When the Gold Coast sky turns grey, planning rainy day activities in Broadbeach is easier than you would think. From Broadbeach Savannah you can reach five indoor spots within about a fifteen-minute drive: an immersive light maze, a cinema, a whole undercover shopping centre, a free art gallery and a bowling alley. Here is how to keep the kids happy and dry.
Where can the kids run wild undercover near Broadbeach?
Infinity Attraction is an indoor maze of mirror rooms, colour and light on the corner of Surfers Paradise Boulevard and Elkhorn Avenue, about a twelve-minute drive north from our front door. Head up the Gold Coast Highway and it sits inside the Paradise Centre, where there is covered parking on site. It opens from 11am on weekdays and 10am on weekends, and most families spend around an hour and a quarter working through the rooms. Tickets sit in the mid range, with family passes available.
It suits kids from about five up, and the dark, glowing spaces are a genuine novelty rather than another shopping trip. If you would rather skip the wet-weather traffic, the G:link tram runs from Broadbeach straight up to Cavill Avenue, dropping you a short covered walk from the door.
Is a cinema day easy from Broadbeach Savannah?
Event Cinemas at Pacific Fair is our nearest big-screen option, a five-minute drive or a fifteen-minute walk south to Hooker Boulevard. Because it sits inside Pacific Fair, you park undercover for free and stroll straight in out of the weather. Sessions run all day across standard screens plus V-Max and Gold Class, so there is usually a family title within the hour. Budget a couple of hours, and pair it with lunch in the food court. Reviewers keep mentioning how quickly the complex fills on wet-weather school-holiday afternoons, so booking your seats on the app before you leave is worth the two minutes.
Can you fill a whole wet day at Pacific Fair?
Pacific Fair is the largest shopping centre on the Gold Coast, and on a rainy day it becomes a self-contained indoor world about fifteen minutes on foot from Broadbeach Savannah. It trades 9am to 5:30pm Monday to Wednesday and Saturday, until 9pm on Thursday, and 9am to 5pm on Sunday. Entry and the undercover parking are free, so the only cost is what you choose to spend. Toy and Lego stores, a huge food court, the cinema and wide flat walkways make it easy with a pram. Families keep noting the covered village-green seating as a handy spot to let restless kids stretch their legs between shops.
Is there a free indoor option for families?
HOTA, Home of the Arts is a bright green gallery building at 135 Bundall Road, about a ten-minute drive from our front door across the Nerang River. Entry to the gallery and the changing Children's Gallery is free, and the first four hours of parking are free too, which makes it a low-cost rainy-day winner.
The hands-on Children's Gallery suits toddlers through primary age, and you can easily spend one to two hours across the levels. Check the website before you go, as some special exhibitions and school-holiday workshops are ticketed while the main galleries stay open to everyone.
What about bowling when it pours?
Zone Bowling at Surfers Paradise sits on level one of the Paradise Centre at 2 Cavill Avenue, roughly a twelve-minute drive north with covered parking nearby. Bowling starts from around $19.90 per person, and the same floor holds Timezone arcade games, laser tag, bumper cars and the glowing Colour Grid digital playground, so one visit stretches into a couple of hours. There is a cafe on site to refuel the troops. It works best for kids from about five up, and the bumpers mean even little ones can knock down pins and keep score. Like Infinity, it sits right by the Cavill Avenue tram stop, so you can pair the two into one Surfers Paradise indoor day and leave the car at the apartment.
Local tip: order matters on a wet day. Do the drive-to options in the morning while everyone is fresh, then finish at Pacific Fair so the food court, the cinema and the undercover car park carry you through the tired late-afternoon stretch without a dash through the rain.
Frequently asked questions
What is there to do in Broadbeach when it rains?
Plenty stays dry. Within a fifteen-minute drive of Broadbeach Savannah you have Infinity Attraction, two cinema options at Pacific Fair, the free HOTA gallery and Zone Bowling at Surfers Paradise. Pacific Fair itself is fully undercover, so a browse, a film and lunch can fill a whole grey day.
Is the parking undercover at Pacific Fair?
Yes. Pacific Fair has thousands of free undercover and covered car parks, so you can walk from the car to the shops and Event Cinemas without getting wet. It is the easiest wet-weather car park near Broadbeach Savannah, and a short five-minute drive from our front door.
Are the theme parks worth visiting in the rain?
Many rides keep running in light rain, and crowds thin out, so ponchos and a sense of humour go a long way. If you would rather stay dry, the indoor options in this guide are the safer bet for little kids and prams on a genuinely wet day.
How far is Broadbeach Savannah from Pacific Fair?
Pacific Fair is about a fifteen-minute flat walk or a five-minute drive from Broadbeach Savannah. The walk follows footpaths the whole way, though on a wet day most families drive straight into the undercover car park and start indoors.
A wet day does not have to derail the holiday. With a self-contained apartment as your dry base, complete with a full kitchen and a climate-controlled pool for the moment the sun returns, you can plan the day over breakfast and be home before dinner. Browse our Broadbeach Savannah apartments to book direct, and see more of what sits on your doorstep on our family accommodation Gold Coast page.
Image credit: HOTA, Home of the Arts