Surfer's 'Paradise'

Surfers Paradise is not so much paradise, more flashy and trashy- there's a reason they call it the Paris Hilton of Australia. With its Skyscraper hotels, shopping malls and casinos it tries to be Vegas but is more Blackpool Pleasure Beach (if any of my readers have been to England you'll know what I mean.) Forget the laid back hippy bars of Byron Bay; the expensive bars and nightclubs in Surfers couldn't be more contrasting. Most of the hostels are out of the centre but have a shuttle bus that will take you in to town- I stayed in Surfers Paradise Backpackers which was nice and friendly with pizza nights, BBQ nights and a licensed bar. It's small enough to make friends there and there's a bus that takes you into town for a free drink and entry at a selected bar.


Definitely go on the big hostel night out- there's a bar crawl that ALL the hostels in Surfers go on. You pay $30 and get free entry and a free drink in every place, which is actually a bargain considering how expensive it is there. 5 hostels, 4 bars, free drink, 300 people=carnage. For something to do in Surfers other than surfing you can go to Dreamworld, Sea World or Wet 'n' Wild and if you're strapped for cash perhaps go to the casino and put it all on black!!