From our front door on The Esplanade you can reach five very different beaches, and the right one depends entirely on your morning. This guide sorts the Burleigh Heads beaches by what each one does best, from the everyday swim across the road to calm creek water for the kids, all within a short walk or drive.
North Burleigh Beach: the everyday swim across the road
Distance: About a one minute walk from Cashelmara. Directions: Out the front door, cross The Esplanade, and the sand is right in front of you. The North Burleigh Surf Life Saving Club sits just to your left. Hours: Patrolled by lifeguards from 8am to 5pm, every day, all year round, across two towers.
This is the one you will use most, simply because it is there. North Burleigh is a wide, open stretch that stays quieter than the main beach further south, and because you walk over, parking never enters the conversation. It suits an early swim before the northeasterly picks up in the afternoon. The surf can turn punchy depending on the sandbank, and if the bank here is not working, it is an easy stroll south to the point. Guests staying with us keep mentioning how good it feels to just cross the road with a towel.
Which beach is safest for a family swim?
Distance: Roughly a 20 minute walk south along the foreshore path, or a five minute drive. Directions: Follow the beachfront path south past the parklands to Mowbray Park, below the headland, near the corner of Goodwin Terrace and the Gold Coast Highway. The Burleigh Heads Mowbray Park Surf Life Saving Club marks the flags. Hours: Patrolled from 8am to 5pm every day all year, at Tower 18.
For the safest swim, this is the pick. The headland shelters the southern corner of Burleigh Beach, so the water often stays calm here when the rest of the coast is churned up by wind or swell. The flags sit in front of Mowbray Park, with Norfolk pines, playgrounds, barbecues and beach showers in the parklands behind. It is best on a rising tide and in the morning before the crowd settles in. Parking at the club is limited, so most people use the surrounding streets. For toddlers in the shallows, nothing on this stretch beats it.
What about surfing and watching the longboarders?
Distance: About a 25 minute walk or seven minute drive south, just past the main beach. Directions: Keep going south past Mowbray Park to the rocks below Burleigh Head National Park. Hours: No lifeguard tower on the point itself. It is a surf break, not a swimming beach, and the nearest patrolled flags are back at Mowbray Park.
Burleigh Point is where the surf reputation comes from. It is one of Australia’s most consistent right-hand point breaks, peeling along the headland beneath the pandanus and rocky cliffs of the national park. Even if you have never held a board, it is worth the walk to watch the longboarders trim across the point at sunrise, which is a proper Burleigh ritual. The entry is over rocks with a strong rip running off the headland, so it is genuinely for experienced surfers, and everyone else should swim back at the flags. It fires best on a solid east to southeast swell around mid tide.
Where do you go when you want space?
Distance: About a five minute drive, or a 25 to 30 minute walk north. Directions: Head north along the beachfront past North Burleigh. The towers sit at Hythe Street and Santa Monica Road. Hours: Tower 21 at Hythe Street is patrolled 8am to 5pm daily all year. Tower 22 at Santa Monica Road is patrolled on weekends between November and April.
When the southern flags feel busy, Miami Beach is the release valve. It is a long, open run of sand between the headlands that rarely fills up midweek, so it is made for a long walk or a swim with room to spread out. There are playgrounds, volleyball nets and barbecues along the back, and you will find board hire and the Nobby’s cafe strip close by. Swim near Tower 21, which patrols year-round, and check the conditions first, as the wave quality shifts with the swell and the sand. Mid-morning is the sweet spot.
Which spot is best for young kids and snorkelling?
Distance: Roughly an eight minute drive south, or on foot through the national park via the Oceanview Track from the point (allow 30 to 40 minutes). Directions: Drive south over Burleigh Hill to the Tallebudgera Creek car parks. Echo Beach sits on the Burleigh side of the creek mouth and can be reached on foot through Burleigh Head National Park. Hours: No set patrol on the creek flats. The ocean beach at the Tallebudgera club on the south side is patrolled.
For young children and snorkelling, the creek wins every time. Tallebudgera Creek and the little cove of Echo Beach offer calm tidal water and soft sandy shallows, the most family-friendly swimming on the southern Gold Coast. At high tide, when the current goes slack, you can snorkel over the sandbanks and spot fish, crabs and the occasional turtle. Parking is tight, so arrive before 9am on weekends, and aim for a high tide in the morning. Pair it with the flat Oceanview walk through the park and the rockpools below the headland for a full slow morning.
Questions guests ask us
Which beach is closest to Cashelmara?
North Burleigh Beach, straight across The Esplanade from our front door, roughly a one minute walk. It is patrolled by lifeguards from 8am to 5pm every day of the year, so it is the easy choice for a swim before breakfast without moving the car.
Are the beaches near Cashelmara patrolled all year?
Yes. North Burleigh and Burleigh Beach at Mowbray Park are both patrolled from 8am to 5pm every day, all year round, and Miami Beach has a year-round tower at Hythe Street. Always swim between the red and yellow flags, wherever you end up.
Where can I take young kids for a calm swim?
Tallebudgera Creek and Echo Beach, on the far side of the headland, have calm tidal water and sandy shallows that are ideal for little ones. If you would rather stay on the ocean, Burleigh Beach at Mowbray Park sits sheltered by the headland and often stays gentle.
Where do the surfers go?
Burleigh Point, the rocky headland at the southern end of the main beach. It is a world-class right-hand point break peeling under Burleigh Head National Park. It is for experienced surfers only, so watch the longboarders from the headland and swim back at the patrolled flags.
Is there a dog beach near Cashelmara?
The nearest off-leash dog beach is at Tallebudgera Creek on the Palm Beach side, just north of Tallebudgera Surf Life Saving Club and running to the groyne. Dogs are not permitted within 200 metres of the flags on Burleigh’s patrolled beaches, so the creek is your spot.
Five beaches, one short walk between most of them, and each with a job it does better than the rest. Whichever way you turn out of our door, the sand is waiting, and it helps to know which stretch matches the day you have in mind. When you are ready to plan your own Burleigh mornings, take a look at our beach days guide and check availability and book direct for a stay steps from the water.
Image credit: City of Gold Coast
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