Nobby Beach Liveability Snapshot
Nobby Beach Suburb Map
Nobby Beach is a beachside pocket within the suburb of Mermaid Beach. All official data, including crime, schools, and census figures, are reported under Mermaid Beach.
Nobby Beach, at a glance
Position: central Gold Coast, a beachside pocket within the suburb of Mermaid Beach, between Miami and Broadbeach Waters
Distance to Brisbane: approximately a 1 hour 20 minute drive, traffic dependent
Commute to Gold Coast Airport: approximately 20 to 25 minutes, traffic dependent
Vibe: laid-back beach village feel, cafés and locals, walkable lifestyle around the strip
Best for: buyers who want a true beachside routine with easy access to dining, surf clubs and the coastal path
Day-to-day: morning coffee runs, beach walks, quick local errands, easy access to Broadbeach and Burleigh
Walkability: strong near the beachfront and the Nobby Beach strip, more car-based as you move inland
Transport: car first, frequent bus services along Gold Coast Highway, excellent cycling and walking access via the coastal corridor, rail connection via Robina station or Varsity Lakes station, both a drive
Schools: catchment dependent; address must be checked via EdMap
Hazards: property specific; always check overlays and insurance early
Population size: 7,329 people
Median age: 35 years
Tenure in occupied private dwellings:
Owned outright, 23.9%
Owned with a mortgage, 26.9%
Rented, 46.6%
Other, 2.3%
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
Nobby Beach is one of the most liveable beachside pockets on the Gold Coast for people who want a genuine local routine. It sits inside Mermaid Beach and centres on the Nobby Beach strip, think cafés, casual dining, the surf club nearby, and a strong walk-to-everything feel close to the sand. It’s not a high-rise precinct, and it’s generally quieter than Broadbeach or Surfers Paradise, while still being close enough to tap into their amenities fast.
Who Nobby Beach suits best
Nobby Beach suits buyers who want a true coastal lifestyle without the tourist density and who value walkability, café culture, and quick access to both Broadbeach and Burleigh. It also appeals to downsizers and professionals who are happy with smaller lots or low-maintenance living, as well as lifestyle-focused buyers who prefer a “pocket” with personality over a large master-planned suburb.
Why choose Nobby Beach
Buyers choose Nobby Beach for the combination of beach access, village convenience, and central positioning. You can live day-to-day locally, but you are also minutes from major dining, retail, medical, and entertainment hubs in both directions.
Housing and streetscape feel
The built form around Nobby Beach is a blend of older beachside homes, renovated houses, contemporary rebuilds, and a meaningful share of low-rise units and townhomes, particularly nearer the Gold Coast Highway and main corridors. Streets close to the beach feel more “coastal residential,” while corridors closer to the highway and busier routes can feel more active and have higher turnover.
Pocket differences that matter
Nobby Beach is a pocket where suburb-wide data can hide meaningful street-level differences. The lifestyle feel changes quickly depending on whether you are beachside and tucked into quieter residential streets, closer to the café strip, or edging towards the Gold Coast Highway, where traffic, noise, and unit density can be more noticeable.
Takeaway: shortlist by micro-pocket first, then validate noise, parking, and day-to-day flow at the exact address.
Getting around and commute reality
Most residents still use cars for work, school runs, and larger shopping, but Nobby Beach is one of the more walkable pockets in this part of the Gold Coast for daily routines. Bus services run along the Gold Coast Highway and connect to the broader coastal corridor, and cycling is genuinely feasible via the coastal paths. For rail commuters, Robina or Varsity Lakes are the typical stations, reached by car.
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 Nobby Beach address may be zoned for:
Miami State School
Broadbeach State School
Merrimac State School
Secondary schools your Nobby Beach address may be zoned for:
Miami State High School
Merrimac State High School
Nearby non-state schooling options
Nobby Beach also has 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
Star of the Sea School
St Michael’s College
St Kevin’s Catholic School
Marymount Primary School
Marymount College
Independent options nearby:
All Saints Anglican School
Somerset College
St Andrew’s Lutheran College
Hillcrest Christian College
St Hilda’s School
The Southport School
A B Paterson College
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
Nobby Beach is lifestyle-led. The beach, the coastal walkways, and the surf club culture do a lot of the heavy lifting, and the pocket is well positioned for easy access to parks and sporting options in neighbouring suburbs. For many people, the biggest lifestyle perk is simply how easy it is to build an outdoor routine into everyday life.
Convenience and day-to-day essentials
Day-to-day convenience is strong. You have local essentials close by, plus you are minutes from larger shopping, services, and specialist appointments in Broadbeach, Robina, and Burleigh, depending on what you need. The practical reality is you can keep life simple locally, without feeling isolated from bigger centres.
