A good activity for kids under the age of 5 with a few caveats. Nice water features with spray elements, little wading pools, a waterfall, and more. Lots of shade and benches. Cafe nearby within the park as well. It's also near the Australia Fair Shopping Centre (which is very poorly laid out but at least it is close) if you need to combine a trip with shopping.
My quibbles:
1. Parking isn't free - it's $AUS 1.90 an hour. Not a huge deal - worth it to help cover the expenses of the space.
2. There isn't a changing area directly by the play area. Most of these sorts of playspaces that are water-specific seem to have changing areas surrounding the pools, but this one you had to walk a bit too. When you are schlepping kids and gear, you really want it closer.
3. This pool is definitely geared towards little ones, but there's a lot of undulation in the ground surface and thus makes it prone to falls. We witnessed several kids injure themselves in the 45 minutes we were there.
4. It's a bit difficult to see exactly where this is from the road because it is hidden by trees. Go into the main broadwater parklands entrance and park.
5. There are also two playgrounds in this location: one close to the water area that's fine but in a bit of a wooded area and thus prone to bugs, and other that's a really big walk away. It's a pretty walk along the shore and there's a little beach en route past the large intervening field area, but with little kids, it's a bit too far. There's also no parking at that end of the park, so you can't start at the playground without some difficulty. The larger playground has some really cool elements for bigger kids and some nice elements for little ones, but not a whole lot in between for kids between the ages of 4-7 or so. It also has very limited shade in the zone above the slides and climbing structures, though good shade in other areas.
All in all, we won't be going back while we are on the Gold Coast, but if you've got small kids and they need a break from the beach, you could do worse than a visit to the Rockpools. read more
