Winter on the Gold Coast: 15 fun family activities

OAWK Team
July 1, 2025

As the kids will tell you, it’s always a good time for a Gold Coast family holiday — but these 15 winter activities seal the deal!

Its warm, temperate climate means anytime is a good time to visit the Gold Coast, but there are plenty of drawcards that make a winter getaway extra enticing.

Winter is the perfect time to do Gold Coast family holidays a little differently. Not only does the region enjoy mild temperatures and smaller crowds during the cooler months, but June, July, and August are practically bursting with kid-friendly events, festivals, and cultural activities.

From whale watching and WINTERFEST at Dreamworld to Gold Coast ice skating fun, here are some great family activities that are perfect during the cooler months. With average temperatures between 12.5°C and 21.5°C, you can even hit the beach – just pack some layers for cool mornings and you’re good to go!

Dive into these winter activities for the ultimate mid-year getaway with kids!

1. Go whale-watching with Sea World Cruises

Seeing a humungous humpback spy hopping beside your tour boat, or a cute calf making its first attempts at breaching, are moments the kids will be talking about for years to come. While Mother Nature offers no guarantees, that’s the kind of experience your family could be lucky enough to have during a Gold Coast whale watching cruise.

With an estimated 35,000 of the magnificent creatures passing by on the ‘Humpback Highway’ during their annual migration, between May and October, each year, your chances of an encounter are pretty good.

🐳 WINTER HOLIDAY DEAL: Escape the ordinary with a Gold Coast whale-watching holiday package from just $679 per family!

2. Meet your favourite DC Heroes and Villains at Movie World

Pack your family’s superhero costumes and practice your Wonder Woman pose – the annual DC Super Heroes and Villains event at Warner Bros. Movie World brings a fiendish twist to your winter theme park holiday! Dress up for the night parade and snap your new favourite family pics with Catwoman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Supergirl and more – plus iconic DC villains like Lex Luthor and The Riddler. The experience is included with Warner Bros. Movie World Single Day admission or a Village Roadshow One Pass.

3. Take the kids ice skating at Planet Chill

While Australia doesn’t get the below zero temperatures common in the northern hemisphere during winter, you can still experience the joy of ice skating on the Gold Coast!

Smack bang in the middle of Surfers Paradise, Planet Chill Ice-Skating Rink is ideal for beginner skaters and families with kids aged three and up. Each session runs for up to 1.5 hours, with children five and under requiring a paying adult on the ice with them at all times.

Planet Chill is located at Paradise Resort Gold Coast and is open to the public — though resort guests unlock lots more winter family fun!

⛸️ ICE ICE BABY: Slide and glide on the Gold Coast’s indoor ice skating rinks

5. Taste Scenic Rim flavours during Eat Local Month

June is Eat Local Month in the Scenic Rim, an hour’s drive inland from the Gold Coast’s beaches and resorts. What began as a week-long celebration of local producers expanded to a month-long paddock-to-plate festival in 2023. And family fun is at the heart of this winter foodie event — get ready to pick your own farm-fresh veggies on Kalfresh Carrot Day, feed the adorable stars of Summer Land Camels and learn how sheep’s cheese is made at Towri Sheep Farm.

The Winter Harvest Festival is the pinnacle of this flavour-packed event, giving families a chance to sip and sample their way through an endless array of local delicacies. Toss in live cooking demos from top Aussie chefs, sprinkle with some kid-friendly crafts and sensory play, finish with a play on life-sized farm equipment, and you’ll have Queensland’s most scrumptious winter weekend.

6. Celebrate the season at Dreamworld WINTERFEST

Experience the magic of a European winter Down Under with Dreamworld’s annual WINTERFEST event. Kids can devour giant pretzels and other tasty treats, go tobogganing and get a taste of snow at the event, which runs from June 28 to July 20 in 2025.

Pick up a Snowflake Scavenger Hunt Booklet and embark on an adventure around the theme park, including walking through Belinda’s Arctic Adventure. There are loads of other attractions and experiences to enjoy while you’re there – from feeding big cats at Tiger Island and live shows to adrenaline-pumping rides like the Tower of Terror II.

7. See the latest exhibition at HOTA (Home of the Arts)

Check out the latest exhibition at the $60 million HOTA Gallery, which opened in May 2021. The awe-inspiring building spans six levels and includes a dedicated Children’s Gallery. It’s just one of the great family-friendly attractions in the riverside Home of the Arts precinct, which hosts a great rotation of of theatre, music and dance events throughout the year.

8. Tackle the Challenge Rooms at Hijinx Hotel

For the ultimate family bonding experience, book a session in the Challenge Rooms at Surfers Paradise’s Hijinx Hotel. Groups of two to six players work together to complete challenges and solve puzzles to score points on the leaderboard.

Unlike an escape room, a challenge room has a single objective, like shooting a basketball through a hoop, solving word scrambles, or remembering song patterns on a giant piano, which get harder and harder as the clock ticks. Teams are assigned to a set of five challenge rooms on arrival and have four minutes to score as many points as possible before moving to the next one.

9. Meet the animals at Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary

Feed kangaroos, cuddle a koala and witness free flight bird shows at Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary, which is located in a beautiful rainforest setting on the southern Gold Coast. With a huge outdoor playground, Wild Island, and a miniature train, there is plenty to keep the kids entertained.