Dining and cafés
This is a standout strength. The Nobby Beach strip is one of the Gold Coast’s most popular local café and casual dining pockets, with a strong daytime and early evening vibe rather than a late-night precinct. It’s social, easy, and very liveable, particularly if walkability is part of your brief.
Shopping and everyday services
Shopping is practical and close. Many residents use a mix of local convenience options and then dip into larger nearby centres for major shops and broader services. Both neighbourhood errands and larger retail runs are easily accessible from this location.
Community profile
Nobby Beach feels like a beach community rather than a tourist zone. It tends to attract a mix of long-term locals and newer arrivals who want a central location with a calmer, more residential rhythm than the high-activity precincts. The rental share is meaningful, which can lift turnover in some buildings, but the overall feel is still lifestyle-oriented and stable street by street.
Crime and safety, relative to the Gold Coast
Nobby Beach sits within Mermaid Beach for crime reporting, and results can vary by micro-pocket, especially around busier corridors, visitor-access points, and building density. Based on 2024 data, Mermaid Beach records a higher property-crime profile than many purely residential, house-dominant suburbs, which is typical for central beachside areas with more units, through-traffic, and activity.
Crime rank – 13/100
A higher score indicates higher overall crime relative to population
Total offences – 585
Crimes per 1,000 residents – 79.82
Queensland – higher
Australia – higherViolent crimes – 18 total
Violent crime rate – 2.46 per 1,000 residents
Queensland – 8 per 1,000
Australia – 11 per 1,000Property crimes – 393 total
Property crime rate – 53.62 per 1,000 residents
For most reported offence groups, the majority of crime in Mermaid Beach is non-violent and opportunistic, typically linked to vehicles, dwellings, and convenience locations rather than residential streets as a whole.
Top reported offence categories in 2024
Theft – 210 offences
Burglary – 100 offences
Drug dealing and trafficking – 61 offences
Likelihood of being affected
Chance of being a victim of violent crime – 1 in 407 Queensland – 1 in 123
Australia – 1 in 89Chance of being a victim of property crime – 1 in 19 Queensland – 1 in 22
Australia – 1 in 26
Trend direction
Total crime in Mermaid Beach decreased by 13.84 percent from 2023 to 2024
Long-term trends generally reflect stable residential demand and activity levels, rather than sharp spikes.
Bottom line, Nobby Beach offers high lifestyle and walkability, but buyers should still choose the pocket carefully, prioritise secure parking and building access for apartments and townhomes, and use street-level tools to check the immediate area around any shortlisted address.
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 Beach, the relevant SA2 used in ABS SEIFA is Mermaid Beach – Broadbeach. The Index of Relative Socio-economic Disadvantage, IRSD score is 1037, placing it in decile 7 out of 10 nationally (higher decile indicates less disadvantage).
Plain English takeaway: this area trends towards relative advantage overall, but lived experience still varies by pocket, housing type, and proximity to major roads and activity zones.
Price and rental context
Nobby Beach sits within Mermaid Beach pricing, which is a premium beachside market with a mix of high-value houses and a large unit segment. Medians can move based on a relatively small number of house sales in a given year, while the unit market tends to show more consistent turnover and clearer price signalling.
Median house price, $3.30m
Median unit price, $975k
Median house rent, $1,400 per week
Median unit rent, $800 per week
Medians sourced from realestate.com.au, for 12 months to December 2025.
Plain English takeaway: Mermaid Beach medians are useful for broad orientation, but the practical reality is that beachside positioning, street quietness, parking, and building quality can shift value materially either side of the median.
Flood, bushfire and natural hazard considerations
Hazards are property specific. In this pocket, insurance pricing can vary materially by address and building type, particularly for older walk-ups, ground-floor layouts, and properties closer to low-lying areas or drainage lines. Always check overlays early and get an insurance quote before you get emotionally attached to a property.
Quick take: pros and trade-offs
Pros: beach lifestyle, strong walkability near the core, excellent café and dining scene, central positioning between Broadbeach and Burleigh, low-rise character compared with major high-rise precincts.
Trade-offs: pocket-to-pocket variability, busier feel closer to the Gold Coast Highway, higher property-crime exposure than quieter suburban areas, and unit-heavy streets where parking and building security matter.
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
Nobby Beach is one of those pockets where the right street can feel like an effortless beach village, and the wrong edge can feel noticeably busier. Shortlist by micro-pocket first, then validate schools, overlays, parking, and street feel against how you want to live day to day.
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
