Sunshine vs Gold Coast

[Guest]

I'm on the Sunshine Coast side of the fence but that is well argued point for the GC.

 

Life can't be too bad with these 2 as options. Any mention of Blackpool is ridiculous

[Aaronspark]

I'm assuming you never lived on the Gold Coast...

 

Sunshine Coast is beautiful - most of Queensland is, but I'm going to sell the Gold Coast... We live here and love it.

 

As others have said, some people seem to be confusing Surfers Paradise with the Gold Coast in general. Surfers is one suburb of many. It can get rowdy a 2 or 3 am in the morning... so if that's not your thing then don't go out in Surfers at 2 or 3 am in the morning. During the daytime, I actually like Surfers and it aint so bad at night if you fancy going out on the piss with a load of mates. But in comparison to any UK cities at that time of night, it'd still regard the nightlife as fairly tame.

 

Go south to Broadbeach and you've got a cosmopolitan vibrant suburb teeming with restaurants, bars and clubs.

 

Further south, you've got Mermaid Beach, Nobby's Beach, Miami, Burleigh Heads, Palm Beach, Currumbin, Coolongatta... quieter but still great for beaches, eating out etc...

 

North end, you have Main Beach, Sanctuary Cove etc...

 

Gold Coast has beaches stretching for miles on end. If you want a busy beach, you'll find one (i.e. Surfers, Main)... If you want a quiet beach you'll find one (i.e. Nobbys, Palm Beach South).

 

If you want busy nightlife you'll find it (i.e. Surfers)... if you want quieter but still vibrant nightlife you'll find it (Broadbeach, Burleigh).

 

If you want shopping you'll find it - Robina, Pac Fair, Australia Fair, Harbourtown and tons of smaller malls.

 

If you want sport you'll find it - Rugby-NRL (Titans@Robina), AFL (Suns@Carrara), plus loads of cricket, football, baseball grounds, golf courses etc.. pretty much every suburb is serviced.

 

Brisbane is an hour a way on the main GC line, if you fancy a bit of culture.

 

Family stuff - you have the biggest theme parks in Australia - Dreamworld, Movie World, Wet n Wild, White Water World, Sea World

 

The Gold Coast Hinterland is amazing countryside and scenery - Springbrook, Lamington, Mount Tamborine. Fantastic scenery - valleys, waterfalls, walks....

 

Whatever lifestyle you want, I think the GC will offer it to you on a plate. You take what you want and avoid what you don't like.

 

The Sunshine Coast is lovely if you like sedate towns and beaches... but you can cherry pick that from what the GC has to offer. But the GC offers a whole lot more on top of that.

 

Great info. Thanks for sharing. I'm hoping tomorrow to move to the Gold Coast in August. Will probably be looking at moving to the north side as I reckon myself or partner might have to travel to Brisbane for work. One of my concerns was there not being anywhere with a Pub, restaurant (clubs occasionally) vibe on the north side. We are in our early 30's and have kids but still like going out every now and then. Is there places to go with this in mind in the north side? I heard you mention Sanctuary cove, and main beach. Are these the 2 main areas up north?

 

Also, what's it like for travelling south in the evening if we were to venture there from say Upper coomera, Helensvale, Hope springs etc?

 

Thanks

[thegigg5]

Great info. Thanks for sharing. I'm hoping tomorrow to move to the Gold Coast in August. Will probably be looking at moving to the north side as I reckon myself or partner might have to travel to Brisbane for work. One of my concerns was there not being anywhere with a Pub, restaurant (clubs occasionally) vibe on the north side. We are in our early 30's and have kids but still like going out every now and then. Is there places to go with this in mind in the north side? I heard you mention Sanctuary cove, and main beach. Are these the 2 main areas up north?

 

Also, what's it like for travelling south in the evening if we were to venture there from say Upper coomera, Helensvale, Hope springs etc?

 

Thanks

 

Hi Aaron, We thought we'd end up needing to travel to Brisbane to work (as it turns out we both ended up finding work on the Gold Coast) so we followed the Pacific Motorway and the Main Train Line down from Brisbane to the Gold Coast and based our suburb choice on that. We shortlisted to Helensvale and Robina and then settled in Robina. Both are close to the Motorway and had train stations on the Main Brisbane line.

 

Do a time check on Google Maps to see how long it would take to get to Brisbane from a particular suburb as it can take a while in busy periods to even get to the motorway. i.e. Even though Robina is further south than Southport (for instance) - I reckon I'd get to Brisbane quicker because I'm on the motorway in 2 minutes. Also think suburbs with stations if you want to commute.

[Teejams]

Hi

We've just returned from 2 weeks reckie to GC, found it all great, but did find the roads as busy as home in the UK, so thought maybe we should have checked out SC as well!

 

As work is looking like it may be in Brisbane, this unfortunately means the commute whichever end we choose.

my question is, no one seems to compare North Brisbane ie. Areas like Caboolture and North Lakes, etc with SC. This would be a lot easier for commuting, if working in Brisbane was necessary?

