Staying near Gold Coast Airport: the Tugun stopover guide
Gold Coast Airport is 4 kilometres from the apartments. Instead of a highway motel you get a beach, and instead of an early alarm you get an extra hour. Here is how a stopover at Sandbox works.
Terminal to the beach
A taxi or rideshare from the terminal takes three to five minutes and costs roughly $10 to $12. The 760 bus leaves the airport every 30 minutes from about 5am to 7pm (6am on weekends), takes eight to nine minutes to the Tugun Beach shops stop on Golden Four Drive, a couple of minutes' walk from us, and costs Queensland's flat 50-cent fare. Walking is 45 minutes along the highway, which we do not recommend with bags. If you have hired a car, one free space is included with each apartment and there is free street parking for a second car.
Quiet nights
Gold Coast Airport has a legislated curfew from 11pm to 6am Queensland time, so overnight aircraft movements are rare. During the day you will notice aircraft on the approach; at night the sound is the surf.
An early flight
Check-out is 10am, but leaving earlier is no trouble: tell us the night before. Taste & Co opens at 5am and Zest and Sticky Buns at 5.30am for a coffee on the way. Allow your airline's recommended check-in time; from here that means leaving the apartment at the time most hotel guests are still finding their car.
A late arrival
Check-in is from 2pm. If your flight lands in the evening, call us and we will arrange access. IGA is open until 8pm, Domingos Pizza until 10pm, and Backbone is the late kitchen on Fridays and Saturdays.
Between flights
With half a day, swim between the flags at Tugun Surf Club 50 metres away, eat on Golden Four Drive and sleep off the flight. With a full day, walk 850 metres to Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary, or take the 700 bus up the coast to Burleigh Heads. Your own laundry in the apartment is the stopover luxury nobody expects.
Which apartment
The Deluxe 1 Bedroom suits a couple or a solo traveller on the flexible one-night rate. For a family breaking a long trip, the 2 Bedroom apartments sleep four with a twin room. All are fully self-contained, so a stopover can be a proper rest rather than a night in a corridor.
Good to know
How far is Sandbox Apartments from Gold Coast Airport?
4 kilometres. Three to five minutes by taxi or rideshare, about $10 to $12, or eight to nine minutes on the 760 bus, which runs every 30 minutes through the day.
Is there a bus from the airport to Tugun?
Yes, route 760 runs from the terminal to Golden Four Drive at the Tugun Beach shops, a couple of minutes' walk from the apartments, every 30 minutes from about 5am to 7pm.
Can we arrive late at night?
Yes. Check-in is from 2pm and later arrivals are arranged by phone. The airport curfew means the last flights land before 11pm.
Will we hear aircraft?
During the day, yes, as with anywhere on the southern Gold Coast. The curfew runs from 11pm to 6am, so nights are quiet.
Keep reading
Things to do in Tugun and Currumbin with kids
Most of what children want from a beach holiday is within a ten-minute walk of our front door: a patrolled beach, still creek water, a wildlife sanctuary and a bakery.
Best cafés and restaurants in Tugun
More than 20 places to eat sit within a two to five minute walk of the apartments, strung along Golden Four Drive behind the beach.
Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary: a visitor guide from Tugun
The Sanctuary is the reason many of our guests choose Tugun over the rest of the coast.