Gold Coast 7D/5N Itinerary

Surfers Paradise beach in Gold Coast, Australia in 2004

I was helping a colleague organise an itinerary for Gold Coast, Australia. She is someone who seldom travels, but wanted to bring her 9 year old daughter for her first overseas trip. After checking out several tour companies in KL, the itineraries they came back with were far from adequate. They had nothing but theme parks, and rather expensive. Gold Coast is such a tourist friendly place, that all the theme parks were easily accessible by the public bus. The best would have been to rent a car, but she is really afraid of D-I-Y holidays. So here is what I had planned for her.

Gold Coast 7D/5N Itinerary


24 March 2014    2140-0750    D7206    KUL-OOL
30 March 2014    0840-1510    D7207    OOL-KUL

Day 1 Mon 24 Mar 2014 - Flight on board

Day 2 Tue 25 Mar 2014 - Cruise

• Arrive Gold Coast Airport at 7:50am
• Locate GC Tourist Shuttle and purchase 3 Go Card Visitor Pack (2 adult, 1 child)
• Includes a refundable deposit of $10 for adult, $5 for child
• Try to Top-Up the card value to total $30 for adult, $15 for child
• Walk to Bus Stop A and wait for Bus 777, towards Sea World direction (GoCard fare: A$5.03 adult, A$2.52 child)
• Pay with Go Card, and ask the driver to let you know when to get off for Hotel Grand Chancellor (The Stop name is Remembrance Drive at Bruce Bishop Carpark)
• Drop luggage at hotel, wander around for lunch
• Depart hotel at 2:20pm, and walk 10 mins to Wyndham Cruises at Tiki Village for your 3:00pm afternoon sightseeing cruise, for 1.5 hours (prebooked via email)

Day 3 Wed 26 Mar 2014 – MovieWorld (Opens 10am-5pm)

• Walk to Gold Coast Highway (cross the street)
• Take bus TX2 to Movie World (GoCard fare: A$5.52 adult, A$2.76 child)
• Catch same bus TX2 back to Gold Coast Highway

Day 4 Thu 27 Mar 2014 - Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary (Opens 8am-5pm)

• Walk to Gold Coast Highway (don't cross street)
• Catch bus 700 to Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary (GoCard fare: A$5.52 adult, A$2.76 child)
• Catch bus 701 to Pacific Fair Shopping Centre, Stop B (A$4.91 adult, A$2.46 child)
• Shopping and dinner at Pacific Fair (Closes 9pm)
• Catch bus 703 or 700 from Pacific Fair Shopping Centre, Stop A (A$3.53 adult, A$1.77 child)

Day 5 Fri 28 Mar 2014 – Seaworld (Opens 10am-5pm)

• Walk to Gold Coast Highway
• Take bus 705 or 777 to Sea World (GoCard fare: A$4.14 adult, A$2.07 child)
• Take bus 705 or 777 back to Hotel (GoCard fare: A$4.14 adult, A$2.07 child)
• Go play miniature golf nearby the hotel. Ask the hotel where

Day 6 Sat 29 Mar 2014 – Day Tour

• Full day tour to O'Reilly's & Tamborine Mountain.
• Walk to Hinterland Tours HQ at Beach Road by 7:55am

Day 7 Sun 30 Mar 2014 – Going Home

• Walk to Gold Coast Highway and wait for Bus #777 at 5:46am, towards Gold Coast airport direction (GoCard fare: A$5.03 adult, A$2.52 child)
• Locate Gold Coast Shuttle counter to get refund of deposit & unused balance of GoCard

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Costing:
1. AirAsia flight
- Fare for 2 adults + 1 child = RM3066 (bought last minute, could have been cheaper)
- Add on 9 meals = RM128
- Add one 20kg bag going, one 30kg bag return = RM170
- Add 3 Pick A Seat = RM105
- Add 3 Insurance = RM102
Total Airfare = RM3571


2. Hotel Grand Chancellor, Surfers Paradise (Right in the middle of the action)
- Standard King Bed without breakfast for 5 nights = GBP 269.35 / A$490
(Note: This hotel was booked via a Secret Deal on lastminute.com, extra special price
Total Hotel = RM1470

3. Theme Park tickets & Tours
- Entrance tickets to Movie World, SeaWorld and Wet n' Wild package = A$284.98
- Free 1.5hr morning or afternoon sightseeing cruise
- Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary = A$94.05
- Full day tour to O'Reilly's & Tamborine Mountain = A$241.97
(Note: All tours were booked via www.experienceoz.com.au with an added 5% Facebook discount)
Total Theme Park & Tours = A$621.00 = RM1870.

4. Transport
- Adult = A$37.82 x 2pax
- Child = A$18.91
Total Transport = A$94.55 = RM285.31

5. Visa (ETA - Electronic Travel Authority)
- 3 pax Visa = SGD$14
(Note: Normally, this is A$20 if bought online, or RM20-30 from a travel agent. I found an online lowyat forumer selling it for S$7 per visa, and they gave 1 free visa! How cool is that? - https://forum.lowyat.net/topic/2838856/all)
Total Visa = RM37.69

Grand Total = RM7234 for 2 adults and 1 child. 
Food and shopping not included