Bypass those busy Sunshine Coast beaches and head North to the picturesque coastal town known as Rainbow Beach. Here, where the coloured sands line the coastline for miles cascading dramatically down to the beautiful blue ocean, you will find a heart-warming family-friendly hotel known as the Plantation Resort at Rainbow.
Rainbow, as it is fondly known by locals and regulars, offers all the mandatory options that any Australian coastal town should. There’s a pub with decent grub, a fish & chip shop and a servo (I mean, can it get any more ‘true blue’ than that?) Of course, there’s also a couple of other cafes and restaurants in the area too. The entire region is a 4WDing mecca – the sandy beach that extends from Rainbow south to Double Island Point is actually the most driven stretch of sand in Australia.
The Plantation Resort is a Hamptons style hotel. It’s crisp white exterior is offset by palms that gently dance in the breeze, immediately relaxing the mind into holiday mode.
Given we were travelling with another family of four, we opted to share a 3 bedroom penthouse. This was a perfect space for all of us, offering plenty of room for all to co-habit, and surrounded by breath-taking ocean views from the open plan living and dining areas. There was also an adjoining private rooftop including a BBQ.
The kids were particularly delighted with the in-room spa bath, although perhaps the views from the spa and filtered through the canopy of palm trees to the blue ocean yonder, may have been wasted on them in lieu of all of the suds and bubbles!
Every great resort needs an equally great pool, and the Plantation certainly delivers on this promise. The pool is large, catering for kids of all ages with a shallow step that extends the entire 20m length. Nearby there’s a spa and plenty of sunlounges to bask on too.
We were pumped to take advantage of some of Australia’s most popular four wheel drive tracks and make our way over to the nearby Insta-worthy beaches so we packed the truck full to the brim and headed off. The only way to get around to picturesque Double Island Point (also known as D.I. by the locals) unless the tide is dead low and you can drive along the beach, is by taking the Freshwater track, a 30 minute off roading adventure with plenty of bumps and holes to keep you on your toes.
Once we came off the track and onto the beach, we cruised on up the final stretch of sand to D.I. We spent the first half the day on the West side and the second half on the East, taking advantage of the topography to shelter from the wind as it swung and changed direction. This place is just magical, the water is every shade of blue imaginable, and there’s often a wave rolling through to surf too.
Hot tip: If you’re planning on doing some 4WDing, you’ll need to buy an Adventure Permit ($30) when you arrive which allows you to drive on the beach.
At the end of each day we’d wind down at the resort’s pool, have some dinner and then retreat for the evening. I couldn’t think of a better way to unwind with the family, we are extremely lukcy to have such amazing destinations like this on our doorstep.
On the whole, the Plantation Resort is well presented, clean, family friendly and perfectly positioned in the heart of Rainbow Beach.