Coolangatta, in Queensland, Australia is the most southerly suburb of the Gold Coast, right on the border with New South Wales. In former times the area was a convict settlement, and then a centre for the logging and fishing industry. Now tourism is also a thriving business, and the fishing fleet supply fresh seafood to restaurants on both sides of the state border. This area is the location for Gold Coast Airport, and is the southern gateway to the Gold Coast region. Attractive beaches and rain forest covered mountain ranges can be easily visited by anyone staying in the region.

The area first came to the notice of Europeans in 1770 when the explorer, Captain James Cook, sailed along the coast of what is now Queensland. Captain Cook gave rather ominous names to a couple of local landmarks: Mount Warning and Point Danger. Nowadays Point Danger is a good spot for bird watching, and dolphin spotting, with the outside chance of spotting migrating humpback whales.

After a brief spell as a convict station the locality became a centre for the red cedar timber business, and Tweed River was developed as a port. Tweed Heads (in New South Wales) and Coolangatta (in Queensland) were laid out as twin towns on either side of the state border. In Victorian times the railway came to Tweed Heads, and the area began to thrive as a resort destination, easily visited from Brisbane, and from New South Wales.

The early visitors went to the local beaches: Coolangatta Beach, Greenmount Beach and Rainbow Bay for swimming and surfing, and in 1911 the first surfing club in Queensland was established, the Tweed Heads and Coolangatta SLSC. At this time the first guest houses and tourist hotels started to be built in the area.

Nowadays the area is the site of Gold Coast Airport, which in fact straddles the border with New South Wales. The airport is just five minutes drive from the central accommodation and shopping area. The beaches are still just as popular for surfing and swimming, and the local pathways and cycle tracks are part of the Southern Points Promenade and the Oceanway networks, making it easy to explore the coast either on foot, or on two wheels.

In the centre of town there are plenty of interesting shops and excellent eating places. Sea food restaurants are a specialty of the area and are always kept supplied with fresh catches by the Tweed River fishing fleets. Nightlife is excellent too, and there is often live entertainment in the pubs and clubs.

On New Years Eve visitors can see the new year in twice. New South Wales is an hour ahead of Queensland so you can watch the Tweed Heads (New South Wales) fireworks at 11 pm Queensland time, and then watch the Coolangatta display at the normal time.

The Gold Coast area is a relatively small tourist destination, and other parts of the Gold Coast can be easily reached by car. There are many golf courses and other sports in the region, as well as several major theme parks, and some of Australia’s most important national parks. All these can be easily reached from Coolangatta.