With its powder-white beaches, blissful climate, colourful reefs, and marvellous museums, Queensland’s glorious coast provides a treasure trove of adventure for families.
Gold Coast
The Gold Coast’s theme parks have established the region as a family favourite. Kids can immerse themselves in cinematic magic at Warner Bros. Movie World, see wildlife at Sea World, cool down at Wet‘n’Wild or tackle ‘coasters at Dreamworld. Across all, you’ll find attractions for teens and tots alike.
Gold Coast
The luminous bottoms of glow-worms are a great way to get kids laughing and engaging with one of nature’s most interesting biological phenomena. Young ones won’t even notice you’ve tricked them into learning some science as they are awestruck by these fascinating larvae at the caves in Mt Tamborine, just 50 minutes from Surfers Paradise.
Gold Coast
This State Heritage-listed sanctuary is committed to conserving Australia’s natural wildlife, with hundreds of native animals just waiting to meet your little zoologist. See Australian icons like Tassie devils, as well as some exotic critters such as cotton-top tamarins and capybaras. Catch the daily WildSkies free-flight bird show and Blinky Bill’s Studio Adventure.
Brisbane
Streets Beach is made for families, a man-made ‘beach’ with varying water depths for all and qualified lifeguards on site year-round. You’ll find some of the city’s best dining within easy walking distance, plus the South Bank Collective Markets on weekends, offering delicious street food, fashion and art.
Brisbane
The Museum of Brisbane brings the city’s vibrant art, culture and history to life through award-winning exhibitions, workshops, tours and talks. The museum explores the lives and stories of Brisbane’s people through fascinating exhibits. You’ll find an ever-evolving schedule of daily and seasonal activities geared towards families, plus special hands-on school holiday workshops for kids aged 5–11 years during school holidays.
Brisbane
Hardcore Potter fans Sirius-ly can’t miss this one-stop shop for all things wizardly, with wands, gowns, broomsticks and all manner of magical trinkets. Candles float overhead as visitors lounge in the common room, try on the Sorting Hat and perhaps even pick up their own wizard’s chess set.
Sunshine Coast
While on the Sunshine Coast, do as the locals do and catch a few waves. The water is a great temperature year-round, and group or private lessons cater for everyone, whether it’s your first time or you’re perfecting your skills. Caloundra Surf School runs one-off lessons, with exclusive permits to provide surf lessons at three of Caloundra’s best beaches: Happy Valley, Currimundi Beach and Dicky Beach.
Sunshine Coast
See the ocean from a different perspective as you walk through the 80-metre-long glass tunnel, sharks, rays and reef fish swimming directly overhead. Daily presentations teach budding marine biologists about the famously playful residents of Seal Island, and don’t miss an interactive experience created with Disney·Pixar that invites guests into Dory’s Reef.
Sunshine Coast
Experience Australia’s first Swim with Humpback Whales encounters with Sunreef Mooloolaba, taking place seasonally from July to October. This safe guided swim will see swimmers led into the water with a floating safety line attached to the boat and is 100 per cent on the whales’ terms.
Sunshine Coast
Made famous by the Crocodile Hunter, Steve Irwin, Australia Zoo is an interactive conservation destination where you can get up close with wildlife. Meet a lemur, cuddle a koala, watch a saltwater crocodile strike at the Wildlife Warriors Show or explore the Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital, one of the largest and busiest of its kind in the world, having treated more than 70,000 native Australian animals since opening in 2004.
Hervey Bay
The sheltered waters of Hervey Bay are touted as the whale-watching capital of Australia, thanks to ideal conditions for mother humpbacks to teach newborns essential survival skills before their migration along Australia’s East Coast. Take a tour with a local specialist to see the majestic creatures up close.
Hervey Bay
The best way to see World Heritage-listed Fraser Island is zooming around it on a 3.5-hour jet ski tour. From Hervey Bay, you’ll likely spot turtles, dolphins and even dugong on your way to Kingfisher Bay Resort, where morning tea will refuel adventurers for snorkelling.
