Gold Coast Waters

Gold Coast

Broadbeach, T E Peters Drive

The Broadbeach Waters ramp opposite the Convention Centre – a wide two-lane ramp with a sandy beach beside it, in a park with barbecues and toilets, on the protected canal water of the Nerang system.

Gold Coast

Burleigh Heads, Awoonga Avenue

A single narrow lane into Tallebudgera Creek from a residential street in Burleigh Heads – street parking only, tide-limited, and rated the worst ramp on the coast by the people who have tried them all.

Gold Coast

Carrara, Carrara Road

A small single ramp on the Nerang River at Pidd Family Park, Carrara – six or seven parks, rocky foreshore, and a ramp the council also uses for dredge spoil. Best for small boats heading downriver to Surfers.

Gold Coast

Coomera, Colman Road

The Pimpama River ramp at the end of Colman Road – a single steep lane with a single turning bay and gravel parking in the bush. One boat at a time, but it opens onto the quiet northern rivers and Jumpinpin.

Gold Coast

Coomera, Tallawood Road

A single-lane ramp with a floating pontoon on the Coomera River at the end of Tallawood Road, opposite Sanctuary Cove – nine bays, a park with toilets and barbecues, and not much room to turn a trailer.

Gold Coast

Currumbin, Panorama Drive

The Winders Park ramp on Currumbin Creek – a small single lane with a pontoon, sandy beaches, a fish cleaning table and barbecues, and fewer than ten parks. Get in early, and only cross the bar in good conditions.

Gold Coast

Helensvale, Condamine Crescent

A quiet single ramp on Saltwater Creek at River Downs Park, Helensvale – no facilities, hardly any traffic, and a tide that runs a couple of hours behind the Seaway.

Gold Coast

Hinze Dam (East)

The eastern ramp on Advancetown Lake at Hinze Dam – electric, sail and paddle craft only, no petrol motors, and catch-and-release fishing with a permit.

Gold Coast

Hinze Dam (West)

The main ramp on Advancetown Lake at Hinze Dam, beside the dam wall recreation area – toilets, water and ten bays, for electric, sail and paddle craft only. No petrol motors on the lake.

Gold Coast

Hollywell, Holly Avenue

A single narrow lane straight onto the Broadwater at Hollywell, with a toilet and a handful of on-street parks – a quiet beginners' ramp a hundred metres from its twin at Jasmine Avenue. Watch the shoals at low tide.

Gold Coast

Hollywell, Howard Street

A small single lane onto the Broadwater at Howard Street – sand blows across the ramp, there is no wharf or toilet, and it is exposed to the wind. Ten parks. Jet skis and small four-wheel-drive-towed boats only.

Gold Coast

Hollywell, Jasmine Avenue

The other Hollywell ramp – a small single lane with seven parks beside it, a slight grade, and no wharf. Well kept and quiet, good for beginners and small boats; shoals and rocks from mid tide down.

Gold Coast

Hope Island, Boykambil Esplanade South

The Boykambil ramp on Coombabah Creek at Hope Island – a single lane with a fixed wharf, a wide sandy beach, toilets, barbecues and a playground, and 13 bays. Wind and tide can make the retrieve fiddly.

Gold Coast

Labrador, Southern end of Marine Parade

The Loders Creek ramp at the southern end of Marine Parade, Labrador – two lanes tucked inside the creek mouth, sheltered from the Broadwater weather, with a fish-wash station and toilets but only 20 bays and no jetty.

Gold Coast

Main Beach, Muriel Henchman Drive (Northern)

The northern of the two Spit ramps at Muriel Henchman Park – the closest launch to the Seaway, rebuilt in 2024 with upgraded pontoons and more parking. The 20-tonne load limit is for the charter and tour boats that share it.

Gold Coast

Main Beach, Muriel Henchman Drive (Southern)

The southern Spit ramp at Muriel Henchman Park – the recreational half of the pair, 46 bays, toilets and showers, and the Seaway a short run north. Rebuilt with new pontoons and more parking in 2024.

Gold Coast

Main Beach, Waterways Drive

Proud Park at the mouth of the Nerang River – two lanes and a pontoon on the Main Beach side, 37 bays, toilets and water, with the Broadwater in front and the Seaway a short run north.

Gold Coast

Nerang, Ferry Street

The upriver ramp at Arthur Earle Park, Nerang – two well-kept lanes with toilets and water and ten bays, on the quiet upper Nerang River well away from the coast crowds.

