MAGICAL MOOLOOLABA, SUNSHINE COAST.
Mooloolaba is located in the heart of Sunshine Coast on the East Coast of Queensland, Australia. An hours drive north from Brisbane Airport. Mooloolaba, beautiful white sandy beach, accompanied with great weather, almost ten months out of 12 the weather is warm, add a relaxed, laid-back beach culture to that, makes Mooloolaba the true definition of Paradise. The weather in Summer (December, January, February) is hot, hot, hot…… you are looking at waking up to 24 to 30 degrees Celsius, the sun rising at 5.30am. So sleeping in is defiantly out of the question.
Nine Things you must do when you visit Mooloolaba
(1) Start your morning at the crack of dawn, go for a run or walk on the Beach, it is my favorite thing to do. This time in the morning, is just magical, the sun rays breaking through the dark sky, the reflection in the water, the crisp white sand without a single footprint and the birds just waking up. Fresh air and the smell of the sea truly revive all your senses.
(2) Visit Under Water World, enjoy the fantastic aquarium, full of colors and shapes, different species of sea life, kiss the seal or dare to swim with the sharks.
(3) Hire a stand-up Paddle boat from SunReef Mooloolaba, enjoy paddling the canals and taking in all the amazing views of the waterways and if you are lucky you would see stingrays, turtles, baby dolphins and schools of fish.
(4) Dip your toes in the sand; I don’t really know why but I love the feeling of sand between my toes, it brings the inner child within me out. Listing to the waves crashing on the shore, laying on the beach reading my Travel magazine is my favorite thing to do. Something is amazing and magical about beaches. You can swim, surf, body board, build a sandcastle or kick back and relax… whatever your heart desires …… Mooloolaba Beach will not disappoint you 🙂
(5) Cruise the canals with amazing Coastal Cruises Mooloolaba – I recommend the Lunch cruise, all the cruises are great, but my favorite is the Lunch cruise. Best way to spend the day on the water.
(6) Try the barefoot lawn bowling at Mooloolaba Bowls Club, it is an exciting game, to say the least, it definitely entertained me for few hours on a Sunday afternoon, the only game you can play while enjoying a glass of wine or beer and not get frowned at.
(7) Have a picnic dinner on the beach, watch the sunset, in the distance over the hills, Must have famous Mooloolaba Prawns. Now you may ask, “Why is Mooloolaba Prawns famous?” Well, the best way to answer this question is for you actually to try them yourself….. it will change your life 🙂
(8) For the adventure seekers, I suggest you try the deep sea ocean fishing with Fish n Crab charters. Fantastic way to see Mooloolaba from the water, you can catch anything from Crabs to local fishes. I personally don’t do open ocean very well, I tend to feed the fish instead of catching the fish, but never the less everyone needs to test their boundaries now and then.
(9) End your day with a nice glass of bubbles / wine or a cold beer at the Mooloolaba Surf Club. The view from this bar is to die for.
For more fun things to do and see – click HERE
Mooloolaba is a very small beach town, you wouldn’t need a car to get around, unless you want to visit other town on the Sunshine Coast, in that case you will definitely need to hire a car. Public buses are ok but very slow , uber or taxi is ok but quite expensive and trains do not exits.
How to get to Mooloolaba?
Fly into Brisbane or Sunshine Coast airport.
Most international flights fly directly into Brisbane or Sydney or Melbourne.
From Brisbane Airport to Mooloolaba is one hour drive, you will have to get a Rental car or Con-X-ion shuttle Airport transfer.
From Sydney / Melbourne you can get a connecting flight to Sunshine Coast airport
Where to stay in Mooloolaba?
Mooloolaba offers accommodation for all budgets; apartment-style hotels are more popular in Mooloolaba.
ACCOMMODATION -From Luxury Hotels, Motel, Apartments, to Backpackers.
My personal recommendation
Luxury – Ocean Mooloolaba
Comfortable – Newport Apartments or Mantra Mooloolaba
Budget – Beachside Mooloolaba
Backparkers – Mooloolaba backpackers
How get from the Sunshine Coast Airport to your hotel?
Con -X- ion Bus – the shuttle bus that will take you from the airport to your accommodation anywhere in the Sunshine Coast. This is a best option if you are travel solo. Book Here
You can use taxi or uber – around $45 + will get you to Mooloolaba
You can use the local bus – this will cost you around $5+ per person and allow atleast 45 to 60 mins to get to Mooloolaba. The bus leaves airport terminal every hour.
You can hire a car. I receommend this if you are planning on sightseen while on the Sunshine Coast. Book Here
Where to stay in Mooloolaba?
These are my favorite place to eat.
Fine Dinning – Spice Bar
Casual dinning- Thai Lotus, Rice Boi and Bauhinia Chinese
Australian Pub Style – Dirty Moes
Fine Dinning Seafood – See Restaurant and Fish on Parkyn
Relaxed seafood – Mooloolaba Fish Market (you must try fresh Mooloolaba Prawns)
Mooloolaba has been a beach town – does very little to none elegant style or five-star service, they try, but beach culture is what the locals know best and grew up with. Locals seem to have problems embracing tourist and travelers, especially if English is not your first language, they do not mean to be rude or arrogant, they lack education on how to deal with all the cultural and language difference.
Best way to describe Mooloolaba is Magical……. magic cannot be seen, it can only be experienced, you don’t come to Mooloolaba to just see the scenery, you come to Mooloolaba to experience life’s simplest things and feel the magic. The feeling of being free, the sense of finding the true meaning of happiness in the simplest things. The energy you get from nature, the sun, fresh air and the beach is just priceless.
Mooloolaba leaves it to your imagination. It is definitely a place for open-minded and creative people.
#Travelquote: “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” Mark Twain
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