Can I Sunbathe in the Gold Coast in October and November

Can I sunbathe in the Gold Coast in October and November?

I am wanting to come to the Gold Coast for 5-7 nights next year and have a few questions.

I was wondering if you can still go sun bathing late October early November (15th-2nd)?

Do they have flights from the Gold Coast Airport to Cairns? As I would very much like to visit Cairns too.

Is the nightlife and dining expensive in the Gold Coast, as I have no idea about the amount of spending money required.

Your site is great. Many Thanks

Vicky

Great questions and judging by the way you asked them, I am guessing you might be from the northern hemisphere! Let's go through them one by one... You can read the whole page (which I hope you do :D), or click links below to read the relevant bits.

Weather in Gold Coast October and November
Flights from Gold Coast Airport to Cairns
Cost of Nightlife and Dining in Gold Coast
Important Consideration
Wrap Up & Further Questions

Weather in Gold Coast October and November
It is easy to forget that our seasons are opposite to the northern hemisphere (Europe, USA, Canada etc). In October and November the northern hemisphere is heading into Autumn and thinking about winter, we are on the other hand heading through Spring to Summer!

So to answer you first question, and obviously I don't have a crystal ball over the exact weather you will encounter here in the Gold Coast at that time, it will in general be pretty warm (mid to high 20Cs, or warmer) and quite humid.

As for sunbathing, you would be pretty unlucky to be in the Gold Coast at any time of the year and not get some sun! We are pretty much a year round destination as our winters are pretty mild and totally awesome! Don't forget the sunscreen!

If you want some information about the sorts of temperatures and weather you can expect check out: Gold Coast in October and Gold Coast in November and Gold Coast weather or Forecasts and Current Weather in Gold Coast closer to the time.

Here is something to consider for your trip though, in Surfers Paradise around about the third or fourth weekend in October (and next year's date isn't fixed yet), there is a huge motorsport event called Gold Coast 600 (used to be the Gold Coast Indy) which is held in streets around Surfers Paradise and Main Beach.

That can be quite disruptive if you are staying in the area, but has some great entertainment (in 2010 The Beach Boys are coming to entertain us - just showing my age there, there is a range of entertainment not just stuff for moldy oldys like me!)

More information about Surfers Paradise Gold Coast 600 V8 Event (used to be the Gold Coast Indy). You can find the latest dates on the event calendars.

Gold Coast Events Information Year to Year

* Events may be cancelled or rescheduled at anytime for any reason.
It is highly recommend you check dates with the event organizer before booking your trip.

Guide to Gold Coast Events

Flights from Gold Coast Airport to Cairns
There are direct flights from Gold Coast Airport (Coolangatta Airport) to Cairns. The flight schedules seem to change all the time but I just had a quick look at Jetstar (local Qantas budget airline) fly out of Gold Coast on some days but not all and only once a day. I just checked Virgin Blue (good old Richard Branson!) but they seem to want to fly you to Sydney first and then back to Cairns!

If the Jetstar options don't work out date wise for you, put in Brisbane as the departure airport and you will find many more options of flights. Brisbane Airport isn't really that far from the Gold Coast, depending upon where you are it takes about an hour to an hour and half to get there and there are regular transfers or the Airtrain.

I am guessing you are wanting to go to Cairns for the Barrier Reef - you actually don't have to go that far there are ways to see the reef without going all the way to Cairns, so if you get stuck for time, or you want a really fun adventure take a look at these Great Barrier Reef Tours from the Gold Coast.

Cost of Nightlife and Dining in Gold Coast
This is probably the hardest question to answer, because I find it all relative. When I moved from UK to Australia I initially thought Australia was expensive but that was because I kept trying to convert Aussie Dollars to UK Pounds directly! When I actually did the conversions, it was pretty inexpensive to eat out etc.

Personally, I think eating out in Australia is pretty in expensive, but I do hear people telling me all the time they think it is expensive. So here is my attempt to give you an idea so you can convert it into your own currency and make your own judgement.

A 600ml bottle of water costs in (September 2010) approx $2 to $3.50 depending upon where you buy it from.

A Cafe Latte in a coffee shop will cost from $3 to $4. The fancy coffees cost more, but this is a decent coffee in a decent coffee house.

You can usually buy a sandwich in a sandwich bar for between $5 and $7.

A cheeseburger medium meal at McDonalds costs just under $5.

For our family I generally budget about $10 per person for light meals.

Nightlife is something I am not totally familiar with, so hopefully this will be helpful, but please remember this is not from personal experience! I did a quick bit of research and this is really general, but it usually costs about $15 to $20 to get into nightclubs and I think drinks depending upon what you drink will be $10 or more each.

If this is not the kind of nightlife you are talking about, there are various shows that you can do such as Australian Outback Spectacular which costs approximately $100 including dinner or$120 including transfers, or a show at Jupiters Casino including dinner which is about $70 to $80.

Obviously these shows and prices do change, so this is just an indication.

Wrap Up
Phew! That ended up being longer than I anticipated! But I hope it answers your questions. If you have any more, please add a comment below and I will try to answer for you. If you want to contact me personally, use my contact form.

Hope that helps. Keep in touch and let me know how it all goes with the planning and the holiday! It will be awesome!

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