Biggera Waters Liveability Snapshot
Biggera Waters, at a glance
Position, central–northern Gold Coast, Broadwater-side suburb between Labrador and Runaway Bay, with a strong retail and apartment precinct around Harbour Town
Distance to Brisbane, approximately a 1 hour drive
Commute to Gold Coast Airport, approximately 40 to 45 minutes
Vibe, waterfront and practical, a mix of lifestyle and convenience, less village feel, more retail and apartment energy in parts
Best for, downsizers, professionals, and buyers who want Broadwater access plus easy shopping and services on the doorstep
Day to day, very convenient, errands are easy, Harbour Town shapes the rhythm in the eastern pocket
Walkability, good in the Harbour Town and Broadwater edge pockets, more car-based elsewhere
Transport, bus-based, quick access to Southport tram stops by car or bus, easy links north and south
Schools, catchment dependent, multiple state primary and secondary options depending on street
Hazards, property specific, flood and storm tide exposure can apply in low-lying pockets near the Broadwater and canals, always check the exact address via mapping tools
If you want the investor view as well, including how the house, unit and duplex market behaves and what drives price movement in different Biggera Waters pockets, email me and I can give you a quick, plain-English summary tailored to your budget and property type.
If you are moving over from NZ, start here, at my Moving from NZ hub, with checklists, early admin steps, and Gold Coast suburb guidance.
Overview
Biggera Waters is a Broadwater-side suburb on the northern side of the central Gold Coast, known for its mix of waterfront living, high-rise and low-rise unit stock, and the Harbour Town shopping precinct. It sits close to Southport for work, health, education, and the tram, while also offering its own day-to-day convenience, especially for buyers who prioritise easy access to retail, services, and the Broadwater foreshore.
Liveability is pocket dependent. Some areas feel calm and residential near the water and canals, while the Harbour Town corridor feels busier, more commercial, and higher turnover.
Who Biggera Waters suits best
Biggera Waters suits buyers who want Broadwater access and a convenient, low-friction lifestyle, including
downsizers who prefer apartment living, lifts, and walkable services
professionals wanting an easy commute into Southport and nearby precincts
buyers who like having major retail, gyms, medical, and everyday shopping close by
boat and water lifestyle households who value proximity to the Broadwater and marinas
If you are seeking a quiet, village-style café strip, or a highly consistent detached-home streetscape, some parts of Biggera Waters can feel too mixed, especially closer to major retail and main roads.
Why choose Biggera Waters
Biggera Waters is often chosen for its combination of Broadwater lifestyle and practical convenience. It gives you quick access to Southport and central Gold Coast employment, while also offering a strong apartment market and one of the most convenient retail and services hubs on the northern end of the Gold Coast.
For many buyers, it is a suburb that reduces day-to-day effort, errands, appointments, shopping, and basics are close, while still keeping you near water and open space.
Housing and streetscape feel
Biggera Waters has a wide housing mix, including
high-rise and mid-rise apartments, particularly around the Harbour Town and Broadwater edge pockets
low-rise unit blocks and older walk-up stock in established streets
townhouses and duplexes in mixed residential pockets
a smaller number of detached houses, including canal and Broadwater-adjacent homes in selected pockets
Street feel varies more than Labrador. Some pockets feel settled and residential, others feel busier due to retail activity, higher density, and through-traffic. As with Southport and Labrador, choosing the right micro-pocket matters more than suburb averages.
Getting around and commute reality
Biggera Waters is largely car-based, but bus services connect the suburb to Southport, nearby centres, and tram access points. For many residents, the appeal is that most essentials are nearby, so even short trips cover a lot, groceries, medical, shopping, schools, and parks.
Commute practicality is a key advantage for anyone working in Southport, the hospital precinct, or central Gold Coast corridors.
Schools and education
State school zoning in Queensland is address-based, not suburb-name based. Biggera Waters can overlap multiple school catchments, so the only reliable way to confirm eligibility is to check the exact address in EdMap for the relevant year level and enrolment year.
Primary schools your Biggera Waters address may be zoned for
Biggera Waters State School
Coombabah State School
Labrador State School
Southport State School
Secondary schools your Biggera Waters address may be zoned for
Coombabah State High School
Southport State High School
Keebra Park State High School
School catchments and enrolment management plans can change, so always verify against the address and the enrolment year in EdMap before assuming eligibility.
If you are relocating with kids and want help shortlisting schools and aligning catchments with your housing search, I offer a Family Relocation Concierge option; details are on my services page.
Parks, sports and lifestyle amenities
Biggera Waters offers strong outdoor lifestyle access via the Broadwater edge, with walking and cycling routes, parks, and family-friendly foreshore areas nearby. It is not a nightlife suburb, it is more a practical, active, outdoors rhythm, with water access being the major lifestyle driver.
Convenience and day-to-day essentials
This is one of Biggera Waters’ biggest strengths. The suburb is built around convenience, particularly near Harbour Town, with supermarkets, medical services, gyms, and retail all close. Many residents find they drive less for errands compared with more purely residential suburbs.
Dining and cafés
Dining in Biggera Waters is more convenience-based than destination-based. You will find casual cafés and eateries clustered around shopping and activity areas, with broader dining options a short drive away in Southport, Main Beach, and other coastal precincts.
Shopping and everyday services
Biggera Waters is a standout on the northern Gold Coast for shopping and services, largely due to Harbour Town and its surrounding retail, allied health, and everyday amenity base. This makes it particularly appealing for downsizers and buyers who want everything close without needing to travel into larger hubs.