 

Does anyone have any advice? Thanks

[wattsy1982]

he Sunny Coast is entirely better than the Gold Coast, that is unless you like getting into fights when walking down the street and having your house broken into on a regular basis.

 

Hahahahahahahahah. This is like saying dont move to Europe because Magaluf is awful and full of chavvy drunks!

 

We live on the GC, have done for 2 years and know alot of people here also. I feel somewhat duped that ive never "got into a fight when walking down the street" or had my house "broken into on a regular basis"

 

We live "inland" in Varsity Lakes, soon to build in Reedy Creek, but still only 10 mins max from the beach.

 

I cant remember the last time we went to sufers, no need to. plenty of nicer places to eat and drink.

 

We have kids (5 and 3) and the areas around us are ideal for families and theres much more to do on the GC than the SC in our opinion.

 

We would much rather live on the GC and holiday on the SC instead of the other way round.

[Guest]

Hi

We've just returned from 2 weeks reckie to GC, found it all great, but did find the roads as busy as home in the UK, so thought maybe we should have checked out SC as well!

 

As work is looking like it may be in Brisbane, this unfortunately means the commute whichever end we choose.

my question is, no one seems to compare North Brisbane ie. Areas like Caboolture and North Lakes, etc with SC. This would be a lot easier for commuting, if working in Brisbane was necessary?

 

Does anyone have any advice? Thanks

 

We have just moved from Brisbane to a small village on the way to Bribie, quite close to Caboolture.

There is a world of difference between Northlakes/Mango Hill - new suburbs, new shopping etc, than Caboolture - old existing town, very limited shopping. It actually feels like a ghost town when we go there and is a little bogan!

Hubby commutes to 8 Mile Plains - leaves early and it is about an hour

I commute to near the Airport - with the school drop off on the north side - takes about an hour too.

Traffic is bad but only "brisbane bad" Tuesdays to Thursdays on the way down, but generally fine on the way back and surprisingly Mondays and Fridays both ways. When it slows down it takes 10-15 minutes from Anzac Ave to the Gympie Road rather than 5. Hubby goes down the Gympie Road and uses the tunnels rather than the Gateway now and the traffic is ok.

Northlakes is a bit "little britain" but has great facilities. However its not near a beach - the closest surf beach is Woorim on Bribie other than that it is Caloundra. There is a great beach at Redcliffe but as it is in the bay, no waves.

I dont think you can compare Northlakes/Caboolture with the GC/SC - its very different but it depends what you are looking for. It is loads closer to Brisbane for work.

[wattsy1982]

We have just moved from Brisbane to a small village on the way to Bribie, quite close to Caboolture.

 

Hi mrsdawnrazor, Werent you looking to move bacl to uk?

 

Dan

[Guest]

Yup - sold the house and moved into the investment property that we havent sold yet.

Half the family off soon and I will follow with the fur family when they have secured somewhere to live.

Still loads to sort out but it is happening, albeit slower than expected

[wattsy1982]

Oh thats good then, when are you ear marking your departure for?

[Teejams]

Thanks, we did like the GC because areas were modern with lots going on and shops like Westfield were easily accessible. This is totally up our street!

The only thing we were disappointed with really, was how far the nearest beach was, we don't want a surf beach, a small calm beach with maybe a promenade, was our ideal? With the much earlier sunsets, after work, school beach visits near to be pretty close to make the most of the day light.

 

I guess we're spoilt as in the UK we only live 10 minutes from the coast and would have liked something similar but also with the easiest city commute. (Cake and eat it!) I guess this is why I was thinking northern Brisbane?

 

Mrsdawnrazor you said Northlakes/Calbooture is 'very different'? Would you say it doesn't meet our criteria above?

 

I hope you're looking forward to you're return. Thanks

[Teejams]

Me and my mrs had the same dilemma so I'm actually in Gold Coast now and I'm travelling up to Sunshine Coast on Saturday for two weeks. It's a massive move so we thought it best we come here and have a 3 week holiday and have a look around before making a decision. So far we love the Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast will have to go some way to beat it but everyone I know who's been out here says that they prefer Sunshine Coast. I was chatting to someone at surfers paradise yesterday and they had a view point on it that matches my view of Cornwall (where my parents moved me to from Birmingham when I was 12) Sunshine Coast is beautiful but it's where you go to retire, whether that's how I'll see it is yet to be seen.

 

So far we've been all over gold coast taking in the feeling of the place, we're staying in varsity lakes near robina and it's beautiful and would love to live here but the house prices are closer to the top end of what we could afford, go up to pimpama and Pacific pines and the house prices go down, it's a few minutes more to the beach but it's equally as nice and you'll pay less for a house.

