What to do on a rainy Gold Coast day.

The Gold Coast is not always sunshine. Between November and March the sky can turn fast, and even the best week away will occasionally start with grey skies and a forecast that makes the beach a less appealing proposition than it was the night before. The good news is that Broadbeach is one of the better places to be when it rains. Everything you need is close, most of it is indoors and a slow day in the right hands can end up being one of the better days of the trip.

Here is how to handle it.

Move one — stay in the apartment longer than you planned

The first and most underrated rainy day move is not rushing to fill the day. If the forecast is bad from the start, the pool is still open, the sauna and steam room are always better when it is grey outside and the view from the 44th floor over a stormy ocean is genuinely worth sitting with for an hour over a long coffee.

Order groceries from the Coles at Pacific Fair or use DoorDash for a proper breakfast delivered to the door. Make a plan from the couch. Start slowly. The city is not going anywhere and you will not regret the extra hour.

Move two — Pacific Fair

Pacific Fair is five minutes from Solace and it is the most obvious rainy day destination on the Gold Coast for good reason. It is large enough that you can spend three or four hours there without doubling back, the dining options are genuinely good and the indoor layout means you will not get wet between stops.

Start with coffee at Common Coffee, work through the shops at whatever pace suits the mood and land at Motto Motto Japanese Kitchen or Chong Co Thai for lunch. If the rain is still going by mid-afternoon, Event Cinemas inside the centre has Gold Class and VMAX sessions worth booking. A Gold Class session with food and a drink is one of the better ways to spend a wet afternoon on the Gold Coast.

For a full breakdown of every food stop worth making at Pacific Fair, read our Pacific Fair food guide.

Move three — The Star Gold Coast

The Star Gold Coast is directly across from Pacific Fair and connected to Broadbeach by a short walk or the free tram. On a rainy day it functions as its own self-contained world. The casino floor is there if that is your thing, but the more interesting proposition is the food and bar offering spread across the complex.

Kiyomi is the restaurant worth booking for a rainy day lunch or early dinner. The omakase is the serious option but the à la carte is excellent and the room itself, designed around a Japanese aesthetic with the water outside, earns its reputation. Cucina Vivo is the more relaxed Italian alternative if you want something longer and less structured.

The bars at The Star are also worth knowing about. Cove Bar is a good spot to settle into on a grey afternoon with a cocktail and no particular schedule.

Move four — HOTA

HOTA, Home of the Arts in Surfers Paradise is a fifteen minute drive or tram ride from Broadbeach and it is one of the genuinely underrated rainy day options on the Gold Coast. The gallery is free to enter and the permanent and rotating collections are worth an hour of your time even if you are not someone who usually seeks out galleries on holiday.

The HOTA Gallery building itself is worth seeing. Five storeys of contemporary Queensland art with ocean views from the upper floors and a sculpture garden outside that is surprisingly good even in the rain. Check the website before you go as ticketed exhibitions run alongside the free collection and are often worth adding.

HOTA’s café and outdoor cinema precinct rounds out the visit nicely. The café is good for a post-gallery coffee and the outdoor cinema programme, covered and partially sheltered, runs year round and is one of the better Gold Coast experiences regardless of the weather.

Move five — a long lunch and an early evening

If the rain has not cleared by mid-afternoon, stop trying to make it a sightseeing day and commit to a long lunch instead. The Gold Coast has enough good restaurants within ten minutes of Broadbeach that a three hour lunch with a good wine list is a perfectly legitimate way to spend a rainy afternoon.

Hellenika at The Star is the best option if you can get a table. The lamb shoulder, the saganaki and the taramasalata are the anchors. Book ahead because it fills up regardless of the weather. Kiyomi is the alternative if Greek is not the mood.

If you want to stay closer to Pacific Fair, BiN 232 is open late and the Asian fusion menu is well suited to sharing across a long table. Order broadly, drink slowly and let the afternoon become the evening.

By the time you get back to the apartment, the rain will probably have stopped. The Gold Coast rarely stays grey for long and the hour after a storm clears, when the light comes back across the water and the air smells clean, is one of the better things about being on the 44th floor.

Planning your Gold Coast stay around the weather? Our Pacific Fair food guide is the indoor companion for any day the sky turns. For a day closer to the coast, the Burleigh Heads day trip is worth reading. And if you want to head up into the hinterland, the Tamborine Mountain guide covers the full loop.