Noosa Heads is a coastal town and

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...

in the

Shire of Noosa The Shire of Noosa is a local government area about north of Brisbane in the Sunshine Coast district of South East Queensland, Australia. The shire covers an area of . It existed as a local government entity from 1910 until 2008, when it wa ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

, Australia. In the , the suburb of Noosa Heads had a population of 4,484 people. It is a popular holiday destination.

Geography

The suburb is bounded to the west by Weyba Creek and the

Noosa River The Noosa River is a river situated in South East Queensland. The catchment starts in the Como Escarpment near Mount Elliott in the coastal Great Sandy National Park and meanders south through a lakes district around Tewantin. Lakes situated on ...

and to the north and east by the Coral Sea. The northeast of the locality is within the

Noosa National Park Noosa National Park is a national park in Queensland, Australia, 121 km north of Brisbane. It is situated near Noosa Heads between the Pacific Ocean and the Sunshine Coasts's northern area of urban development and extends southwards, past ...

. Noosa Heads, Noosaville and

Tewantin Tewantin ( ) is a rural town and locality in the Shire of Noosa, Queensland, Australia. In the , Tewantin had a population of 10,920 people. Tewantin was the original settlement in the Noosa region and is one of its three major centres today. Hi ...

form a continuous urban area at the northern end of the Sunshine Coast. Noosa Hill in the national park is the highest point of the suburb () at above sea level. There is also Laguna Lookout () on a low hill near the town.

Coastal features

There are a number of headlands, lookouts, bays, and other coastal features along the Noosa Heads coastline, many of them on the coastal walking track through the national park, including (from north to south): * Noosa Inlet, the mouth of the Noosa River () * Laguna Bay () * Noosa Beach () * Boiling Pot Lookout () * Tea Tree Bay () * Dolphin Point, a headland () * Dolphin Point Lookout () * Granite Bay () * Fairy Pools, a rockhole () * Noosa Head (also known as Low Bluff), a headland () * Hell's Gates Lookout () * Hells Gates () * Alexandria Bay () * Alexandria Beach () * Roaring Cave (also known as the Blowhole) () * Harrys Lookout () * Devils Kitchen () * Paradise Caves ()

History

Gubbi Gubbi The Gubbi Gubbi people also known as Kabi Kabi are an Aboriginal Australian people native to south-eastern Queensland. They are now classified as one of several Murri language groups in Queensland. Naming As is often the case, ethnonyms dist ...

(Kabi Kabi, Cabbee, Carbi, Gabi Gabi)'' is an

Australian Aboriginal language The Indigenous languages of Australia number in the hundreds, the precise number being quite uncertain, although there is a range of estimates from a minimum of around 250 (using the technical definition of 'language' as non-mutually intellig ...

spoken on Gubbi Gubbi country. The Gubbi Gubbi language region includes the landscape within the local government boundaries of the

Sunshine Coast Region The Sunshine Coast Region is a local government area located in the Sunshine Coast district of South East Queensland, Australia. It was created by the amalgamation in 2008 of the City of Caloundra and the Shires of Maroochy and Noosa. It cont ...

and

Gympie Region The Gympie Region is a local government area in the Wide Bay–Burnett region of Queensland, Australia, about north of Brisbane, the state capital. It is between the Sunshine Coast and Hervey Bay and centred on the town of Gympie. It was create ...

, particularly the towns of

Caloundra Caloundra ( ) is a coastal town and the southernmost town in the Sunshine Coast Region in South East Queensland, Australia. Geography Caloundra is north of the Brisbane central business district. Caloundra is accessible from Landsborough ...

, Noosa Heads,

Gympie Gympie ( ) is a city and a Suburbs and localities (Australia), locality in the Gympie Region, Queensland, Australia. In the Wide Bay-Burnett District, Gympie is about north of the state capital, Brisbane. The city lies on the Mary River (Queen ...

and extending north towards Maryborough and south to

Caboolture Caboolture () is a town and suburb in Moreton Bay Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the suburb of Caboolture had a population of 26,433 people. It is located on the north side of the Caboolture River, which separates the town from Morayfi ...

''.'' The name Noosa is a corruption of the Kabi word ''nuthuru'', meaning a ''

ghost A ghost is the soul or spirit of a dead person or animal that is believed to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to rea ...

'' or a ''

shadow A shadow is a dark area where light from a light source is blocked by an opaque object. It occupies all of the three-dimensional volume behind an object with light in front of it. The cross section of a shadow is a two-dimensional silhouette, o ...

''. The beach at Noosa Heads has remained a popular tourist attraction since the 1890s. The Shire's tourism exponentially grew shortly after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. In the 1800s, Noosa's early wealth came from the timber and milling industries with tourism developing in the late 1920s. In this decade cafes and tourist accommodation was built along the beachfront. The town has been the site of many tussles between developers and those seeking to preserve the town. A fatal shark attack of a 22-year-old surfer was recorded at Noosa in 1961. Since the seventies, people have continued to migrate from southern states. In 1988, Noosa was renamed Noosa Heads. In 2009 as part of the

Q150 Q150 was the sesquicentenary (150th anniversary) of the Separation of Queensland from New South Wales in 1859. Separation established the Colony of Queensland which became the State of Queensland in 1901 as part of the Federation of Australia. Q15 ...

celebrations, Noosa was announced as one of the

Q150 Icons The Queensland's Q150 Icons list of cultural icons was compiled as part of Q150 celebrations in 2009 by the Government of Queensland, Australia. It represented the people, places and events that were significant to Queensland's first 150 years. ...

of Queensland for its role as a "location". In the , the suburb of Noosa Heads had a population of 4,484 people. The local print newspaper was the '' Noosa News''. Along with many other regional Australian newspapers owned by

NewsCorp News Corporation (abbreviated News Corp.), also variously known as News Corporation Limited, was an American multinational mass media corporation controlled by media mogul Rupert Murdoch and headquartered at 1211 Avenue of the Americas in New ...

