Gold Coast Wave Break Island Kayaking and Snorkeling Tour

Biggera Waters launch site: the start on Marine Parade

The tour starts on the waterfront at Marine Parade in Biggera Waters, a quiet suburb on the western shore of the Broadwater just north of Southport. Look for the team's van and kayak trailer on the grass by the water; this is where you are fitted with a life jacket, given a dry bag for valuables and taken through a short safety briefing and paddling lesson. The site is a public foreshore, so there are no toilets or changing rooms: arrive in your swimwear with a towel and sunscreen already on.

If you are wondering how to get to Biggera Waters from Surfers Paradise, it is about 15 minutes by car or taxi along the Gold Coast Highway, and buses run along Marine Parade. Morning departures are usually the gentlest on the water, which makes the early tour the best choice for beginners and families. The group launches straight from the beach into shallow, protected water.

Paddling the Broadwater: sandbanks, mangroves and marine life

The Gold Coast Broadwater is a wide tidal estuary sheltered from the ocean by the Spit and South Stradbroke Island, which is why kayaking here is calm enough for first-timers. The paddle from Biggera Waters to Wave Break Island takes about 30 minutes and follows sandbanks that appear and disappear with the tide. Along the way the guides point out mangroves on the island edges, soldier crabs marching on the flats at low water, stingrays gliding beneath the kayaks and the seabirds that work the channel.

Visibility and the amount of wildlife change with the tide and the weather, because this is a living estuary rather than a tropical coral reef. What stays constant is the view: the towers of Southport and Surfers Paradise on one side and the low green line of South Stradbroke Island on the other. Dolphins are regular visitors to the Broadwater and often appear on the return leg.

Wave Break Island: the Gold Coast's man-made island

Wave Break Island was built in the mid-1980s from sand dredged during the construction of the Gold Coast Seaway, and it exists for exactly the reason its name suggests: to break the swell entering the Seaway so that the Broadwater stays calm. Today the island is a small green nature reserve with casuarina trees, a sandy northern beach and rock walls on its seaward edges. Landing on the northern side, you pull the kayaks up the sand and follow your guide on a short bushwalk to the snorkelling site.

On the walk the guide tells the story of the island and how a pile of dredged sand turned into a habitat for fish, crabs and birds. People searching for a Wave Break Island tour often ask whether it is worth visiting: for a nature experience minutes from the high-rises, it is among the best things to do on the Gold Coast, and this is the easiest way to reach it, since there is no ferry or bridge.

Snorkelling the rocky reef

The snorkelling site is on the sheltered rock wall of the island, where the stones placed to protect the Seaway have grown a coating of algae and sponges that attracts subtropical reef fish. Expect to see bream, wrasse, small schooling fish and sometimes a turtle or a ray, all in water shallow enough to stand in at low tide. Life jackets stay on in the water, so you do not need to be a strong swimmer, only comfortable floating with the jacket on; non-swimmers are welcome.

You snorkel for as long as you like within the stop, while the guide shares marine facts and takes photos of the group. Visibility is best around the top of the tide and on calm mornings. In June, July and August the water is cooler and the tour provides wetsuits and a hot drink afterwards, so Gold Coast snorkelling is possible all year on this trip.

Snack on the sand and the paddle back

After the snorkel you dry off on the beach for a locally sourced snack with fresh fruit and water, looking across the Broadwater to the Surfers Paradise skyline. This break is a highlight in itself: a quiet island beach with the city in the distance and boats passing through the Seaway. The guide uses the time to answer questions and capture a few more photos, which are sent to you digitally after the tour.

The paddle back to Biggera Waters takes another 30 minutes or so, often with the wind behind you, and this is when dolphins are most likely to surface near the kayaks. The whole experience lasts about two and a half hours from briefing to landing. Bring a towel and dry clothes for afterwards, and remember there are no changing rooms at the foreshore.