Currumbin Creek

Currumbin Creek estuary is a tranquil and popular spot for paddlers of all levels.

There are multiple put-in points along the river depending on your plans and time. While tidal, the creek has minimal tidal flow to worry about.

Along with the estuary and beaches, Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary is worth a visit and you can get good photos of the beach from Elephant Rock that is 750 m south of the river mouth on Currumbin Beach.

What to expect

The bottom section is a wide tidal estuary with sandy beaches and is lined by parks, and it is a popular destination for families and holiday makers in summer. After crossing the Pacific Motorway, it becomes a typical small tidal river that is less built up than many of the other Gold coast creeks. The canals of Currumbin Waters just off the south are an exception.

Above the tidal sections, the river becomes stepper and rockier and potentially not naviagatable. The source is found high above the beaches on the slopes of Mount Cougal (724 m) in Springbrook National Park.

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Logistics

For those going solo, Bus Route 766 runs between The Pines Shopping Centre 1.7 km and Currumbin Waters that stops near Wendts Bridge on Galleon Way 5.4 km. The mere 3.7 km saving could mean the bus could take longer than the paddle!

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Tides

There is likely minimal tidal influence for most trips, but timing your arrival at the Duck Pond about 30 minutes after high tide will likely ensure a small tidal assist and maximise the water depth.

Tidal info for Currumbin Creek Mouth

HAT

2.10 m

MSL

0.97 m

MHWS

1.60 m

MHWN

1.20 m

MLWN

0.40 m

MLWS

0.10 m

December

22

Sun

00:55

1.17 m

06:25

0.62 m

12:56

1.45 m

19:42

0.43 m

December

23

Mon

02:08

1.18 m

07:44

0.66 m

13:56

1.31 m

20:41

0.39 m

December

24

Tue

03:21

1.23 m

09:19

0.65 m

15:03

1.21 m

21:37

0.36 m

December

25

Wed

04:21

1.32 m

10:33

0.60 m

16:08

1.16 m

22:23

0.35 m

Tide predictions are estimates only. The tidal datum is for Snapper Rocks (Point Danger). Tide predictions are calculated from Snapper Rocks (Point Danger) with times adjusted by minus 2 minutes for low tide and minus 1 minutes for high tide.
Please refer to the Bureau of Meteorology and Australian National Tide Tables for official tidal information.
© Commonwealth of Australia

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Distances

Some key locations up until Robert Neumann Park, 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.

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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 ocean 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.

• Boat Ramps
• Access Points
• Pontoon
• Weir or Low Head Dams

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