How to Spend a Perfect Weekend in Mooloolaba
Once a sleepy holiday town, Sunshine Coast stalwart, Mooloolaba, has come of age.
With white-gold sand and average water temperatures of about 23°C, Mooloolaba Beach has long been prime family-holiday territory. But there’s a new energy fizzing through this coastal playground in south-east Queensland. A recent multimillion-dollar transformation of The Wharf dining and entertainment precinct kicked off a revitalisation of the beachside suburb, where cultural tours and day spas now operate along the Mooloolah River and the esplanade is seeing a change of guard.
Stay
Less than a 15-minute walk to the beach, The Palm & Pool House is a Mediterranean-inspired cottage and two-storey loft on a residential block. With reclaimed French oak and polished concrete floors, luxury linen and Smeg appliances, the two sophisticated lodgings open onto a shared swimming pool and can be booked together or individually.
Do
A mullet leaps through the bow wave of the 58-foot pine ketch Spray of the Coral Coast as it sails Mooloolaba’s man-made canals. The banks are dotted with rustic shacks and modern mansions, far removed from the landscape first inhabited by the area’s Traditional Custodians, the Gubbi Gubbi. But they’re still here, says Simon Thornalley, a young man of Torres Strait Island descent who grew up in the area and founded Saltwater Eco Tours in 2020. “We wanted an Indigenous experience on the water, to reflect the culture from this area,” he says. Prawns dusted with native spices and tacos filled with slow-cooked kangaroo are offered as he narrates the local maritime history and Gubbi Gubbi culture, including an ancient method for catching mullet that’s still used today.
Eat
It’s 6.30pm on a Tuesday and there’s a queue to order food at Rice Boi. More than five years since it opened at The Wharf, diners still can’t get enough of the kingfish sashimi, crisp eggplant chips and other Asian street eats. The most popular dish? “We sell twice as much of the 10-hour coconut braised beef than anything else,” says co-owner Mitch Smith. Head to the esplanade for a nightcap at Wat Den. The intimate cocktail bar, which opened in February, specialises in premium and hard-to-source whiskies and tequilas. Brazilian-born co-owner Felipe Bley’s knowledge of spirits is as impressive as the 200-plus international bottles to choose from. Order the modern interpretation of a classic Charlie Chaplin, made with native bush tomato syrup.
Indulge
Perched on a leafy stretch of the Mooloolah River, Tank Bathhouse is a day spa with a difference. The venue’s waterfront restaurant and bar overlook a 55-foot vintage cruise boat moored at the dock (it’s available for champagne river cruises). Guests can soak in six magnesium pools of varying temperatures, suffused with botanicals such as vanilla, ginseng and peppermint, before heading up to the spa for a massage.
