Experience Sun and Surf with Surfers Paradise Car Hire

Gold Coast Car Hire with DriveNow

Finding and booking car rental in Surfers Paradise is quick and easy with DriveNow. Search for the best deals on cheap car hire in Surfers Paradise and then simply pick up your vehicle a few blocks north or south of Cavill Avenue. Amid the towering skyscrapers, hotels, serviced apartments, and holiday homes are an array of the world’s most trusted car hire suppliers including Avis, Budget, Europcar, Hertz, Alamo and Thrifty. If you’re flying out of Gold Coast Airport in Coolangatta at the end of your trip, you’ll also have the option to drop your vehicle off at the terminal. Ready to roll? Read on to discover our picks on the best places to stay, eat, and explore in Surfers.

The unofficial capital of the glitzy Gold Coast, Surfers Paradise attracts travellers the world over with miles of beautiful surf beach, iconic lifesavers, pulsating nightlife, and gleaming high-rise towers. Once a sleepy fishing hamlet named Elston, the town’s fortunes changed in the early 1930s when a local property owner by the name of James Cavill lobbied for the area to take on the name of his busy Surfers Paradise Hotel. Over the years, a sprawling settlement grew out around this town and today, Surfers Paradise sits at the heart of Australia’s sixth largest city and one of the country’s most popular holiday destinations. Running from the much photographed “Surfers Paradise” sign by the beach down to the Nerang River, Cavill Avenue – named in honour of the city’s founder - is this focal point of the Gold Coast and is lined with shops, restaurants, and nightclubs open late into the night. Whether you’ve come to the Gold Coast for sunshine, surf breaks, or a relaxing sightseeing holiday, Surfers Paradise is the perfect starting point.

Compare Cheap Car Rental in Surfers Paradise with DriveNow

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Over the past 10-plus years, we’ve developed strong relationships with some of the biggest suppliers in the world, including Europcar, Budget, Thrifty, Avis, and Hertz, to bring you the latest deals on Surfers Paradise rental cars. We present deep listings, affording you the opportunity to easily compare and contrast vehicles, and identify the best Surfers car rental for your travel needs.

Why Rent a Car in Surfers Paradise with DriveNow?

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• We’ve been comparing pricing on car rentals in Surfers Paradise since 2003

The Hottest Hotels in Surfers Paradise

Boasting Queensland’s greatest concentration of luxury hotels outside of Brisbane, Surfers Paradise is where you go to live the high life.

Surfers Paradise Marriott Resort & Spa

If you’re after a classic 5-star international brand, look no further than the Surfers Paradise Marriott Resort & Spa. This landmark hotel embodies the dazzling excess of the Gold Coast, from the grand sweeping staircase that greets visitors at the main entrance all the way to the lagoon-like saltwater pool flanked by cabanas. Upstairs, the guestrooms have taken on the clean lines of this decade – choose rooms with an ocean view for sweeping water vistas. If you can’t get one of these, at least have a taste of the Pacific’s bounty in the fabulous seafood restaurant downstairs. If you’ve organised car hire in Surfers Paradise, you’ll find valet parking at this Marriott very reasonable compared to other big city hotels of the same standard.

QT Gold Coast

For a fun, fresh take on premium hospitality, stay at quirky QT Gold Coast. This highly instagrammable hotel channels 1950s surfer chic – a retro Holden with a longboard strapped to its room welcomes visitors alongside immaculately groomed staff in pretty pastel jumpsuits. Inside the cute and quirky guestrooms, you’ll find bold stripes, pops of bright summery colours, and cute little things such as decorative pineapples to remind you that you’re on the Gold Coast. Treat yourself to a sea salt scrub at spaQ so you look your best posing by the pool or pop on that itsy bitsy bikini and hit the beach a mere block from this funky property.

Peppers Soul Surfers Paradise

Run by the prestigious Peppers hotel group, the classy 77-floor Soul Surfers Paradise stands out as it provides guests with a tantalising taste of what it might be like to reside at a multi-million dollar beachside address on the Gold Coast. Oversized guest units are beautifully furnished with stylish creamy sofas, deep shag pile rugs, and sparkling white kitchens. All look out to the ocean, with huge balconies to enjoy the tangy sea breeze. The inviting pools on Level 3 also overlook the beach, fringed by comfortable sun loungers and fragrant frangipani trees.

Best Things to Do in Surfers Paradise

Even if you aren’t staying at Q1 Resort & Spa, a good way to get your bearings is to see the shimmering Gold Coast skyline from the Skypoint Observation Deck. Less than 500m from this architectural behemoth is Cavill Avenue. While James Cavill’s hotel is long gone, the laid-back charm of Surfers Paradise lives on along and around this car-free strip, with plenty of barefoot surfers awaiting the next big wave and even more tourists in bathers and boardshorts enjoying the famous sun, sand, and sea. The cafés and shops here open late, ready to serve young revellers hopping from one nightclub to the next.

If you’re with young children, check out the Ripley’s Believe It Or Not! Odditorium in Cavill Mall - some of the wacky displays have to be seen to be believed. Alternatively, visit Timezone to play with some of the latest digital games or to try your luck at winning a prize. If you enjoy the movies, pop into 7D Cinema on the corner of Orchid Avenue to experience a film in a 6-seat moving simulator with plenty of special effects. Just before dusk on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays, the Surfers Paradise Beachfront Markets set up along the Esplanade. Comprised of 120 stalls, this vibrant market offers fun for visitors of all ages, with live performers, musicians, sand sculptures, and plenty of opportunities to bag a bargain.

Along Surfers Paradise Boulevard, you’ll find the ever-popular Infinity Attraction, full of interactive installations and illusions that will delight both children and adults alike. Nearby is the Gold Coast Wax Museum which has a collection of over 100 painstakingly crafted figures including of celebrities such as Kylie Minogue and Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow.

Attractions Further Out

Once you’ve had your fill of the bright lights and nightlife, you’ll be glad you organised a hire car in Surfers Paradise. Most families spend the majority of their time in the quieter suburbs neighbouring Surfers. Lying to the south is Broadbeach, home to Queensland’s largest shopping and dining destination – Pacific Fair. The riverside Cascade Gardens are well worth exploring here, with its serene rainforest walking trails, barbecue facilities, and a sprawling playground.

To the north of Surfers Paradise is the upmarket suburb of Main Beach. Aside from sprawling luxury beach resorts, Main Beach is where you’ll find Sea World, Australia’s premier marine park with a huge variety of themed rides, live stage shows, animal exhibits, and water park. Parking is free, so leave your Surfers car rental outside the gates and make use of the convenient monorail that can transport you all around the park.

If you’re travelling between May and November, consider taking a cruise to see enormous humpback whales as they migrate north into warmer waters. Many catamarans such as the Spirit of Gold Coast and the Spirit of Migloo depart from marinas in Main Beach, searching for these wonderful marine mammals in the waters off the coast.

About an hour up the Pacific Motorway (M1) from Surfers Paradise, lies Brisbane. This vibrant riverside state capital has plenty to offer, from shopping and culture to an outstanding dining scene and is worthy of at least a few days’ exploration on its own.

Even further north is the aptly named Sunshine Coast – a home of pristine sun-drenched beaches, shopping, entertainment and recreation without the hustle and bustle of city living. Maroochydore is the region’s centre, where you’ll find the Sunshine Coast’s biggest mall and a cinema complex.