---
node: spot_gold_coast_surfers_paradise
type: spot
slug: surfers_paradise
destination: dest_gold_coast
title: "Surfers Paradise"
lead: "Surfers Paradise is the high-rise beach strip at the centre of the Gold Coast, three kilometres of sand backed by towers. It is the busiest and brashest part of the coast, and the reason most visitors come."
published: 2026-08-12
updated: 2026-08-12
image_file: spot_gold_coast_surfers_paradise.jpg
image_source: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Surfers_Paradise_Dec_2013.JPG"
image_author: "Donaldytong"
image_license: "CC BY-SA 3.0"
---

## Overview

The suburb took the name in 1933 from a hotel, and the towers arrived with the tourism boom of the 1970s and 1980s. The beach is patrolled and consistent, though the buildings put the sand in shadow by mid-afternoon in winter. Cavill Avenue behind it runs on surf shops, arcades and late-night bars.

## Highlights

The SkyPoint observation deck on level 77 of Q1 gives the length of the coast in one look, and a climb goes higher onto the spire. The beachfront market sets up on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday evenings. Surf schools work the patrolled section in the mornings, when the wind is lightest.