Clear Island Waters Liveability Snapshot
Clear Island Waters Suburb Map
Clear Island Waters, at a glance
Position: central Gold Coast, canal estate between Broadbeach Waters and Merrimac, close to Robina and Bond University
Distance to Brisbane: approximately 1 hour to 1 hour 20 minutes’ drive, traffic dependent
Commute to Gold Coast Airport: approximately 25 to 35 minutes, traffic dependent
Vibe: quiet, established canal living, low through-traffic, more “home and water” than “high street”
Best for: prestige buyers who want waterfront access, boating, and a calm day-to-day rhythm while staying close to schools, dining, and major services
Day-to-day: school runs and sports nearby, quick access to Robina Town Centre, easy drive to Broadbeach dining and beaches
Walkability: limited overall, some pleasant waterside walking routes, but most errands are car-based
Transport: car first; buses on surrounding arterials; rail via Robina station by car
Schools: catchment dependent; address must be checked via EdMap
Hazards: property specific; always check overlays and insurance early, especially for canal-front and low-lying lots
Population size: 4,395 people
Median age: 49
Tenure in occupied private dwellings: not shown in the sources pulled today
If you want the investor view as well, including how the house, unit, and duplex market behaves and what drives price movement in different 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
Clear Island Waters is one of the Gold Coast’s best-known prestige canal suburbs. It is primarily residential, with a strong sense of separation from the tourist strip and commercial centres, but it is still very close to them. The lifestyle is defined by waterfront streets, private pontoons, and a calm, low-traffic feel, with quick access to Robina, Broadbeach Waters, and the wider central Gold Coast.
Who Clear Island Waters suits best
Clear Island Waters suits buyers who value privacy, space, and a water-led lifestyle, particularly boating and entertaining. It also suits families and professionals who want central convenience without living in a high-activity precinct.
Why choose Clear Island Waters
Buyers choose it for the canal lifestyle and the central location. You can have a quiet home base while being a short drive from major schools, shopping, medical facilities, and dining.
Housing and streetscape feel
This is predominantly a detached-house suburb with a prestige lean, with many homes positioned for water aspect and access. Streets tend to be wider and quieter than nearby activity areas, and the built form is more consistent than many mixed-stock suburbs.
Pocket differences that matter
Street choice matters a lot. Some pockets are more tightly held and feel more “prestige waterfront,” while others are closer to main roads and can feel busier. Water aspect, bridge clearance, pontoon suitability, and canal width can shift value materially, even within the same suburb.
Takeaway: shortlist by water attributes and street position first, then validate the property’s practical boating and insurance reality early.
Getting around and commute reality
Most households are car-reliant. The upside is that you are close to key hubs, Robina Town Centre, Bond University, major schools, the M1, and Broadbeach. Rail commuters typically drive to Robina station.
Schools and education
School zoning in Queensland is address-based, not suburb-based. Eligibility depends on the exact property address and enrolment year, and EdMap should always be checked.
Primary schools your Clear Island Waters address may be zoned for:
Robina State School
Broadbeach State School
Secondary schools your Clear Island Waters address may be zoned for:
Merrimac State High School
Clear Island Waters has strong access to nearby independent and Catholic schools across the central and southern Gold Coast. Enrolment is typically based on application, year-level intake, and school policies rather than state catchment zoning.
Catholic options nearby:
St Vincent’s Catholic Parish Primary School, Clear Island Waters
St Michael’s College, Merrimac
Marymount Primary School, Burleigh Waters
Marymount College, Burleigh Waters
St Kevin’s Catholic School, Benowa
Star of the Sea School, Mermaid Beach
Independent options nearby:
All Saints Anglican School, Merrimac
Somerset College, Mudgeeraba
St Andrew’s Lutheran College, Tallebudgera
When researching schools online, you will often see mixed reviews. That is common in larger or centrally located catchments with diverse student populations. Online commentary usually reflects individual experiences rather than the overall day-to-day environment. Visiting the school, understanding the enrollment criteria, and considering your child’s specific needs will give you far more useful insight than reviewing sites alone.
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
Lifestyle here is more home-based than precinct-based. Many residents lean into boating, entertaining, and waterside routines, and then drive to beaches, sporting clubs, and major parks in surrounding suburbs.
Dining and cafés
Clear Island Waters is not a dining strip suburb, but it is well positioned. Broadbeach, Mermaid Beach, Robina, and the coastal corridor are all easy to reach by car, so you get a good choice without living in the middle of it.
Shopping and everyday services
Day-to-day convenience is one of the strengths. Robina Town Centre is close, plus you have easy access to medical, allied health, schools, groceries, and services in surrounding hubs.
