Coombabah Creek
Coombabah Lakes Conservation Area covers more than 1200 hectares of wetland, eucalypt forest, salt marsh and mangrove habitat. The estuarine system is home to 274 species of animals, including the koala, powerful owl and grey-headed flying-fox.
Note that Coombabah Lake and other waterways of the Conservation Area are off-limits for fishing.
What to expect
A wide tidal river with some mangroves with most of the built up areas hidden from view that opens up into a small lake reserve. Above the lake, the tidal section likely goes up to the Pacific Motorway before becoming unnavigable.
Logistics
There are a few put in spots along the river operated by Gold Coast City Council.
The likely best spot is at the boat ramp at Jabiru Island Park to put in, but there are some other locations that you can use too. Refer to the Distance Table and the Interactive Map for additional details. Parking is not an issue in general.
Tides
There is likely minimal tidal influence for most trips, however a high tide will ensure easier navigation in the shallower sections.
Tidal info for Coombabah Creek Mouth
- HAT
- 1.90 m
- MSL
- 0.82 m
- MHWS
- 1.40 m
- MHWN
- 1.10 m
- MLWN
- 0.40 m
- MLWS
- 0.10 m
Please refer to the Bureau of Meteorology and Australian National Tide Tables for official tidal information.
© Commonwealth of Australia
Distances
Some key locations up until Gold Coast Highway bridge are listed below.
* Side represents either the left / port (L) or right / starboard (R) sides when facing downstream of the main river or the specified direction of travel for bays or lakes (usually anticlockwise).
† Most of the features were taken from local council pages.
§ Distances have been manually calculated from the river mouth.
Map
Explore the key locations in the map below. Most locations will have a photograph that can be seen by clicking on the icon or number in the map itself.
The map also has markers every kilometer that start at 0 at where the creek meets the Coomera River all the way to the source.
You may need to zoom in to see all of these kilometer markers. These do not correlate with any existing numbering system on the river.
- Coombabah Lake
- Boat Ramps
- Bridge
- Pontoon
- Weir or Low Head Dams
Trip Details
Gold Coast Highway
- Length
- 14.8 km
- Time
- full day
- Trip
- Return
- Technical difficulty
- Grade I
- Rating
- Type
- Tidal
- Elevation Loss
- N/A (tidal)
Quick Stats
- Length
- 21.1 km
- Navigable
- 12 km
- Catchment
- 56 sq km
- Elevation Loss
- Council Areas
- First Nations
- Bundjalung
- Directions To
- Jabiru Island
The Esplanade
05:58am
11:35am
NNE at 15 kph, gusts to 19 kph
Strongest Gust: 24 kph N at 11:43am
Sun and Twilight Times
Civil: 05:28—17:59 / 12hr 30m
Nautical: 05:01—18:27 / 13hr 25m
Moon Info
▲ 8:20am ▼ 10:03pm