We just spent a couple of weeks exploring the Sunshine Coast and a little of the Fraser Coast in our JUCY campervan. It’s so easy to explore here and you can hop short distances between beautiful little towns with surf beaches and lagoons, drive up into the cool green hinterland, and sample local produce at delicious cafes and restaurants. We stayed at BIG4 Holiday Parks each night and we loved them. Each holiday park has something unique – from on-site coffee carts and pizza vans, to outdoor movie nights, huge jumping pillows, pools and playgrounds, and my personal favourite – music in the toilets!

We travelled from Brisbane all the way up to Rainbow Beach, and loved every town we stopped in.

Here are our highlights:

Caloundra and surrounds:

We stayed at the BIG4 Caloundra Holiday Park for three nights while we were here on a lovely powered site right next to a little creek. I loved the on-site coffee cart, and Emmie loved the jumping pillow and pool. The park is right on the coast walk and is only a few minutes from the main beach and shopping strip, plus there is a shopping centre across the road for groceries and bits and bobs (I got an eyebrow and eyelash tint for $30 here! Unheard of!).

Caloundra has some cute cafes along the beachfront with live music most nights while you watch the sunset, and it’s completely laid back and relaxed. Local activities include Stand Up Paddle Board and kayaking, fishing off the beach and jetty and visiting the Caloundra lighthouses, and it’s only 25 minutes from Caloundra to Australia Zoo.

TIP>The park near the main beach has a fab kids play area modelled on the historic lighthouse.

We used Caloundra as our base to explore the coast and the hinterland.

Mooloolaba

We took a little drive up to Mooloolaba from here for breakfast and a swim – we LOVE this beach. It’s long and not too wavey but with just enough for some fun boogy boarding. The café strip is just across the road from the beach and has lots of little restaurants and shops so it’s easy to mooch around all day swimming and eating.

We loved Mooloolaba so much we ended up back here for another day, another swim and lunch at Rice Boi which has to be some of the best Asian street food we’ve had in Australia – don’t worry about the queue, it moves quickly.

Mooloolaba is also home to the amazing SeaLife Aquarium Sunshine Coast – and just over the hill is Alexandra Headland beach and Surf Club where we had a delicious lunch and another swim. You can really just drive five minutes, swim, drive five minutes, swim – all the way up this gorgeous stretch of Aussie coastline.

The Ginger Factory

This is such a fun experience – a theme park dedicated to ginger and a little to bees too. See how honey is made and learn about bees, ride the ginger train and float around a Disney-esque Small World ride that takes you around the world following two chefs in pursuit of a gingerbread man. You can eat ginger food, buy gingerbread men to decorate and take a tour of the ginger factory. We loved it for its real downhome fun and we really learnt so much about bees! It’s around $50 for a ticket with unlimited rides and including tours, you can get discounted tickets online here.

The Aqua Park at Bli Bli

I know Emmie loves these Aqua Parks so I take one for the team and give it my best shot. The Aqua Park at Bli Bli Watersports was so much fun, and if you’re into skiing you can also have a try at the wakepark that’s part of this small complex only 30 minutes from Caloundra and 15 from Mooloolaba. It’s only $20 for an hour or $35 for two. So much fun, so difficult for me to navigate and a reminder of how old I’m getting as Emmie raced along the course while I wobbled behind.

Just down the road is Aussie World theme park with a heap of rides too.

Noosa

After leaving BIG4 Caloundra we headed north to Noosa and the BIG4 Ingenia Holidays Noosa at Trewantin, about 15 minutes from town. We loved it here – there’s a fish and chip shop, a pizza van and an outdoor cinema on Friday and Saturday nights. We sat under the stars and watched Jumanji while Emmie chomped on a pizza and I sipped on my wine. There’s lots of room here too, a pool and jumping pillow, a games room, huge camp kitchen and lots of BBQs around the park.

I feel like I’m the only person in Australia who has never been to Noosa and I have to admit that although it is quite busy (people yelling ‘keep left’ on the walking tracks, the beach a sea of Cool Cabanas!), it is just as gorgeous as everyone says.

Our favourite things to do here were to swim at Noosa Main Beach – and we were so lucky to snag parks every single time; walk the National Park Coastal Walk – we went early and made brekky and ate it overlooking the ocean; watching the sunset over the beach and waterways and the Noosa River and Canal Cruise at sunset which was so much fun.

The Canal Cruise is a couple of hours at sunset cruising the canals and staring at the luxurious mansions along the waterway. I think the rich people sitting by their pools get very annoyed with all the tourists waving at them as they float past, but it’s lots of fun to see if they wave back.

You can order fish and chips and it’s BYO with fun commentary and dad jokes from the captain. You can sit downstairs (comfy seats) or up on the top with fab views all around. You can also take a Noosa Dolphin Watching Cruise and in whale season set out to see the migrating whales too.

We loved Noosa Main Beach as the water is so calm and soft with enough wave for a little boogy board. You can learn to surf at Noosa Beach – we did it a bit later at Double Island Point at Rainbow Beach – but it’s such a fab half day activity for friends and family. You can check prices here.

We also visited the Eumundi Markets from here too. I’m not really a market person, and Emmie and I feel sad not buying from people so we struggle with markets, but they’re definitely a big tourist attraction. Also check out what’s happening in Eumundi while you’re, there, there seems to be some great activities for kids and families, as well as the local brewery, arts and crafts and boutiques.

Rainbow Beach (technically Fraser Coast but you can include in your Sunshine Coast loop!)

After three nights at Noosa we drove north again, this time all the way up to Rainbow Beach. The weather was foul but the caravan park was awesome! We stayed at the BIG4 Rainbow Beach Holiday Park which is right on the bay. There was lots of rain when we were at Rainbow Beach but we had the best spot right on the bay.

It has a fab kids park and jumping pillow, lots of spots under the trees facing the bay and my absolute favourite (apart from the dolphin): music playing in the toilets! Oh, heaven! Fear-free toilets are the best!

There is a super friendly dolphin who pops into the bay to say hello and hope the fishermen feed him, resident pelicans, canoe, kayak and houseboat hire next door plus the awesome Rainbow Beach, Carlo Sand Blow and Double Island Point to explore.

We did the half day surf lesson with Epic Ocean Adventures (they also offer SUP adventures).and I even stood up. Emmie nailed it and caught heaps of waves and we drove along the beach all the way back to town.

Rainbow Beach is also home to the Carlo Sand Blow, a huge dune that is the spot to be at sunset – and if you visit take a boogie board or piece of cardboard to slide down. We didn’t and were too lazy to walk 15 minutes back to the JUCY van to get ours.

So take it slow or hop from town to town, there is so much to see on the Sunshine Coast but equally, there is enough to just hang and take it easy and swim, eat and explore.

Thanks to BIG4 Holiday Parks for hosting us.

And if you’re feeling nervous about travelling check out our comprehensive family travel safety guide HOLIDAY SAFE: The complete guide to staying safe when traveling with kids It has everything you need to know about traveling safely on our family holiday or extended trip.