Main Beach
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Main Beach is a coastal suburb of the Gold Coast, just north of Surfers Paradise. While it isn't known that well as its southern neighbour, it is still a very popular upscale tourist spot known for its Sea World resort and its long beach.
Get in
The main road to get into Main Beach is the Main Beach Parade from Surfers Paradise.
If you're using public transit, the 1 Main Beach light rail station 
of the Gold Coast's G:link LRT network is on the southern fringes of Main Beach. It's a bit of a walk to the rest of Main Beach, but it should take no more than 30 minutes for the average walker at the very max.
Hopo Gold Coast provides ferry services from G:link stations in Surfers Paradise and Southport to 2 Marina Mirage Wharf and 3 Sea World Wharf.
See and do
- 1 Sea World, Seaworld Dr. Daily 9:30AM–5PM. A marine theme park mainly catering injured marine wildlife, the park has several rides, attractions, shows and many marine attractions showcasing marine Australasian wildlife
- 2 Federation Walk Coastal Reserve. A coastal reserve with a mix of subtropical landscape including littoral rainforest, native grasslands, and pockets of wetlands and many of the wildlife found in these biomes.
Buy
- 1 Marina Mirage (Marina Mirage Shopping Centre), 74 Seaworld Dr, ☏ +61 7 5555 6400, admin@marinamirage.com.au. 10AM–6PM. An upscale shopping mall with boutique stores and waterfront dining. It's, unfortunately, a bit car-centric. Still, it's walkable from the nearest G:link stop (≈20 mins) – however, the Hopo GC Ferry between Sea World and Surfers Paradise stops by Marina Mirage, but services are infrequent.
Eat
Tedder Avenue between Hughes and Cronin Avenues is home to an upscale shopping and dining precinct with boutique stores, cafes, and restaurants. Although not pedestrianised, it's still a very pedestrian-friendly street (for Australian standards outside Sydney) and is connected to the bus network via the 704.
- 1 Domanis Cafe Restaurant Bar, 1/19-21 Tedder Ave, ☏ +61 7 5571 0091. Su Tu–Th 11AM–10PM; M 5PM–9PM; F Sa 11AM–midnight.
- 2 Hot Shott, 3/17 Tedder Ave, ☏ +61 451 847 370. Daily 5:30AM–4PM. A spacious cafe and restaurant – has everything essential an Australian restaurant needs to have.
- 3 Lark Cafe, cnr Stafford Ave & Main Beach Parade, ☏ +61 7 5532 8441. 5:30AM–2PM. Another ordinary Australian cafe.
- 4 Le Jardin Cafe Restaurant, 13 Tedder Ave, ☏ +61 7 5564 0100. Daily 6AM–5PM. A cafe with a large outdoor garden and patio. Plenty of good Australianised French and Belgian food.
- 5 Main Beach Fish Grotto, 10/20 Tedder Ave, ☏ +61 457 779 712, mainbeachfishgrotto@gmail.com. Daily 11AM–8PM. A small fish and chips takeaway shop.
- 6 Milan On Main, 4/14-16 Tedder Ave, ☏ +61 7 5591 6661, info@milanonmain.com. Daily noon–9PM. Upscale Italian restaurant and cafe – and despite its name, the restaurant specialises in Napoli cuisine, not Lombard cuisine.
- 7 Senza Nome Italian Restaurant, 8/20 Tedder Ave, ☏ +61 7 5564 0900. Daily noon–9PM. Italian mid-range restaurant that's spacious.
- 8 Shuck Restaurant, 20 Tedder Ave, ☏ +61 7 5528 4286, info@shuck.com.au. W–S noon–midnight. Perhaps the most splurge seafood restaurant on Main Beach, with lots of fresh local oysters and fish.
- 9 Xenia Main Beach, 30 Peak Ave, ☏ +61 480 384 535. Daily noon–3PM, 5–8:30PM. A Greek restaurant.
Drink
- 1 Fisherman’s Wharf Tavern, Shop 40, 60-70 Seaworld Dr, ☏ +61 7 5571 0566, info@fishermanswharftavern.com.au. M–F 10AM–11PM, Sa Su 10AM–12:30AM. A rather unusual westward facing coastal tavern, open till late.
Sleep
Accommodation at Main Beach tends to be expensive and the only accommodation that can be found here often are above $200 the very minimum – for more budget options, some of the inland suburbs will have a lower price range, but at a compromise of losing very convenient access to the nearby beach.
- 1 Beachside Tower, 3545 Main Beach Pde, ☏ +61 7 5591 7033, enquiries@beachsidetower.com.au. Check-in: 2PM, check-out: 10AM. Has a large range of apartment-style accommodation, most of which has some view of the beach. The buildings might look a little bit old though. approx $300 per night.
- 2 De Ville Apartments, 3645 Main Beach Parade, ☏ +61 7 5591 6322, info@deville.com.au. Check-in: 2PM, check-out: 10AM. Upscale apartments with good views of Surfers Paradise and the rest of the city.
- 3 Imperial Hotel Gold Coast (Palazzo Versace Gold Coast), 94 Seaworld Dr, ☏ +61 7 5509 8000, info@palazzoversace.com.au. Check-in: 3PM, check-out: 11AM. An independent waterfront hotel with over 200 rooms and suites. It also claims to be the world's first fashion-designer 5-star hotel in the world.
- 4 Maldives Resort, 46–52 Pacific St, ☏ +61 7 5557 7500, stay@maldivesresort.com.au. Check-in: 2PM, check-out: 10AM. A mid-scale hotel with good views of the sea and the beach. Parking is limited, though.