City's First Public Ferry Trial

The City of Gold Coast, together with local business Ferry I, are proud to launch the city’s first public ferry service called Hopo.

From 8 December 2019, residents and visitors will be able to get around the city via our beautiful waterways on the Hopo ferries.

The two-year Hopo ferry trial will link key destinations with initial ferry stops at:

• Sea World at Main Beach
• Broadwater Parklands at Southport
• Marina Mirage at Main Beach
• Home of the Arts (HOTA) at Surfers Paradise
• Appel Park at Surfers Paradise.

The new ferry service will deliver public transport and tourism benefits to the city. It’s part of our transport plan to ensure the Gold Coast is a connected city where people regularly make sustainable travel choices.

The City has been working in partnership with the State Government, the Gold Coast Waterways Authority, Maritime Safety Queensland, Water Police, Marina Mirage and Sea World to develop the ferry service. 

Gold Coast Waterways Authority, in its support of the ferry trial, has entered into an agreement with the City to allow the service to access its pontoons at Appel Park in Surfers Paradise and at Broadwater Parklands, Southport. As part of the agreement, Gold Coast Waterways Authority is contributing $175,000 towards upgrades of the pontoons.

With nine times more waterways than Venice, it makes perfect sense to provide Gold Coast locals and visitors the option to travel around our city while enjoying our beautiful waterways. The new ferry service will provide a range of benefits to our community including:

• more ways to get around our city
• a unique waterway travel experience for locals and visitors
• better access to our waterways and key popular Gold Coast destinations
• greater public transport choice with a new sustainable transport offering
• frequent and reliable trips.

Hopo means hop-on, hop-off, and as the name implies will offer all-day unlimited, as well as single-use ticket options for travellers.

More information about the ferries, ticketing, timetable and fares, will be available soon on the Hoppo Website