wooah

I did find a useful thread on this a while back but I can't seem to find it any more. I suppose that's what the bookmarks feature is for.

Anyway, I am just narrowing down my search for a suitable suburb/school to move to in Brisbane (commutable to CBD). I want to be near (very short drive) some nice beaches but the general feeling I get is that beaches close to Briusbane are a bit pants. I am not talking about that man/woman-made one in the city but real beaches near the sea.

I don't want to have to travel for hours to get to a decent beach. Do any locals have any thoughts on this? Where would be good to take the family for a quick after-work dip and build sandcastles.

Thanks,
V.

ABCDiamond

Surf or No surf ?

Redcliffe may be worth looking at, if surf is not required.

wooah

Surf by no means essential.

Thanks for that. Have you been there yourself? I saw a post somewhere which said something like "you can go to Redcliffe if you want, but I won't be".

Buzzy--Bee

Redcliffe and Wellington point are the only decent beaches in Brisbane and they are both very small. The rest are more like mud flats. I reckon the nicest beach within commuting distance of Brisbane is Bribie island and that could take 90 mins. Further down toward the Gold Coast would be better too.

BB

wooah

That does not sound good.

This puts a large spanner in the works with regards to where we move. I just thought there would be great beaches nearby. Oh deary me. :-( What now???

ABCDiamond

I have been, and took some photos, you can see them at: Redcliffe Photos

I like that area, and if I didn't prefer where I am, I would consider that as my 2nd choice.

There will always be people who don't like some areas, but as we are all different, and look for different things, only you can know what will really suit you.

This is one of the Redcliffe photos...

ABCDiamond

There are, depending on how far you want to drive.

South of Brisbane, about a 1 hour drive from the CBD, is Surfers at the Gold Coast...

Alfresco

Went to Surfers on Tuesday.

ABCDiamond

It's a big beach isn't it

18 km of beach...

spartacus

Brisbane is on Moreton Bay, which is much more like a salt water lake than the Pacific Ocean, consequently beaches aren't all that.

JackTheLad

Went to Main Beach on North Straddie last Friday with visiting guests. 32km!

Mrs JTL

wooah

Wow, thanks for the photos. that certainly does look like a nice beach.

I know there are plenty of beaches an hour away. I was just looking for something closer, something I can take the kids to for a splash around after work and before dinner. Something I can't really do here in UK, even though I am only 40 mins from the beach.

Buzzy--Bee

Because of this factor (and others) we chose Melbourne over Brisbane, where we now live within walking distance of the beach and an easy commute from the city. Brisbane's a great city, but it is "the river city" not "the beach city".

In Melbourne it's easy to live within walking distance of a beach and although the winter temperatures are cooler than Brisbane, you can swim in the sea November through to end of April, the rest of the year the beaches are great for kids to make sandcastles and walking the dog etc.

BB

asprilla

Unfortunately V, there are no suburbs in Brisbane that fit your criteria.

Even if there was a suburb that had great schools, was a 10min walk to the beach and an easy commute to the city, the house prices would put it out of reach for 99% of us.

Good luck !

bcworld

Another thing to consider is that Queensland in it's eternal wisdom does not have daylight savings - so even the longest days of Summer are dark between 1900 - 1930. So if you chose to live in a suburb near to the beach but with a longer commute, if working in the city, you might not be home in time for that paddle! You could of course go paddling at 5am if you fancy!

Here in Melbourne the beaches close to the city will have people making use of them til 9pm in summer.