Coolangatta is set out one block back from the beach along Griffith Street , where you'll find banks, shops and very little in the way of high-density development. Even the motel towers on Point Danger are well spaced, and the general ambience is very small seaside town. Marine Parade fronts the shore, the view north over sand and sea ending with the jagged teeth of the skyscrapers on the horizon at Surfers Paradise.

Straddling the border at Point Danger, the Captain Cook Memorial Lighthouse forms a shrine where pillars enclose a large bronze globe detailing Cook's peregrinations around the southern hemisphere. Twenty-five metres below, surfers in their colourful wet suits make the most of Flagstaff Beach's swell - at weekends this area is very crowded.

Coolangatta's daytime action is in the surf , the best being between Point Danger and Kirra Point (the latter nominated by world surfing champion Kelly Slater as his favourite break), or at Flagstaff, across the state border in Tweed Heads - exactly where depends on the wind. Greenmount, effectively Coolangatta's town beach, is fairly reliable and is a good beach for beginners; Snapper Rocks and Point Danger further down the peninsula are for the more dedicated. For sun worshippers, Coolangatta beach, just north of Greenmount, is fine if you're staying nearby, but the six-kilometre stretch of sand further up, beyond Kirra Point, is wider and less crowded. Surfing supplies and rentals are available from Pipedream, Griffith Street (tel 07/5599 1164), the best place for gear and information about local conditions and competitions, and from Coolangatta Surf, Griffith Street (tel 07/5361 1239), and Mount Woodgee, 122 Griffith St (tel 07/5536 5937). Surfboard and ski rental is around $20 a day plus credit card deposit. All shops have decent secondhand boards for sale, though local boards tend to be too thin and lightweight to use elsewhere. You might also find a bargain in one of the pawnbroker's shops on Griffith Street.

Cook Island and Nine Mile Reef are the main dive sites , with two shipwrecks nearby. Of interest are nurse sharks, turtles, canyons and scattered groups of reef fish. Kirra Dive Centre, on the corner of Creek and South streets, Kirra (tel 07/5536 6622), and Blue Juice Dive, 127 Griffith St (tel 07/5536 6277), charge around $65 plus equipment for two local dives.