Gold Coast

Oxenford, Old Pacific Hwy

The Coomera River ramp beside the motorway at Oxenford – widened to three lanes with a new pontoon in 2023, one-way traffic through the car park and about 50 bays. Gravel beach, and six-knot zones for the first stretch.

Gold Coast

Palm Beach, Murlong Crescent

The Tallebudgera Creek ramp at Palm Beach – a single lane with a floating walkway, rebuilt in 2024, with toilets, water and a dozen bays. Tinnies and small runabouts; jet skis are banned on the creek.

Gold Coast

Palm Beach, Thrower Drive

The Currumbin Creek ramp on Thrower Drive – two lanes, sandy beaches, a fish cleaning station, showers and about 45 bays, on the Palm Beach bank near the creek mouth. The best-equipped ramp in the south, and the launch for the offshore grounds when the bar allows.

Gold Coast

Paradise Point, Donald Avenue

The Paradise Point boat harbour ramp – three lanes at a gentle grade with a full-length floating walkway, 46 bays, toilets and water, a chandlery and café on the Esplanade, and calm water in front. Ideal for smaller boats and solo launches.

Gold Coast

Paradise Point, Oxley Drive

The Jabiru Island ramp on Oxley Drive – two lanes on the protected south side of the island on Coombabah Creek, 30 bays, toilets, and drive-around access for bigger rigs. Swampy foreshore, still water.

Gold Coast

Paradise Point, Turana Street

A quiet single lane with a fixed jetty on Coombabah Creek at Hollywell Park, Turana Street – 13 bays, no toilet, and a swampy shore that makes the jetty essential. Sheltered, depending on the wind.

Gold Coast

Runaway Bay, Ray Street

Lands End at Runaway Bay – a small single lane onto Biggera Creek off a busy roundabout, with toilets and a tap but only 11 bays. Small boats exploring the canals; the traffic is the intimidating part.

Gold Coast

Southport, Marine Parade & Broad Street

Harley Park on the Labrador foreshore – a twin ramp with a pontoon and small jetty, 62 bays, toilets and water, and the Broadwater cafés at your back. The parking goes very early, and the ramp is exposed to wind and current.

Gold Coast

Southport, Marine Pde & Welch Street

The three-lane ramp at Anzac Park beside the Gold Coast Aquatic Centre, at the southern end of Broadwater Parklands – toilets, water and 29 bays, but tide-limited over the flats. The big four-lane ramp is at the northern end of the same park.

Gold Coast

Southport, North Street

The Broadwater Parklands ramp – two double-width launching bays, three floating walkways and a landing pontoon at Fisherman's Lawn, with parking for about 90 rigs and the Seaway a short run away. The Gold Coast's go-to ramp, repaired and re-walkwayed in 2025.

Gold Coast

Surfers Paradise, Birt Avenue

Budds Beach on the Nerang River at Surfers Paradise – a small single ramp with a gentle slope onto a wide sandy beach, on-street parking only. Kayaks, canoes and jet skis; the sand covers the concrete.

Gold Coast

Surfers Paradise, Naples Avenue

The Isle of Capri ramp on the Nerang River – a single lane with six parks, no jetty, and a tidal current that runs hard past the ramp. Experienced users only.

Gold Coast

Upper Coomera, Gawler Place

A single ramp at John Siganto Park on the upper Coomera River – gravel beaches, eight parks, toilets, a dog park and a playground, in a peaceful spot at the top of the navigable river. Rocks in the calm water.

South Stradbroke Island

North Currigee Campground

Boat-only access, fifteen minutes from the ramp, and a beach you can anchor off and step straight onto. North Currigee gives you shady beachfront sites, proper amenities, flathead and whiting in the Broadwater, and surf beach a short walk over the dunes. Family camping with the boat parked out front.

South Stradbroke Island

South Stradbroke Island (north)

Coming soon!

South Stradbroke Island

Tipplers

Deep anchorage at all tides, a licensed café on the Broadwater, and a campground you can walk to from the pontoon. Tipplers is the Gold Coast's easiest island weekend: tailor and dart off the eastern beach, whales going past from June, and wallabies through camp at dusk.

Wavebreak Island

Wavebreak Island

Wave Break was dumped into the Broadwater in the 1980s to take the sting out of the Gold Coast Seaway, and the name tells you exactly what it does. What the engineers accidentally built was the easiest boating day on the coast: five minutes from The Spit, white sand, clear water on the high tide, and a skyline behind you for the photos. Beach the bow, throw the awning up, done.

Gold Coast

Cook Island

A popular diving location.

South Stradbroke Island

Tipplers Passage little beach

A beautiful little beach no more than 30 meters long.