In short
Noosa is a geographic exception: its main beach faces north, sheltered from the prevailing swell, which makes it one of the few calm beaches on Australia's east coast. That is the reason for its fortune and its prices.
Hastings Street is the single street, between beach and river, with the shops and restaurants. Noosa Junction is the real centre of daily life, up the hill, cheaper. Sunshine Beach, on the far side of the headland, faces the open ocean and is where locals go.
Arriving and getting around
The nearest airport is Sunshine Coast, at Marcoola, about forty minutes away by road; Brisbane is roughly two hours.
Noosa is covered on foot and by bicycle. But there is no railway station: the Brisbane train stops at Cooroy or Nambour, inland, and a bus connection follows.
Parking on Hastings Street is the friction point: in school holidays the queue for a space runs the length of the street. Shuttles from Noosa Junction avoid the problem.
What it really costs
Noosa is markedly more expensive than the rest of the Sunshine Coast, for housing and for eating out. Staying at Noosa Junction or Sunshine Beach rather than Hastings Street changes the budget without changing the trip.
Australian school holidays — December–January above all — saturate the town and the rates.
When to come
May–September: the southern winter here is mild, dry and bright, the water stays swimmable and the town breathes.
Summer is hot, humid and full.
What nobody tells you
The Noosa National Park coastal track leaves from the end of Hastings Street and follows the cliffs past Tea Tree Bay and Granite Bay to Hell's Gates. It is free, takes two hours, and koalas are regularly seen in the eucalypts — one of the few places to see them without a paid sanctuary.
The Noosa Everglades, upriver, form one of only two everglade systems in the world; they are travelled by kayak or boat.
The Eumundi market, Wednesday and Saturday morning twenty minutes away, is the region's big craft market.
