Gold Coast, Australia

About Gold Coast

The Gold Coast is better known for its surf, but the sheltered water behind it — the Broadwater and the creek mouths — gives some of the best flat-water riding in Queensland.

Shearwater Esplanade at Runaway Bay, half an hour north of Surfers Paradise, is the accessible option: some of the finest flat water on the coast, working on northerly, easterly or southerly wind. It rides best at dead high or dead low tide; mid-tide turns choppy, and tidal currents can run hard against you. At low tide it suits beginners.

Currumbin, half an hour south, is the opposite. It only works on a northerly or north-easterly, is best on an outgoing tide, and gives flat water behind sandbars plus a surf point break. It is explicitly an advanced spot: trees deeper in the lagoon block the wind, the water deepens quickly at high tide, and currents can produce dangerous sweeps.

Between them they cover most conditions, and the rest of the Gold Coast is exactly what you would expect it to be.

When to go

Best months: January, February, March, April, October, November, December.

Kite areas

2 distinct riding areas documented within this destination.

• Currumbin

  Best months: January, February, March, April, October, November, December.

• Shearwater Esplanade

  Best months: January, February, March, April, October, November, December.