Community profile
Clear Island Waters tends to feel settled and residential, with fewer short-stay dynamics than beachside tourist zones. The day-to-day rhythm is typically quiet, and the street feel is one of the main reasons buyers pay a premium here.
Crime and safety, relative to the Gold Coast
Clear Island Waters has a lower crime profile than Queensland and Australia overall on a per capita basis, which is common for quieter, house-led residential suburbs with limited late-night activity. Based on 2024 data, it records low overall offence volumes and low violent crime rates.
Headline figures (2024)
Crime rank – 10/100
A higher score indicates higher overall crime relative to populationTotal offences – 162
Crimes per 1,000 residents – 36.86
Queensland – 88.73
Australia – 80.74Violent crimes – 14 total
Violent crime rate – 3.19 per 1,000 residents
Queensland – 8.10 per 1,000
Australia – 11.22 per 1,000Property crimes – 71 total
Property crime rate – 16.15 per 1,000 residents
Queensland – 44.75 per 1,000
Australia – 38.29 per 1,000
In 2024 the most reported categories include drug dealing and trafficking, theft, and burglary or breaking and entering.
Top reported offence categories in 2024
Drug dealing and trafficking – 36 offences
Theft – 32 offences
Burglary or break and enter – 20 offences
Likelihood of being affected:
Chance of being a victim of violent crime – 1 in 314
Queensland – 1 in 123
Australia – 1 in 89Chance of being a victim of property crime – 1 in 62
Queensland – 1 in 22
Australia – 1 in 26
Trend direction
Total crime in Clear Island Waters decreased by 25.35 percent from 2023 to 2024.
Long-term trends generally reflect the suburb’s low-activity, residential nature rather than sharp spikes.
Bottom line: Clear Island Waters reads as a lower-crime, quiet residential option by Gold Coast standards. The practical takeaway is still the same, secure garages, good lighting, and sensible home security, especially for waterfront properties and vehicles.
Data source: RedSuburbs, 2024. This information is based on offence data from the Queensland Police Service and population figures from the ABS Census. For street-level detail by offence type and time period, the Queensland Police Online Crime Map allows address-specific filtering.
Socioeconomic context, SEIFA
SEIFA is area-level context, not a judgement on individual households, but it is useful for understanding whether an area is broadly more advantaged or more disadvantaged compared with other places.
Clear Island Waters is captured within the Broadbeach Waters SA2 for ABS SEIFA reporting. The Index of Relative Socio-economic Disadvantage (IRSD) score for Broadbeach Waters is 1064, placing it in decile 8 out of 10 nationally (a higher decile indicates less disadvantage).
Plain English takeaway: this area trends strongly towards relative advantage overall, and the housing profile and amenity access typically align with that.
Price and rental context
Clear Island Waters is a premium market, driven by canal frontage, home quality, and boating suitability. Medians can move based on the mix of waterfront versus non-waterfront sales in a given period.
Median house price: around $2.28m
Median unit price: around $978k
Median house rent: around $1,400 per week
Median unit rent: around $880 per week
Plain English takeaway: in this suburb, the median is only a starting point. Water attributes and street position can move value materially either side of the median.
Flood, bushfire and natural hazard considerations
Hazards are property specific. With canal and waterfront homes, buyers should treat flood and water-related exposure checks as an early step, not a final step. Even within the same suburb, insurance pricing can vary sharply by address, elevation, proximity to waterways, and the building’s design.
What to do on every shortlisted property:
Check City of Gold Coast flood and storm tide overlays for the exact address
Check FloodCheck Queensland for broader flood information and mapping layers
Check bushfire overlays where relevant, especially if a property backs onto reserve or has heavier vegetation nearby
Get an insurance quote early, before you get emotionally attached, and confirm inclusions and excess settings, not just the premium
Quick take: pros and trade-offs
Pros: prestige canal lifestyle, quiet streets, strong central positioning, close to Robina and Broadbeach amenities, generally lower offence volume than broader benchmarks.
Trade-offs: car dependence, values swing heavily with water attributes and boating practicality, and waterfront due diligence and insurance checking needs to happen early.
Helpful links
These tools are address-specific, so always check the exact property before relying on suburb-wide assumptions.
School catchments, EdMap
Queensland Police crime map RedSuburb crime statistics Median sale and rental pricing realestate.com.au ABS SEIFA index of Relative Socio-economic Disadvantage at SA2 level City of Gold Coast flood planning map
FloodCheck Queensland
City of Gold Coast bushfire overlay mapping
Helpful note
Clear Island Waters is a suburb where “waterfront” is not a single category. Canal width, bridge clearance, pontoon suitability, aspect, and street quietness can matter as much as the house itself. Shortlist the water attributes first, then validate the insurance and overlay the picture early, and you will avoid most of the common regret points.
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
