Mermaid Waters Liveability Snapshot
Mermaid Waters, at a glance
Position: central Gold Coast canal suburb immediately south of Broadbeach Waters and west of Mermaid Beach
Distance to Brisbane: approximately a 1 hour 15 minute drive, traffic dependent
Commute to Gold Coast Airport: approximately 30 minutes, traffic dependent
Vibe: established, quiet and residential, canal-focused with a suburban feel
Best for: families, upsizers, and downsizers wanting space and quiet streets close to beaches, schools, and major amenities.
Day-to-day: school runs, park visits and home-based routines, with most errands handled by car
Walkability: low to moderate, better near parks and local pockets; most destinations require driving
Transport: car-based, good road connectivity, short drive to tram stops in Broadbeach and Burleigh corridors
Schools: catchment dependent; see Schools and education section below
Hazards: property specific; flood overlays apply to some canal-adjacent and low-lying properties
If you want the investor view as well, including how the house, unit and duplex market behaves and what drives price movement in different Mermaid 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
Mermaid Waters is an established residential suburb known for its extensive canal system, family housing, and quiet streets. It sits just behind Mermaid Beach and Broadbeach, offering a more suburban lifestyle while remaining close to beaches, shopping, and employment hubs.
Unlike neighbouring beachfront suburbs, Mermaid Waters has no tourist core or nightlife precinct. Daily life is centred on homes, schools, parks, and local services, which gives the suburb a stable and settled feel.
Who Mermaid Waters suits best
Mermaid Waters suits families and owner-occupiers who want space, quieter streets, and proximity to schools without the density or activity of beachside suburbs. It also appeals to downsizers who want to remain centrally located but prefer a house or duplex over apartment living.
Buyers seeking walkable dining, nightlife, or beachfront living may find Mermaid Waters too car-dependent and residential. Those buyers often gravitate toward Broadbeach, Mermaid Beach, or Burleigh.
Why choose Mermaid Waters
Mermaid Waters is chosen for balance and practicality. It offers central Gold Coast positioning, strong school access, and family infrastructure, while still being close to beaches, dining, and major retail.
For many buyers, the draw is the ability to live in a quiet, established neighbourhood while being minutes from high-amenity precincts when needed.
Housing and streetscape feel
Mermaid Waters is dominated by detached houses, many on generous blocks, with a large number of canal-front properties. Housing stock ranges from original homes through to renovated family houses and modern rebuilds. Duplexes and townhouses exist in some pockets, particularly near main roads.
Street feel varies by location. Canal streets and interior pockets are generally quiet and family oriented, while edges near arterial roads can feel busier. Liveability is strongly pocket dependent.
Getting around and commute reality
Mermaid Waters is a car-first suburb. Most residents drive for work, school, and shopping. Access to the Gold Coast Highway and major roads makes travel north and south straightforward outside peak periods.
Public transport is available but generally supplementary rather than a replacement for car ownership.
Schools and education
Queensland state school zoning is address-based, not suburb-name-based. The only reliable way to confirm eligibility is to check the exact address in EdMap for the relevant year level and enrolment year.
Using Queensland Government catchment boundary files and a suburb-wide grid check across Mermaid Waters, the state school catchments that touch the suburb include the following.
Primary schools your Mermaid Waters address may be zoned for:
Mermaid Waters State School
Mermaid Beach State School
Miami State School
Secondary schools your Mermaid Waters address may be zoned for:
Miami State High School
Merrimac State High School
When researching schools online, you will often see mixed reviews. That is common in centrally located catchments with diverse student populations. Visiting the school, understanding catchment rules, and checking your exact address in EdMap will give you far more useful insight than review 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
Mermaid Waters has strong access to local parks, playgrounds, and canal walkways that support everyday outdoor living. The suburb is well suited to walking, cycling, and family activities within the neighbourhood.
Beaches, sporting facilities, and larger lifestyle precincts are a short drive away, giving residents access to a broad range of options without living in a high-activity zone.
Convenience and day-to-day essentials
Everyday convenience is good, with local shopping centres, supermarkets, medical services, and schools close by. Pacific Fair, Broadbeach, and Burleigh provide larger retail and specialist services within a short drive.
Dining and cafés
Mermaid Waters has limited in-suburb dining. Most residents travel to nearby Mermaid Beach, Broadbeach, Nobby Beach, or Burleigh for cafés and restaurants.
This contributes to the suburb’s quieter residential character.
Shopping and everyday services
Local shopping centres provide daily essentials, while Pacific Fair and larger precincts nearby offer comprehensive retail and services. This supports practical day-to-day living without heavy in-suburb traffic.
Community profile
Mermaid Waters has a stable, family-oriented community profile. Owner-occupiers make up a significant share of residents, alongside long-term renters. Short-stay accommodation is minimal, contributing to a settled feel.
