There are a number of options to get you to your accommodation in Surfers Paradis.
Gold Coast (or Coolangatta) Airport is a relatively small airport. Upon picking up your bags and heading out the front door, there are a number of ways you can get to where you need to go.
Taxi or Private Transfer
A taxi or private transfer is probably the most convenient option. The taxi rank is directly outside the airport and they will obviously drop you off at your hotel. You won’t need to share the car with others and you can go directly to your own accommodation without multiple stops (unless of course you want the stops).
The downside of the taxi though is that it is relatively expensive. When we stayed in Surfers in May 2020 we caught a maxi taxi as there were 8 of us. The taxi fare was over $90.
You will not have to pre book a taxi. Just line up with other passengers at the taxi rank when you get there. Private transfers will need to be booked. There are a number of transfer companies that you can find through a google search.
Group Transfer
You can also book via a transfer company where you will be taken to your hotel but it is on a bus with numerous other people so whether you are the first or last stop along the way can significantly impact your travel time to get there. While it is cheaper if you are travelling on your own than the cost of a taxi, if you have multiple people in your party the cost can add up very quickly. For both price and convenience, when we have travelled with larger group we will use a taxi if we are looking at one of these options.
A company like Con-x-ion can also include packages for transfers to places like the theme parks as well. We used them once. We weren’t keen on group transfers. They got us there late while picking up everyone else along the way and you miss the ability to head in early and get to the rides you really want to do before the crowds pack in. We also didn’t like being bound to a very specific schedule so you had to make sure you were ready to go when they arrived to pick you up. Then when we did leave, they did the rounds of all other parks before starting the drop off sequence to the hotels. It was frustrating. Given the fact that the public bus was a little less time, was far less restrictive and a much more economical price, we now only travel via the public bus.
Public Bus
This is by far our preferred option in more recent times. The public bus is about 10 steps further along from the group taxi rank.
The Convenience Hub right near the bag collection carousels sell Go Cards (public transport ticket). The card will cost you $5 to set up, however I’m sure I heard an announcement when we were there today (January 2021) that you can now tap on and off public transport by using your credit card. This only applied if you are a full fee paying adult.
Public Bus 777 takes you from the Airport to the Broadbeach South tram stop. From here, you can board the tram which will take you right into the heart of Surfers Paradise and stops at a number of other stops along the way. For the $5ish dollars it costs to do this and the time it takes to catch the bus (maybe 35 min to the stop) then the tram to the heart of surfers (maybe 10 minutes) it is fantastic value for money with a great service.
Of course the only down side is that because it’s a public transport service, you have to choose the closest stop to your accommodation and walk from there. Today, this took us an additional 4 minutes after getting off the tram on a well made footpath that allowed the suitcases to roll freely without getting caught.
Regardless of which option you choose, getting from the airport to your accommodation is very easy. If you are going via Public Bus, putting your location into Google Maps so you can follow along on your phone makes which stop to get off so much easier.
Hiring a car
Hiring a car is a good option if you want to do other things besides just theme parks and the main parts of Surfers. Hiring a car isn’t necessarily cheap but it obviously gives you huge amounts of flexibility. Nearly all hotels have parking facilities that I have seen and don’t charge extra for them.
There are many car companies here. You have your larger companies such as Avis but you also have some budget companies as well. When hiring a car, we have hired with both the larger companies and also companies such as Rent A Dent (now RAD Care Hire). Depends on what you’re looking for. For me, a car is a car and I just want some reliable to get me from A to B. Budget companies can save you a fair amount of money however there tends to be 2 catches with them that I have seen.
- They do not have the same operating hours. They are quite restricted and normally only deliver during business hours. Other car companies do not always open 24 hours either mainly due to it not being as busy as it is in some of the larger cities. If you are arriving during the main parts of the day, you should be able to choose between any of them but if you’re arrive early / late, you may find your options are more limited. You can also get hit with additional charges for the time of day.
- Some of the companies do not have “spots” at the airport itself. This is especially true for the budget companies. When we last used RAD we picked up our car from within the normal car park and handed it back to someone within the same carpark when we finishing hiring.
A car can definitely have its benefits (like when you’re trying to walk back to your hotel with groceries….)
