Bookended by Caloundra and Noosa, the lesser-known coastal hamlets along Queensland’s Sunshine Coast are made for sand-between-the-toes holidays. Here’s an insider’s guide to the best of them.
Words Celeste Mitchell
IT'S easy to get complacent about the life I have on the Sunshine Coast, on Gubbi Gubbi Country. Growing up in the ’90s in small-town Caloundra, my teenage self could never have imagined a time when people from the cities would flock here in droves. That a house would be more expensive here than in inner-city Brisbane. But then again, I wasn’t worldly enough to realise the riches that lay at my feet. Long, quiet stretches of golden sand. Clean water, waves, and visiting humpback whales. The fact that winter lasts about four days in early August, and then it’s back to shorts and sundresses.
The Sunshine Coast is growing, and fast. While Noosa, Mooloolaba and Caloundra have been popular destinations for generations, there are a raft of other coastal hamlets worth exploring. The hinterland is another story altogether, and the subject of an upcoming Galah travel guide.
There’s an exciting undercurrent of entrepreneurial spirit and a generation of coast-raised locals now finding they don’t have to fly the coop to realise their dreams.
But the low-key vibe remains. As does the likelihood of bumping into someone you know wherever you go. I have to admit, I like it that way. Here are just a few of the spots I love and where I take friends when they visit – or, increasingly, after they’ve announced they’re moving here.