The exotic Lost Valley precinct features 5 hectares of rainforest, where visitors can explore a forgotten world. Get up close and personal with some of the world’s quirkiest critters with the Gold Coast’s most unique animal encounters including lemurs, cotton-top tamarins, red pandas, and exotic reptiles.

10. Try indoor skydiving with iFly Gold Coast

No parachute, no jumping from a plane, nothing attaching you to the ground. Whether you want to be a master of the sky or learn to fly like a superhero, iFly Gold Coast lets you experience the exhilaration and thrill of skydiving without even leaving Surfers Paradise. The whole family can watch from the viewing platform and gasp as you fly like somebody out of a superhero movie. Kids of any age can give it a go, but it’s unlikely to speak to younger kids with poor confidence, and you can buy multi-flight family packages for the best value.

11. Ride the iconic Gold Coast Aquaduck

For the greatest novelty experience in town, book a voyage on the Aquaduck – a cross between a bus and a boat which is designed to operate on both land and water. The one-hour sightseeing tour begins in the heart of Surfers Paradise on Cavill Avenue before you head out along the famous beach towards the glamour and beauty of Main Beach before splashing into the water for a scenic cruise of the river and Broadwater. While on the water, children can drive the Aquaduck and receive a Captain’s certificate!

12. Explore Burleigh Headland with an Aboriginal guide

Learn about bush tucker, hear Dreaming stories and discover culturally significant sites with the Jellurgal Walkabout tour. An Indigenous guide leads guests on the tour around Burleigh Headland, which is traditionally known as Jellurgal, which means ‘the Dreaming Mountain’.

Hear stories related to the peak’s creation, practices such as fishing and hunting and the connection to the land the Yugambeh-speaking people have had for thousands of years. The two-hour tour is run through the Jellurgal Aboriginal Cultural Centre — the region’s only dedicated Aboriginal cultural centre that is owned and operated by the local Aboriginal community.

13. See the Gold Coast from a hot air balloon

The views are simply spectacular in this part of the world – so why not take them in from a hot air balloon? Balloon Aloft can take you up on a 60-minute sunrise flight (suitable for kids aged three and up). Floating between 1500 and 5000 feet above the ground, you can see the Gold Coast’s waterways converge into the Pacific Ocean, and on the other side, the beautiful Hinterland.

Winter is no object as Balloon Aloft flies around 300 days per year. The balloon’s burners are a cosy source of warmth, and as you’re moving at the same speed as the breeze, there’s no wind chill either.

14. Climb or dine atop Australia's tallest building

Ride one of the world’s fastest elevators 230 metres up Australia’s tallest building to SkyPoint. The observation deck offers spectacular 360-degree views from Brisbane to Byron Bay, and there’s even a restaurant with a stellar breakfast buffet. For the ultimate experience, kids who are at least 12 and over 130cm tall can brave the climb to the tip of the Q1 building.

15. Have a virtual adventure at Zero Latency VR

With a whole host of worlds to enter, each game lasting different lengths, Zero Latency VR is an awesome way for over-10s to experience free-roam VR technology. In Engineerium, the first ever physics-based VR puzzle, you’ll test your coordination as you overcome obstacles in a marine alien world.

Experience a world without gravity in Singularity, set on a space station invaded by drones and robots. Older groups of up to 8 people can stave off zombies using team work to rebuild a fort and keep the undead at bay in Outbreak – this one is not for the faint-hearted and best suited to teens!

🏄 PLAN YOUR ITINERARY: Create your best-ever winter getaway with 70+ fun things to do on the Gold Coast with kids

Where to stay for a Gold Coast winter escape

Just 250 metres from the iconic Surfers Paradise Beach, Paradise Resort Gold Coast offers the ultimate in family-friendly accommodation, with an ice-skating rink, water parks, heated pool and spa.

The Resort offers a range of fun kids’ activities during winter, including teddy bear workshops, penguin snow globe making, the Welcome to Parad-ICE skating variety show and the Winter Snow & Glow Party, lighting up Paradise Resort with a neon silent disco kids and grown-ups will love.

You can also hop aboard Dusty’s Safari Train Ride or the whimsical Cleo’s Carousel, while kids won’t want to leave the fantastic kids club – the only one in Australia catering to children as young as six weeks up to 12 years old. Winter-inspired activities include Christmas in July fun. Many Paradise Resort packages also include one fully supervised session per child to enjoy complimentary during your stay when you book direct.

There are several on-site restaurants to choose from, including themed restaurant Penguins (which even has a play corner), Jerry’s Burgers and Deb’s Pizza Shack. A range of accommodation options are available to fit different sized families and budgets in wings named after the Resort’s four animal mascots, who make regular appearances around the property.

Winter Gold Coast family holiday packages

🐳 Book 2 nights and get a whale-watching cruise for every guest! From $679 per family

🏖️ Soak up the Queensland fun with a 3-night winter Stop’n’Flop deal! From $799 per family

🎢 Prepare for thrills with a 5-night theme park package – Dreamworld passes included! From $1299 per family

Packages include DAILY continental breakfast, one FREE kids’ club session per child (ages 0-12), unlimited pool and water park fun, and HEAPS more perks!