Gold Coast
Discover the Gold Coast
The Gold Coast is Australia’s sixth largest city. It has all the services and conveniences you’d expect to find in a major metropolitan area, including good public transport, great shopping, entertainment, culture and plenty of job opportunities.
But, with a population of just under 700,000, you won’t get the big crowds, long queues and traffic jams of bigger cities like Sydney and Melbourne.
What makes the Gold Coast so appealing for international students, however, is that it is Australia’s favourite holiday destination.
Why the Gold Coast?
Let's start with the beaches. Our beaches are white, sandy and stretch for 57 kms / 35 miles.
Then there's our surf, which includes some of the world’s best pointbreaks that play host to international surfing competitions.
Don't forget the sun. The Gold Coast has 300 sunny days a year and average temperatures of 21 to 28.4°C / 69.8 to 83.1°F in Summer and 12.5 to 21.5°C / 54.5 to 70.7°F in Winter.
If that's not enough, keep reading:
- Theme parks: Warner Bros. Movie World, Sea World, Dreamworld, Wet ‘n’ Wild.
- Shopping malls: Pacific Fair (one of the largest in Australia), Robina Town Centre, Australia Fair.
- Markets: beachside, lakeside, day time and night.
- Nightlife: Surfers Paradise, Broadbeach and Burleigh Heads to name a few.
Culture and music
- HOTA: the Gold Coast’s own Home of the Arts with a year-round calendar of outdoor concerts, movies, live theatre, comedy and art.
- Southern Gold Coast: where you’ll find the Insta hotspots and hipster vibe in laneways and industrial areas around Burleigh Heads, Currumbin and Palm Beach.
- Entertainment Centres: catch the world’s biggest stars on stage in Broadbeach and Brisbane.
- Festivals: Bleach*, Swell Sculpture Festival, Blues on Broadbeach, the Gold Coast Film Festival, Surfers Paradise Live, SeaFire, Groundwater Country Music Festival.
Sport
We’ve got competitive Baseball, Basketball, Swimming, Triathlon, Tennis, Rowing, Water Polo and Beach Volleyball, and that’s just here on Bond’s campus!
The Gold Coast is a mecca for Golfers, Motor Racing, Horse Racing, Football, Marathons, and of course Surfing!
Exploring
We've got waterways for boating, cruising, fishing, stand-up paddle boarding and kayaking. You can spend your weekends hiking, camping and swimming in crystal clear mountain pools.
We have great destinations for day trips or weekends away, like Byron Bay, Noosa Heads, the islands of Moreton Bay, Sydney, Melbourne, anywhere!
Employability
There has never been a better time to live and work on the Gold Coast. As a rapidly growing city, the Gold Coast offers extensive employment opportunities both in the private and public sector. Employability is a key focus for the Gold Coast and ensuring our students have access to job opportunities and work experience is paramount.
Affordability
The Gold Coast is ranked #1 for student affordability in Australia and is on average up to 40% cheaper than living in Melbourne or Sydney. You can enjoy our beautiful nature, stunning beaches, and all of the above leisure activities whilst not blowing your budget on accommodation, public transport, or utilities.
Getting to and around the Gold Coast
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Getting here
Airlines and routes
The most direct flights to Bond University from the United States arrive in either Brisbane or Sydney (you will need to add on a domestic flight to the Gold Coast from Sydney with Jetstar, Qantas or Virgin).
If you are flying via New Zealand or Asia, you can change planes in Auckland, Singapore, Tokyo or Seoul for a direct service to the Gold Coast Airport.
Flying time
From the USA West Coast 13 hours From Dallas - via Qantas direct service 16 hours From Houston - via United direct service 16 hours From Vancouver 15 hours When booking your airfare, don’t forget that you lose a day crossing the International Dateline when you fly to Australia. In other words, to arrive in Australia on Tuesday, you’ll need to leave the US on a Sunday.
Airport pick-up
The University campus is 20kms / 12miles / 20 mins drive from Gold Coast Airport and 95kms / 60miles /1 hour drive from Brisbane Airport.
Bond can arrange shuttle transfers from both airports direct to your accommodation or you can travel via taxi, ride share or public transport.
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Getting around
Public transport
You can get to almost all of the Gold Coast’s main attractions via public transport from the Bond campus, with direct connections to the city’s light rail (G:Link), ferry service (Hopo) or the inter-city trains to Brisbane and beyond.
Rideshare and taxis
A number of major international rideshare companies are active on the Gold Coast with plenty of cars on the road and fast response times.
We also have a city-wide taxi service which can be accessed from taxi stands around the city or via phone/app. We don’t usually hail taxis from the street here on the Gold Coast.