Coolangatta is a town located in the southernmost part of the Gold Coast, in Queensland, Australia. It is named after one of Alexander Berry's schooners which was wrecked there in August, 1846. The ship, in turn was named after Coolangatta Estate and mountain located on the northern bank of the Shoalhaven River, New South Wales.

Early settlement

Coolangatta was one of the earliest settlements at the Gold Coast. Once again focused on a steep headland at Port Danger the area was occupied by Europeans from at least 1828 by a convict station and cedar getters soon followed. Selectors followed in the 1860s and a small settlement at Coolangatta was established. In 1883 a township was surveyed.

Border town

As a border town Coolangatta included a customs office and boatshed and government wharf. Extension of the railway from Nerang to Tweed Heads in 1903 guaranteed the success of Coolangatta as a holiday township and it flourished from that time forward. Guesthouses and hotels were erected and a commercial centre soon followed.

Little remains of the earliest buildings at Coolangatta but some evidence remains of subsequent development in the early years of the present century. The border fence and gates that until recently were a characteristic of the area have now been removed but the sense of the border remains at Boundary Street running along the ridge of the headland between Queensland and New South Wales. The headland itself is an important landmark and tourist destination. Coolangatta symbolises the terminus of the Gold Coast and the long strip of beach that begins at Main Beach forty kilometres to the north.

In June each year Coolangatta hosts The Wintersun Festival, a two week 50's & 60's Nostalgia Festival with heaps of free entertainment and attractions.