7 Things To Do In Coolangatta At Night: Border Sunsets And Southern End Singalongs

Coolangatta cops a lazy rap as the end of the line, the quiet corner where the Gold Coast runs out of road and rolls over for an early night. The locals know better. The southern end packs Point Danger sunsets, a pub that has been throwing gigs since 1910, a rock'n'roll dive bar, surf breaks that glow at golden hour and a border you can stand on with one foot in each state. This guide covers the whole southern pocket, Cooly, Kirra, Rainbow Bay and Snapper Rocks, written by the crew who hauls the easels, plugs in the speakers and leads the chorus down here.

Every venue here was checked and still trading as of June 2026, addresses included so the maps app earns its keep while you wrangle the group chat. Winter is the southern end's secret season: clear nights, whales off the point and the best sunsets of the year.

1. Sunset at Point Danger

Point Danger Lookout, end of Marine Parade, Coolangatta. Start the night where the state ends. The Captain Cook Memorial lighthouse marks the QLD and NSW border, and the headland around it serves up the southern end's best show: sun dropping behind the Tweed, surfers working the point below and the Coolangatta skyline catching the last of the light. Stand on the border line for the obligatory two-states-at-once photo, and through winter, roughly June to September, keep your eyes on the water because the humpbacks track right past the point. Free, easy parking, and the perfect launch pad for everything below.

2. Golden hour at Snapper Rocks and Rainbow Bay

Snapper Rocks Road, Rainbow Bay. The most famous wave in the country does its best work in the late light. Grab a spot on the rocks or the grass above Rainbow Bay and watch the Superbank crowd trade waves as the sky goes pink behind Surfers in the distance. Rainbow Bay itself is the calm pocket, protected, golden and made for a last swim of the day, and the path linking it to Greenmount and Coolangatta beach makes the whole stretch one long sunset lap. Bring fish and chips, claim some grass, and let the surfers provide the entertainment.

3. Live music at the Cooly

The Coolangatta Hotel, Marine Parade, Coolangatta. Bringing friends and families together since 1910, the Cooly is the southern end's beating heart after dark. Live music runs Tuesday to Sunday in the public bar, the upstairs Bandroom pulls touring acts from across the country, and the weekly lineup stacks Monday trivia, Thursday musical bingo and a beer garden looking straight over the beach. Check the gig guide before you go, because the Bandroom shows sell, and the front bar singalongs are free.

4. Whiskey and rock'n'roll at Eddie's Grub House

171 Griffith Street, Coolangatta. Eddie's Grub House is the grungy dive bar the southern end did not know it needed: dim lights, vinyl spinning, craft beer on tap and a back bar loaded with whiskey. The burgers punch well above dive-bar standard, the fried chicken has its own fan club, and the room runs on blues and rock'n'roll until late. It is loud, it is loose, and it is exactly where a Coolangatta night ends up when it is going well.

5. A show at Twin Towns

Wharf Street, Tweed Heads, a stroll over the border from Coolangatta. Technically it is in New South Wales, but nobody at the southern end has ever cared. Twin Towns is the big-room entertainment fixture of the border, pulling national and international touring acts, tribute shows and comedy to its showroom year round, with bars and dining stacked through the club. Check what is on, book ahead for the big names, and enjoy the only night out in the country where the venue and your bed can be in different states.

6. The Kirra night lap

Coolangatta beachfront to Kirra Point, via Greenmount. The cheapest great night at the southern end is the foreshore path. Start at Coolangatta beach, round Greenmount Hill as the lights come on, and follow the water to Kirra Point with the surf rolling in beside you the whole way. Kirra Hill at the end is the quiet lookout locals keep to themselves, and the takeaway-dinner-on-the-grass move never misses. Flat, lit, free, and at its best on a still winter night when the whole coast glitters back up toward Surfers.

7. A paint and sip singalong (yes, ours, and the southern end sings sweetest)

Leaving ourselves off this list would be false modesty, and Cooly would see straight through it. Paint Juicy runs paint and sip events in Coolangatta, three hours of brushes, belters and a drink in hand at a local venue, with talent strictly optional. Tickets are $59, the themes swing through 80s and 90s nights, ABBA and Movie Magic, and the chorus is not a spectator sport.

You leave with a canvas under your arm, a chorus stuck on loop and photos you will actually show people. For proof the Gold Coast brings it, our Currumbin RSL night up the road packed 120 belters into one room with Lotti in full 80s glam.

Make a night of it, southern end style

Our perfect Cooly night: Point Danger for sunset, fish and chips on the grass at Rainbow Bay, then a gig at the Cooly with a nightcap at Eddie's. Our perfect cheap one: the Kirra night lap with takeaway, total spend twenty bucks and most of that is the chips. The southern pocket is just the start of the coast, the Tugun and Currumbin lineups are right next door, the full Gold Coast lineup runs all the way up the strip, and our guide to Currumbin at night carries you north, with Burleigh right behind it.

Coolangatta at night FAQs

What is there to do in Coolangatta at night?
Catch sunset at Point Danger, watch the Superbank surfers at Snapper Rocks and Rainbow Bay, see live music at the Coolangatta Hotel, settle into Eddie's Grub House, catch a show at Twin Towns over the border, walk the foreshore to Kirra, or join a Paint Juicy paint and sip session when one is on.

Does the Coolangatta Hotel have live music?
Yes. The Cooly runs live entertainment Tuesday to Sunday in the public bar, plus touring acts in the upstairs Bandroom, Monday trivia and Thursday musical bingo. Bandroom shows are ticketed and worth booking ahead.

Where can you watch the sunset in Coolangatta?
Point Danger Lookout at the end of Marine Parade is the headline spot, with the Captain Cook Memorial lighthouse on the QLD and NSW border. Kirra Hill and the grass above Rainbow Bay are the quieter local picks.

When can you see whales from Coolangatta?
Roughly June to September, as humpbacks migrate past the point. Point Danger Lookout is the prime land-based vantage, especially in the hour before sunset on clear winter evenings.

Does Paint Juicy run paint and sip events in Coolangatta?
We do. Sessions run across the southern Gold Coast at $59 a head, three hours of painting and singing with every brush, paint and canvas supplied, and the artwork goes home with you. The Coolangatta lineup shows what is coming next.

Closest to home, here is the Coolangatta paint and sip lineup.