A contemporary art space in a small back-street converted warehouse, 19 Karen has group shows and exhibits emerging local talent and international artists…
6.42 MILES
A hawker-style street market in a previously abandoned warehouse strewn with fairy lights, this lively space has food, fashion, art and live music. Work…
7.38 MILES
The ultimate water slide here is the Kamikaze, where you plunge down an 11m drop in a two-person tube at 50km/h. This vast water park also has pitch-black…