Free Things to Do on the Sunshine Coast: The Best No-Cost Activities

The Sunshine Coast's free activity landscape is anchored by Noosa National Park (free to walk, with some of Queensland's finest coastal walking tracks), the Eumundi Markets (free to enter), and the beaches (all free). The hinterland's Glass House Mountains (free walking tracks), the Mapleton and Obi Obi lookouts, and the Kondalilla Falls swimming hole provide free natural environment experiences that the coastal lifestyle complements.

Noosa National Park coastal walk, the Noosa National Park coastal walk (5.4km from Noosa Heads to Hell's Gates, free, no entry fee) is one of Queensland's finest coastal walking tracks, passing the Boiling Pot headland, the Tea Tree Bay beach cove, and the Granite Bay naturist beach through coastal heath and rainforest with koala sightings common in the pandanus trees above the path. Entry to the park is free; parking at the Noosa Heads entrance carpark is charged but the walk start point is accessible on foot from Hastings Street.

Eumundi Markets, the Eumundi Markets (Wednesday and Saturday, free entry) are Australia's largest artisan handcrafted market and genuinely excellent for browsing, with 600+ stallholders on a Saturday morning filling the Eumundi village streets with craft, produce, street food, and live music. Free to enter; spending on food and craft is optional.

Glass House Mountains lookouts, the Glass House Mountains (40 minutes south of Caloundra) have free public lookout points at Tibrogargan's base and the designated walking tracks on some of the mountains (check the conditions, some tracks are closed for cultural reasons; the Coonowrin and Tibrogargan summits are closed). The views of the volcanic plugs from the free lookout roads are genuinely spectacular.

Kondalilla Falls, the Kondalilla Falls in the Hinterland near Montville (45 minutes from Maroochydore) have a free national park swimming hole below the falls (one of Queensland's finest natural pool swims) accessible via a 2km return walk through subtropical rainforest. Genuinely beautiful and entirely free.