, the newspaper ceased print editions in June 2020 and became an online-only publication from 26 June 2020. In May 2021, Noosa was named as the top tourism town in Queensland.

Heritage listings

Noosa Heads has a number of

heritage-listed This list is of heritage registers, inventories of cultural properties, natural and man-made, tangible and intangible, movable and immovable, that are deemed to be of sufficient heritage value to be separately identified and recorded. In many ...

sites, including: * 17 Noosa Drive:

Halse Lodge Halse Lodge is a heritage-listed boarding house at 17 Noosa Drive, Noosa Heads, Queensland, Noosa Heads, Shire of Noosa, Queensland, Australia. It was built from 1880s to 1920s. It is also known as Bay View and Hillcrest Guest House. It was add ...

Education

There are no schools in Noosa Heads. The nearest government primary and secondary schools are Sunshine Beach State School and Sunshine Beach State High School in neighbouring

Sunshine Beach Sunshine Beach is a coastal town and Suburbs and localities (Australia), suburb in the Shire of Noosa, Queensland, Australia. In the , Sunshine Beach had a population of 2,460 people. History The area south of Noosa Headlands was formerly known ...

to the east.

Amenities

The

Noosa Shire Council The Shire of Noosa is a local government area about north of Brisbane in the Sunshine Coast district of South East Queensland, Australia. The shire covers an area of . It existed as a local government entity from 1910 until 2008, when it was a ...

operates a

mobile library A bookmobile or mobile library is a vehicle designed for use as a library. They have been known by many names throughout history, including traveling library, library wagon, book wagon, book truck, library-on-wheels, and book auto service. Bookm ...

service which visits Lanyana Way at Noosa Junction. There are two jetties, managed by the

: * Woods Bay jetty at Claude Batten Drive () * Ravenwood Drive jetty at Ravenwood Park ()

Attractions

Hastings Street, Noosa Heads QLD Nov 2013

Noosa Heads hosts a population of

koalas The koala or, inaccurately, koala bear (''Phascolarctos cinereus''), is an arboreal herbivorous marsupial native to Australia. It is the only extant representative of the family Phascolarctidae and its closest living relatives are the womb ...

, which are often seen in and around Noosa National Park. The koala population in Noosa is in decline.(17 November 2010)
Where the bloody hell are Noosa's koalas?
'. Brian Williams. The Courier Mail. Native black and grey-headed flying foxes (tree pollinators and seed dispersal agents) can be heard in local trees if they are flowering or fruiting. Micro-bat species are also common and aid in insect control. Noosa Lions Park is an open, grassed area which used as a staging area for several large community events including the Noosa Triathlon, Noosa Food and Wine Festival, Noosa Winter Festival and Noosa Classic Car Show. To overcome severe beach erosion at Noosa's main beach a sand pumping system has been built. It operates when necessary during off peak hours, supplying sand via a pipeline built underneath the boardwalk. Noosa Heads Trail Walk

Noosa Heads' main attraction is its beaches. Its main beach and its small bays around the headland are common

surfing Surfing is a surface water sport in which an individual, a surfer (or two in tandem surfing), uses a board to ride on the forward section, or face, of a moving wave of water, which usually carries the surfer towards the shore. Waves suitabl ...

locations which are known on world surfing circuits. One of its major surfing contests involves the

Noosa Festival of Surfing The Noosa Festival of Surfing was established in 1992 at Noosa, Queensland by members of the ''Noosa Malibu Club'', as an amateur surfing competition called the ''Noosa Malibu Classic''. It allowed club members to invite friends to surf Noosa's ...

. This festival attracts large numbers of

longboarders A surfboard is a narrow plank used in surfing. Surfboards are relatively light, but are strong enough to support an individual standing on them while riding an ocean wave. They were invented in ancient Hawaii, where they were known as ''papa he' ...

Media

The local newspaper is the '' Noosa News,'' an online-only publication of NewsCorp.

Transport

Noosa Heads is the tourist heart of Noosa district, with many restaurants and hotels. The main street is Hastings Street, which lies directly behind the seashore. Buses to elsewhere in the Sunshine Coast depart from Noosa Heads bus station. There are dedicated bike lanes throughout the shire. Push bikes are an easy way to get around. Bike racks are provided in all shopping and beach precincts. Motor scooter is another option. There are scooter parking bays on Hastings Street, Noosa Heads, and on many shopping strips. There is a taxi rank in Hastings Street and at Noosa Fair shopping centre.

Notable residents

Bob Ansett Robert "Bob" Ansett (born 8 August 1933 in Melbourne) is an Australian entrepreneur, actor, author, motivational speaker and former sports team chairman. Early life Ansett is the son of Reg (Order of the British Empire) and Grace Ansett. Reg An ...

- entrepreneur, actor and writer

References

External links

*
Official Tourism Noosa Website
{{Authority control Suburbs of Noosa Shire, Queensland Coastal towns in Queensland Headlands of Queensland Surfing locations in Queensland Beaches of Queensland