Hervey Bay
Get lost on a deserted, sandy island, just a 15-minute cruise from Hervey Bay, where the only residents are the turtles that nest here. Round Island’s crystalline waters are teeming with sea life, and roundtrip transfers to the island depart daily from Urangan.
Agnes Waters
Teach your kids about the traditional custodians of Australia. A Goolimbil Walkabout invites families to join an Indigenous guide on an expedition to the coastal bushland of Eurimbula National Park. A highlight is the visit to the ‘Waybare’, a traditional place for Dreamtime stories and dance.
Rockhampton
With a street plaza-style skate park and splash-tastic wet play area, Cedric Archer Park is a great spot to burn off some energy. The park is state-of-the-art, with mega soakers, tipping buckets and an interactive storybook journey that immerses kids in their favourite fairytales with an app you can download. Best of all, it’s free.
Rockhampton
Immerse kids in art at the Rockhampton Art Gallery. Until August, a free weekly Story Time invites them into the whimiscal wonderland of Del Kathryn Barton’s The Nightingale and The Rose, where they can get hands on with craft activities and take home their own creations.
Mackay
Grab your helmets to discover the best of Mackay on this 20-kilometre cycling trail. You’ll pass attractions including the Botanical Gardens, Bluewater Lagoon and Town Beach. Spot all six public art installations along the way, each a tribute to a different part of Mackay’s history.
Rockhampton
For little animal lovers, a visit to Rockhampton Zoo is a must. There are more than 60 species of native and exotic animals to be discovered. In the Australian Wetland zone, spot The Colonel, an enormous saltwater crocodile, or learn the differences between your pet pooch and the dingoes. Entry is free, but donations are appreciated.
Mackay
The platypus may just be one of Mother Nature’s most bizarre gifts; indeed, it is said that the first scientists to examine one thought they were the victims of an elaborate hoax. To see them for yourself, head to Broken River in Eungella National Park, just inland from Mackay. If you’re patient and quiet, you might see them surfacing.
Mackay
Take a swim in the three-tiered pools of Bluewater Lagoon, where lifeguards and calm conditions make for a safe and rejuvenating family dip. There’s a water playground with a slide and tipping bucket, and areas of varying depths. Barbecue facilities are within easy reach on Bluewater Quay.
Airlie Beach
Weave through the islands of the Whitsundays on the Derwent Hunter, a restored timber tall ship. Leaving from Airlie Beach, families will set sail for uninhabited islands and snorkel with turtles and colourful fish from secluded beaches.
Airlie Beach
Head to the Airlie Beach foreshore every Saturday for these markets, where you can pick up everything from fruit and vegetables to a tarot reading. It’s a great place to grab a souvenir and meet the locals. Plus the mango smoothies are among Queensland’s very best.
Townsville
Townsville’s thriving foreshore is a hit with kids. Take a dip in the ocean before fuelling up for the 2.5-kilometre walk. Stop at the Strand Water Park to cool off, and share a refreshing gelato under the shade of a palm tree.
Townsville
A 20-minute ferry ride from Townsville will deliver you to Magnetic Island, whose many drawcards include its koala population, WWII fortifications, water views and water sports at Horseshoe Bay.
Townsville
This mecca for all things marine is home to the world’s largest living coral reef aquarium. Littlies will love learning about the Great Barrier Reef’s complex ecosystem, not to mention finding Nemo in the 2.5 millionlitre tank.
Cairns
Step back 40,000 years in time for an insight into the world’s oldest living culture. Practise spear and boomerang throwing, hear the didgeridoo and learn about culture through traditional performances.
Cairns
See the Daintree Rainforest from above as you zip across the jungle canopy. Kids as young as three can join the zipline tour, fully led by guides who can tell you all about the flora and fauna.
Cairns
The Cairns Highlands boasts ideal conditions for hot air ballooning. A glorious sunrise over the sleepy countryside is sure to delight your tribe.
Great Barrier Reef
The Great Barrier Reef stretches 2,300 kilometres and offers some of the best diving on earth with inviting waters, a jaw-dropping number of marine species and some 600 islands just waiting to be explored. Plan a visit to concide with migrating whales from May to September.
This article originally appeared in Holidays with Kids magazine. To subscribe to the latest issue, click here.
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