 

**Skyba, how did you get on with your reckie to the Sunshine Coast?

 

We've also spent 6 years lresearching areas and trying to get a visa, we've had a really good look at the Gold Coast. At last things are moving at lightning speed now for us so just need to make a final decision on area.

 

What at did you decide on?

[Guest]

Thanks, we did like the GC because areas were modern with lots going on and shops like Westfield were easily accessible. This is totally up our street!

The only thing we were disappointed with really, was how far the nearest beach was, we don't want a surf beach, a small calm beach with maybe a promenade, was our ideal? With the much earlier sunsets, after work, school beach visits near to be pretty close to make the most of the day light.

 

I guess we're spoilt as in the UK we only live 10 minutes from the coast and would have liked something similar but also with the easiest city commute. (Cake and eat it!) I guess this is why I was thinking northern Brisbane?

 

Mrsdawnrazor you said Northlakes/Calbooture is 'very different'? Would you say it doesn't meet our criteria above?

 

I hope you're looking forward to you're return. Thanks

 

From your description I would look at Redcliffe - not a surf beach but a great location and fairly close to the city for the commute although it can be busy. Generally established housing. Northlakes would also offer you the 10-15 minutes from the beach at Redcliffe or 1/2 hour to Bribie and 3/4 to the Sunshine Coast. New housing, lots of facilities but it is a "masterplanned community" so can feel a bit soulless if you are used to village life.

I wouldnt recommend Caboolture - you can buy cheap houses but there is a reason for that. The array of PJs in the Supermarket on Sunday mornings is spectacular :-). Its just a bit Meh and there are lots of other places you could live that are a lot nicer.

Hope this helps

[veevee93]

Comparing Blackpool to the GC!! Hahaha I currently live in NW england and wow Gold coast is like paradise compared to Blackpool, I've been out on surfers and I'd say it's relatively tame compared to a night out in liverpool, manchester etc even Warrington! GC has a lovely mix for all ages plenty of stuff for the kids to do and the night life is really great. I stayed on Broadbeach Waters and found it beautiful and peaceful each to their own I suppose.

[veevee93]

Thanks, we did like the GC because areas were modern with lots going on and shops like Westfield were easily accessible. This is totally up our street!

The only thing we were disappointed with really, was how far the nearest beach was, we don't want a surf beach, a small calm beach with maybe a promenade, was our ideal? With the much earlier sunsets, after work, school beach visits near to be pretty close to make the most of the day light.

 

I guess we're spoilt as in the UK we only live 10 minutes from the coast and would have liked something similar but also with the easiest city commute. (Cake and eat it!) I guess this is why I was thinking northern Brisbane?

 

Mrsdawnrazor you said Northlakes/Calbooture is 'very different'? Would you say it doesn't meet our criteria above?

 

I hope you're looking forward to you're return. Thanks

 

I'm looking at North lakes to move perfect for kids etc , I've heard Calbooture is a bit rough from online sources haven't been to see it myself though.

[Zack]

Me and my mrs had the same dilemma so I'm actually in Gold Coast now and I'm travelling up to Sunshine Coast on Saturday for two weeks. It's a massive move so we thought it best we come here and have a 3 week holiday and have a look around before making a decision. So far we love the Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast will have to go some way to beat it but everyone I know who's been out here says that they prefer Sunshine Coast. I was chatting to someone at surfers paradise yesterday and they had a view point on it that matches my view of Cornwall (where my parents moved me to from Birmingham when I was 12) Sunshine Coast is beautiful but it's where you go to retire, whether that's how I'll see it is yet to be seen.

 

So far we've been all over gold coast taking in the feeling of the place, we're staying in varsity lakes near robina and it's beautiful and would love to live here but the house prices are closer to the top end of what we could afford, go up to pimpama and Pacific pines and the house prices go down, it's a few minutes more to the beach but it's equally as nice and you'll pay less for a house.

 

All i I can say to you is research, I've been researching a move to is for 6 years, I've re-trained as an electrician and I'm eligible for a visa in May, coming here on a holiday although it's only just under a month here was a good move as I'm able to get a feel of where we want to be and won't waist valuable time when we get here looking at where we want to live when I'll need to concentrate on work.

 

 

They are both Overrated,Lived in Queensland for 35 years,Been to The Gold Coast about 4 times,its over commercialized,full of drunken hoons ,tacky ,and we don't speak Japanese,all the signs and shops are run by the Japs in surfers.Don't go there when schoolies week is on! The Locals on the Gold Coast Want it Banned.But the QLD Gov.Thinks it is a Learning Curve for Australia;s Youth.The Sunshine Coast is like the TV show in The UK.One Foot In The Grave,There's nothing here.We live at Tin Can Bay. The Place is full of Dole Bludgers,It's a safe heaven for people that won't work,there's no chance of getting a job here.Thats the go all up the SSC.But houses are cheap. Hervey Bay is the same.but problems with the local youth out of control,Their latest racket is stealing the cooper wire from the telephone posts.But a nice place to the eye.