The Southport Spit (officially known as The Spit) is a spit and neighbourhood within the northern end of

Main Beach Main Beach (originally Southport East) is a coastal town and suburb in the City of Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. In the , the suburb of Main Beach had a population of 3,883 people. Geography Historically, the Main Beach area was a narrow ...

City of Gold Coast The City of Gold Coast is the local government area spanning the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia and surrounding areas. With a population of 606,774 it is the second most populous local government area in Australia (City of Brisbane being th ...

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. It is a permanent sand spit that separates the

Southport Broadwater The Gold Coast Broadwater, also known as Southport Broadwater, Gold Coast Harbour and The Broadwater, is a large shallow estuary of water located in the district of South East Queensland, Australia. The estuary reaches from the locality of in ...

from the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

Geography

Seaworld Drive is the main street connecting the area of The Spit to the rest of

. Parklands and naturally vegetated sand dunes on the eastern ocean side of the Spit start in Main Beach at Kemp Street and Main Beach Parade and run continuously to the tip of the Spit.

History

There was a township called Moondarewa located on the southern tip of

Stradbroke Island Stradbroke Island, also known as Minjerribah, was a large sand island that formed much of the eastern side of Moreton Bay near Brisbane, Queensland until the late 19th century. Today the island is split into two islands: North Stradbroke Islan ...

(now

South Stradbroke Island The South Stradbroke Island (Indigenous: ''Minjerribah''), colloquially ''South Straddie'', is an island that lies within Moreton Bay in the Australian state of Queensland, south of Brisbane and forms the northern end of Gold Coast. The island ...

). On 9 February 1881 the

Queensland Government The Queensland Government is the democratic administrative authority of the Australian state of Queensland. The Government of Queensland, a parliamentary constitutional monarchy was formed in 1859 as prescribed in its Constitution, as amended fr ...

auctioned 156 town lots at Moondarewa which was described as "southern end of Stradbroke Island and opposite Southport" (. The name ''Moondarewa'' is a corruption of the Aboriginal name ''Moonjerrabah'' which was the name for a mosquito. Moondarewa was located in the area near where

Seaworld SeaWorld is an American theme park chain with headquarters in Orlando, Florida. It is a proprietor of marine mammal parks, oceanariums, animal theme parks, and rehabilitation centers owned by SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment (one park will be ...

is located today (). The Spit was formed between 1897 and 1898,The Spit History
. City of Gold Coast. Retrieved 4 October 2013. a product of longshore drift when high seas broke through at Jumpinpin (), a narrow section of land on Stradbroke Island. This made a new ocean passage, the

Jumpinpin Channel The Jumpinpin channel also known as The Pin lies between North Stradbroke Island and South Stradbroke Island. It has a fast moving tidal deep water Channel not appropriate for swimming but is popular with beach anglers. The name Jumpinpin is a ...

, whih divided Stradbroke Island in two (

North Stradbroke Island North Stradbroke Island ( Jandai: ''Minjerribah''), colloquially ''Straddie'' or ''North Straddie'', is an island that lies within Moreton Bay in the Australian state of Queensland, southeast of the centre of Brisbane. Originally there was onl ...

and

). The continuous longshore drift it created continued to erode South Stradbroke Island and the township of Moondarewa began to be lost to the sea from the late 1930s during storms as the Broadwater Entrance migrated northwards. During the 1940s the Southport Yacht Club grew and added marina facilities for the increasing number of private boats wanting to moor on the Spits' eastern side of the Broadwater. Since the 1950s and '60s, the local prawning industry used The Spit for their berth. The Spit continued to develop, with tourist attractions opening in the 1960s. It is now home to Sea World theme park, an upmarket shopping restaurant and bar precinct and several resorts. Navigational difficulties caused boating accidents, prompting the planning and design of the

Gold Coast Seaway The Gold Coast Seaway or Southport Seaway is the main navigation entrance from the Pacific Ocean into the Gold Coast Broadwater and southern Moreton Bay and is one of Australia's most significant coastal engineering projects. It is located at the ...

, built from 1984 to 1986. The design relied on data from the Beach Protection Authority to prevent it becoming a

baymouth bar A baymouth bar is a depositional feature as a result of longshore drift. It is a sandbank that partially or completely closes access to a bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water ...

connecting to

. Construction of the project had six main phases: * retaining walls using approximately one million tonnes of imported rock *

dredging Dredging is the excavation of material from a water environment. Possible reasons for dredging include improving existing water features; reshaping land and water features to alter drainage, navigability, and commercial use; constructing da ...

4.5 million cubic metres sand * closure of the old entrance * sand bypassing system *

revegetation Revegetation is the process of replanting and rebuilding the soil of disturbed land. This may be a natural process produced by plant colonization and succession, manmade rewilding projects, accelerated process designed to repair damage to a lan ...

* sewage outfall. In 2018 the Spit Master Plan was announced to revitalise the area for community use. The project is expected to be completed by 2020.

Attractions

The Southport Spit is home to Sea World (), Sea World Resort, the Sheraton Mirage Resort and Spa, as well as Palazzo Versace (). On the end of The Spit is the Gold Coast Sand Pumping Jetty (), a popular destination for fishermen and part of the Gold Coast Seaway's Sand Bypassing System. The

Gold Coast Oceanway The Gold Coast Oceanway is a foreshoreway for use by pedestrians and cyclists along the Gold Coast, Queensland, connecting the Point Danger lighthouse on the New South Wales and Queensland border to the Gold Coast Seaway. The network includes ...

and the

Federation Walk Federation Walk is a pedestrian walkway on the Queensland Gold Coast. It is operated as a community project that was launched through efforts of the Main Beach Progress Association and the Friends of Federation Walk to celebrate the Centenary of ...

() provide opportunities for

pedestrians A pedestrian is a person traveling on foot, whether walking or running. In modern times, the term usually refers to someone walking on a road or pavement, but this was not the case historically. The meaning of pedestrian is displayed with ...

and

cyclists Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of Bicycle, cycles for transport, recreation, Physical exercise, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", ...

to explore the Spit. The Federation Walk Coastal Reserve () is a reserve comprising the eastern part of The Spit. There are a number of parks: * Doug Jennings Park is at the northern end () * Philip Park, east of Sea World (), popular for wedding photographs * Hollindale Park at the southern end has picnic facilities () Doug Jennings Park covers the whole north end of The Spit, with views to Wave Break Island to the east and

to the north. It is a popular family park and with rod fishing a familiar sight. The park has been a popular outdoor concert and event venue.

Events

Summadayze is an annual music events held in Doug Jennings Park.

References

External links

* {{Cite web, last=, first=, date=1970, title=The Spit, url=https://gisservices.information.qld.gov.au/arcgis/rest/directories/historicalscans/cad_scans/cad-map-town-the-spit-1970.jpg, url-status=live, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200722220042/https://gisservices.information.qld.gov.au/arcgis/rest/directories/historicalscans/cad_scans/cad-map-town-the-spit-1970.jpg, archive-date=22 July 2020, website=, publisher=