Coolangatta
This southern city lies on the Queensland and New South Wales border as the gateway to South East Queensland. Gold Coast Airport is located within 5mins drive of Coolangatta Beach and its accommodation & shopping district, a feature rarely seen anywhere else in the world!
Coolangatta is a great introduction to Queensland. The north-facing beaches Coolangatta, Greenmount and Rainbow Bay are popular swimming and surfing beaches. With walking tracks connecting the headland between Rainbow Bay and Coolangatta, forming part of the Southern Points Promenade and GCCC’s Oceanway network of 36km’s of walking/bike tracks, you can explore the coastline at your own pace.
Coolangatta and nearby Tweed have historic links. Captain Cook named Point Danger and Mount Warning as he sailed up the east coast in 1770. The Tweed River was developed as a port from the 1830s to ship cedar.
In early land surveys in 1883, the Twin Towns of Coolangatta and Tweed Heads were laid out on each side of the border. Coolangatta’s charms were discovered by holiday makers in the 1880s with visitors from Brisbane and northern New South Wales gravitating to the pretty beaches annually.
Coolangatta has Queensland’s first surf life saving club – Tweed Heads & Coolangatta SLSC, formed at Greenmount Beach in 1911 and soon after, guest houses started to appear along the beachfront.
Coolangatta offers loads of activities – dive sites at Kirra and Cook Island to the south. Stand on Point Danger to spot dolphins, see circling birds, spy migrating humpback whales and the sense of the jagged coastline.
With an abundance of interesting shops, al fresco restaurants, cafes, clubs, pubs, live entertainment, cinemas and beachfront markets, Coolangatta is a perfect holiday destination for all ages. Coolangatta is also home to the Wintersun Festival Australia's Leading Rock & Roll Nostalgia Retro Event.
Coolangatta is a great place to be for New Years Eve celebrations, giving visitors two New Year’s Eve fireworks displays, one at 11pm Qld time, as NSW rings in the New Year an hour ahead of Qld. You can also look north along the coastline to see displays at Surfers Paradise lighting up the night horizon
Gold Coast Tourism’s Griffith Street Visitor Information Centre can help you get the most of your visit.
See Southern Gold Coast for more information on Coolangatta.