Four Gold Coast Secret Spots

If you live on the Gold Coast or are going to the Gold Coast and you don’t know about these hidden gems … well, now you know. Make a note – these are four Gold Coast secret spots you should definitely check out.

Salts Meats Cheese

This creamy gem is becoming a little less hidden and a little more common knowledge by the hour. With successful branches in five other locations, Salts Meats Cheese has officially been welcomed by Goldy locals with open arms.

The true genius in this treasure chest of flavour isn’t just that it’s a delicatessen, wood-fired pizzeria and Italian restaurant concept store – it’s that they have Truffle Tuesdays – a weekly truffle cheese wheel pasta injection. Bookings once weren’t, but now definitely are, essential.

Where: 10 Beach Road, Surfers Paradise

Snapper Rocks rock pools

Coolangatta is home to one of the surfing world’s most cherished (and very crowded) surf breaks and recently, with some help from cyclone Gita, backed up its reputation – big time. However, today we’re talking about the Snapper Rocks rock pools.

More than just punchy, cylindrical pits, and walls for days, Snapper Rocks offers pristine crevices of rock, sand and clear water. Overshadowed by the surfer’s paradise, these kid-friendly rocky outcrops are perfect for wallowing, floating, floundering and exploring.

Where: Snapper Rocks, Coolangatta

Straddie

Also known as South Straddie, South Stradbroke Island is home to empty pristine beaches that are teaming with marine wildlife and offer more than enough peaky surf breaks. With a strong getting-back-to-nature feel; fishing, surfing, wallaby-watching and prehistoric forest adventuring are the go here.

Juxtaposed by the hustle and bustle of the Gold Coast (it’s only 500 metres from the mainland), life on South Straddie is slow paced and feels a million miles from city life, which sometimes is just what the doctor ordered.

Hokkaido baked tarts

These little Japanese baked cheese tarts are special and they sure are baked with love. They’re also baked on-site daily with three different types of time-honoured cheeses.

Using a traditional recipe from the Land of the Rising Sun, the Hokkaido cheese tart bakers say cheese makes everything taste better, and once you’ve tried one of these morsels, you’ll surely agree.

Do it right and try the blueberry, strawberry and cream tarts.

Where: Pacific Fair Shopping Centre, Broadbeach

words by niall roeder