Community profile
Biggera Waters has a mixed community profile, with
apartment households and downsizers in higher density pockets
renters and owner-occupiers across older unit stock and townhouse complexes
a smaller but present detached-home and waterfront household base in selected pockets
Compared with Labrador, it can feel less consistently residential and more mixed-use, especially around the retail corridor.
Crime and safety
Biggera Waters records a mid-range crime profile for the Gold Coast, with property crime the dominant driver, typical for suburbs with major retail, higher density housing, and busy transport corridors.
• Crime rank – 31/100
Higher score indicates higher overall crime relative to population
• Total offences – 6,513
• Crimes per 1,000 residents – 177.05
Queensland – lower
Australia – lower
• Violent crimes – 565 total
• Violent crime rate – 15.36 per 1,000 residents
Queensland – approximately 8 per 1,000
Australia – approximately 11 per 1,000
• Property crimes – 3,074 total
• Property crime rate – 83.56 per 1,000 residents
Top reported offence categories in 2024
Theft, 389 offences
Drug dealing and trafficking, 86 offences
Assault and related offences, 77 offences
Likelihood of being affected
Chance of being a victim of violent crime - 1 in 123 Queensland – 1 in 123
Australia – 1 in 89Chance of being a victim of property crime - 1 in 18 Queensland – 1 in 22
Australia – 1 in 26
Trend direction
Crime in Biggera Waters increased by 0.75% from 2023 to 2024
Long-term patterns are generally consistent with activity levels and density, rather than suggesting suburb-wide deterioration, pocket selection still matters most
Bottom line, Biggera Waters behaves like a convenient, higher-activity suburb. Property crime is the main consideration, particularly around retail, high-traffic roads, and dense unit pockets, rather than quiet residential streets.
Data source, RedSuburbs, 2024.
Socioeconomic context, SEIFA
SEIFA provides area-level context rather than insight into individual households. A lower score indicates greater relative disadvantage, and a higher score indicates less disadvantage.
For Biggera Waters (SA2 Biggera Waters), the Index of Relative Socio-economic Disadvantage (IRSD) score sits in the lower-to-middle range nationally, typically around decile 3–4 out of 10 (higher decile indicates less disadvantage).
Biggera Waters has a high proportion of unit stock and rental housing, particularly around the Harbour Town precinct and higher-density corridors, which can pull SEIFA down compared with suburbs dominated by detached family homes. At the same time, the suburb also includes established owner-occupier streets and premium canal and Broadwater-front pockets, meaning lived experience can vary significantly depending on street and housing type.
Plain English takeaway: Biggera Waters trends lower to mid-range on SEIFA overall, but lived experience varies markedly by street, building and proximity to retail, main roads and the Broadwater. As with Labrador and Southport, suburb-wide statistics matter far less here than pocket and property selection.
Price and rental context
Biggera Waters typically sits above Labrador on price, driven by the Harbour Town amenity base, Broadwater proximity, and a large unit market with strong owner-occupier and downsizer demand.
Median house price - around $1.27m
Median unit price - around $745k to $753k
Median 4 bedroom house rent - around $1,050 per week
Median unit rent - around $680 per week
As a broad guide only, and subject to market conditions at the time, values vary sharply by pocket and property type. Canal and Broadwater-adjacent houses trade very differently to standard houses, and unit pricing can swing materially based on building age, views, amenities, and body corporate costs.
Plain English takeaway, Biggera Waters is a convenience-plus-lifestyle suburb. You pay for proximity to Broadwater and services, and the unit market is broad, so building selection matters as much as location.
Medians sourced from realestate.com.au, for 12 months to December 2025.
Flood, bushfire and natural hazard considerations
Parts of Biggera Waters are low lying and close to the Broadwater and canals, so flood and storm tide exposure can apply to some properties, particularly ground-level dwellings and certain waterfront pockets. Flood risk is not suburb-wide, it is address specific, so always check the exact property.
Bushfire hazard is typically limited and generally applies only where properties sit near mapped vegetation, again, overlays are property specific.
As with any suburb where overlays may apply, insurance premiums can vary by property, so it is worth getting an insurance quote early in your decision-making process.
Quick take, pros and trade-offs
Pros:
Broadwater lifestyle, exceptional day-to-day convenience, strong services and shopping base, good access to Southport jobs and the tram corridor, good option for downsizers and apartment buyers.
Trade-offs:
More mixed-use and higher activity near Harbour Town, car dependence away from the main pockets, unit stock varies widely by building, property crime is a bigger consideration around retail and dense housing, flood and storm tide overlays can apply in some low-lying pockets.
Helpful links
These tools are address-specific, so always check the exact property before relying on suburb-wide assumptions.
School catchments, EdMap qgso.qld.gov.au
Queensland Police crime map Jo Denvir - Gold Coast Buyers Agent
City of Gold Coast flood maps and planning map goldcoast.qld.gov.au+1
FloodCheck Queensland floodcheck.information.qld.gov.au+1
Queensland Fire Department postcode checker for bushfire potential Queensland Fire Department
RedSuburbs crime statistics RedSuburbs
Helpful note
Biggera Waters is a suburb where building selection and micro-pocket selection really matters. If you are shortlisting it, narrowing to a few pockets, and checking schools, flood overlays, and the feel of the immediate streets, will give you a far more accurate sense of liveability than suburb-wide averages.
If you want, I am happy to sanity-check a specific street, school catchment, or property against how you want to live day to day - Lets Talk
