The Gold Coast Broadwater, also known as Southport Broadwater and Gold Coast Harbour, is a large shallow estuary of water reaching from the locality of Southport to the southern section of the World Heritage Listed Moreton Bay along the eastern coast of Australia. Separated from the ocean by the a thin strip of land called Stradbroke Island, the original body of water was a lagoon created from water deposited from the Nerang River. The entrance of the Nerang River was at Main Beach in the late 1800s but be the 1980s had moved about 6km northwards. The Gold Coast Seaway was completed in 1986 to stabilise the location of the Nerang River Entrance.
Urban Myth
Sometime in the late 19th century, a section of South Stradbroke Island eroded, opening a second connection between the Broadwater and the Pacific Ocean now known as Jumpinpin. Some say that the erosion that opened Jumpinpin was a natural occurrence, but others maintain that a ship ran aground full of rum and it was the locals trasping across the dunes to collect the rum barrels that caused the new Jumpinpin entrance to open. Perhaps the rum story is an urban myth devised to teach Gold Coasters about the impacts of improper dune management.
Broadwaterway
The Broadwaterway is a 19km foreshoreway along the foreshores of the Gold Coast Broadwater. The Broadwaterway includes:
- The Spit arm
- the Marine Stadium,
- western Spit foreshores (including Sea World, Fishing fleet, Versace Hotel, Marina Mirage, Fishermans Wharf, Water Police, Sea Scouts and the Southport Yacht Club),
- Pelican Beach (Main Beach),
- Sundale Bridge (Nerang River crossing),
- Southport Broadwater Parklands,
- Loders Creek Estuary,
- Len Fox Park,
- Harley Park,Labrador
- Biggera Waters Foreshores,
- Runaway Bay Foreshores
- Hollywell Foreshores, and
- Paradise Point Foreshores.
