It’s hard to argue with people who say that everything that’s best about the Gold Coast is on show at Palm Beach. The suburb’s beach frontage seems to go on forever, stretching from Tallebudgera Creek in the north to Currumbin Creek in the south. The beach has been famous for its surf for decades and the suburb has been a popular tourist destination for close to 100 years. That said, the vibrancy of contemporary Palm Beach stems from the mix of people you find here. Take a walk along its beachfront and you’ll encounter a real mixture of locals and holiday-makers. Whether they’re here for the surfing, the swimming or the great local shopping and dining, you can be confident they’re happy to find themselves in Palm Beach.

Residents of Palm Beach are spoilt by the range of cafés and restaurants on offer. Many cafés and restaurants are close to the beachfront, including Kohindoor Indian Restaurant, Hachi Japanese Restaurant and Warunee Thai Restaurant. Other cuisines are also well-represented in Palm Beach and there are some good Modern Australian restaurants, such as Mirrors. Palm Beach Surf Club is pretty special; it offers expansive views over the beachfront. Then there are the local picnic spots. Andy Frizzell Park is a great place for a picnic, as is the boardwalk which is dotted with tables and chairs. Heaven.

Follow the track from Palm Beach north into beautiful Burleigh Head National Park and you’ll experience one of the most scenic walks on the Gold Coast.

With one of the Gold Coast’s best beaches at their door, many locals are happy to confine their sport and recreation to surfing and swimming. Some want to walk, run or cycle in local parks. Others, however, want to play croquet and in Palm Beach you can. Yes, Palm Beach has its own croquet lawns. In fact, a wide range of sports are played in the suburb and it has very good sporting resources including the All Start Sports Club and local hockey fields. There are plenty of options for those interested in other team sports: netball, baseball, softball, rugby union and league are all widely played in the Gold Coast and many clubs cater to adults as well as children.

Palm Beach offers a wide range of properties. A number of high-rise apartments are located in the suburb and many offer panoramic views over the Pacific. Holiday accommodation is also available here, some in high-rise complexes. A range of medium-to-low-rise apartments are also situated in Palm Beach along with duplexes. Older free-standing homes are still offered from time to time, these tend to be located on the beachfront and have spectacular views. You’ll find a range of newer free-standing properties in the suburb, along with homes boasting canal-frontages.

Palm Beach offers excellent childcare and educational services. There are many childcare providers, including Palm Beach Quality Care, Kids On 4th, ABC Palm Beach South and Palm Beach Pre-School. A public school is located in the suburb; Palm Beach Primary School educates kids from prep to year six. There are several secondary schools in the area, including Palm Beach-Currumbin High School. Palm Beach residents are also close to a number of tertiary institutions. Bond University is located in Robina and a campus of Griffith University is in Parkwood. A TAFE college is situated in Coolangatta and a new campus of Southern Cross University is currently under construction in Kirra/Coolangatta.

Palm Beach is one of the Gold Coast’s main shopping hubs and its range of boutiques, vintage clothing stores, second-hand shops and specialty stores make it hard not to linger. Shops are clustered in several areas. At Pavilion on Fifth Avenue you’ll find a Coles supermarket, bakery and newsagency along with several speciality stores. Head to Phillipine Parade and there’s a butchery, bakery and convenience store among others. Go to the corner of 22nd and Townsend Avenue and you’ll find more food providers as well as a liquor store, pharmacy, hair salon and clothing boutiques. Need a musical instrument? You’ll find it here too. A number of large shopping malls are also close, with The Pines Shopping Centre a few minutes away in Elanora. It’s home to numerous shops, a Coles and a Woolworths supermarket and a K Mart.

Palm Beach is about 15 kilometres from the Surfers Paradise CBD. The Surfside bus company operates a number of routes in and around Palm Beach including services along the Gold Coast strip and the adjoining hinterland. The Queensland Government is also updating the Gold Coast Rail line, with a number of new local stations under construction.