Crime and safety, relative to the Gold Coast
Mermaid Waters is a low-density residential suburb and does not function as a CBD, entertainment precinct, or tourism hub. Its crime profile reflects this, with lower overall crime levels than many central Gold Coast activity suburbs. Based on 2024 data, Mermaid Waters records lower crimes per capita than both Queensland and Australia overall, with property crime forming the majority of reported offences and violent crime comparatively low.
Headline figures (2024):
Crime rank – 10/100
Higher score indicates higher overall crime relative to populationTotal offences – 682
Crimes per 1,000 residents – 52.11
Queensland – higher
Australia – higherViolent crimes – 43 total
Violent crime rate – 3.29 per 1,000 residents
Queensland – ~8 per 1,000
Australia – ~11 per 1,000Property crimes – 424 total
Property crime rate – 32.40 per 1,000 residents
Most reported offence groups:
The majority of crime in Mermaid Waters is opportunistic property-related activity, with offences more commonly linked to vehicles, dwellings, and access points rather than public-order or nighttime economy activity.
Top reported offence categories in 2024:
Theft – 242 offences
Drug dealing and trafficking – 80 offences
Burglary and break and enter – 73 offences
Likelihood of being affected:
Chance of being a victim of violent crime – 1 in 304
Queensland – 1 in 123
Australia – 1 in 89Chance of being a victim of property crime – 1 in 31
Queensland – 1 in 22
Australia – 1 in 26
This reinforces the pattern in the data. Mermaid Waters’ overall risk profile is driven by property-related offences rather than violence and is consistent with a settled, residential suburb rather than a high-activity precinct.
Trend direction:
Crime in Mermaid Waters decreased by 22.94% from 2023 to 2024.
Long-term trends show relatively stable offence volumes aligned with residential population patterns, rather than spikes linked to events, tourism, or nighttime activity.
Bottom line: Mermaid Waters is a quieter, family-oriented suburb with a comparatively low crime profile for the central Gold Coast. For buyers and renters, the practical takeaway is to focus on street selection, secure garaging, and home security, particularly for canal-front and corner properties.
Data source: RedSuburbs, 2024. Based on Queensland Police Service offence data and ABS Census population figures. For street-level detail by offence type and time period, the Queensland Police Online Crime Map allows address-specific filtering.
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 Mermaid Waters (SA2 Mermaid Waters), the Index of Relative Socio-economic Disadvantage (IRSD) score is 1,053, placing it around decile 8 out of 10 nationally (higher decile indicates less disadvantage).
This result reflects Mermaid Waters’s housing mix and community profile: the suburb has a high proportion of detached houses, established owner-occupier streets, and relatively strong household income indicators compared with many inland and high-density areas. At the same time, there is a diverse range of dwelling types and household situations within the SA2, so lived experience can vary by pocket, particularly between canal-front streets, interior locations, and areas close to main roads.
Plain English takeaway: Mermaid Waters trends relatively advantaged on SEIFA overall, consistent with its family-oriented, higher-income housing profile, but lived experience still varies by street, housing type and proximity to major corridors.
Price and rental context
Mermaid Waters sits in the mid-to-upper range of central Gold Coast house markets, reflecting its canal access, family housing and proximity to beaches and major amenities.
Median house price, around $1.6–$1.8 million
Median unit price, limited data due to low volume
Median 4-bedroom house rent, around $950–$1,050 per week
Median unit rent, limited data
Medians sourced from realestate.com.au, for 12 months to December 2025.
Because Mermaid Waters is dominated by detached housing, house sale and rental medians are generally more reliable than unit data. Units and townhouses trade infrequently, which can result in missing or unstable medians.
Plain English takeaway: Mermaid Waters is a house-led market where street, frontage, and property type matter more than suburb-wide averages.
Flood, bushfire and natural hazard considerations
Parts of Mermaid Waters are low-lying and canal adjacent, so flood overlays apply to some properties. Flood risk is property specific and varies by elevation and proximity to waterways.
Bushfire overlays are generally limited. Insurance premiums can vary by property, so obtaining a quote early is recommended.
Quick take: pros and trade-offs
Pros:
Quiet family suburb, canal living options, good schools, central location without tourist intensity, larger homes and blocks
Trade-offs:
Car dependent, limited in-suburb dining, pocket-dependent liveability, flood overlays apply to some properties
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
City of Gold Coast flood planning map
FloodCheck Queensland
City of Gold Coast bushfire overlay mapping RedSuburb crime statistics
Helpful note
Mermaid Waters is a suburb where street and pocket selection really matters. Canal frontage, traffic exposure and proximity to main roads can materially change day-to-day experience.
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.
