Noosa, Little Cove & Noosa National Park: I simply can’t count the number of times I’ve taken visitors and friends to this part of my home on the Sunshine Coast. I will tell you now: if you come to the Sunshine Coast and you don’t make it to the Noosa fairy pools, you’re crazy! This is to date, still one of my favourite spots in Australia.
Noosa Fairy Pools

Little Cove – Noosa Beach
Every time you visit the Noosa fairy pools, you see it from a different perspective. If you’re with nature lovers, you’ll notice the trees, wildlife and vegetation. If you’re with surfers, you’ll notice the sparking, clear water. If you’re with people from colder countries, you’ll notice the deep, blue and clear sky. Today, I was inspired by all three. Noosa, today you were a sparkling gem and I’m so proud to call you home.

Little Cove – Noosa Beach
Well actually, my real home is Caloundra – a medium sized surfing town on the southern end of the Sunshine Coast. On the opposite and northern end of the Sunshine Coast, you’ve got Noosa. Anything in between counts as the coast too. This entire metropolitan area accounts for nearly 300 000 Australians and there are many ways you can drive to the Noosa fairy pools. Yes that’s right. I said ‘drive’. If you come from a highly efficient, developed and adequately equipped country with fantastic infrastructure, you’ll laugh at Australia. The Sunshine Coast isn’t properly supported by train, so apart from a freezing cold and insanely long bus trip, you’re best off driving.

Little Cove – Noosa Beach

Little Cove – Noosa Beach
If you’re a follower of my last entries, you’ll know that I’m a big supporter of taking the back roads for that scenic view.
Here are the possible ways you can drive to Noosa:
- Start in Maleny, then drive through Montville, Flaxton, Mapleton, Yandina then Eumundi before approaching Noosa’s neighbouring region Noosaville. These first few towns make up the ‘Hinterland’ region on the Coast, which is a notoriously lush and green area. It’s consistently around 3-5 degrees cooler up in the Hinterland and it gets a lot of rainfall. As you can imagine, it has a huge wedding market. I’m even getting married there in August this year! (Did you know the word ‘Hinterland’ is actually a German word meaning ‘behind the land’, which makes sense… because it’s up the mountain range, behind the coastline.)
- If you want the quickest and most direct way to the Noosa fairy pools, you can also drive up one of the Sunshine Coast’s most hideously congested, boring and uninspiring main roads: The Nicklin Way. (I would avoid that like the plague if possible.)
- Lastly, you can take the Bruce Highway. This is one of the only ways you can get from Brisbane to the Sunshine Coast and back. From Caloundra to Nambour the scenery is pretty same-samey. But luckily after Nambour, you’ll take the same road as if you were also coming from the Hinterland. The last 15 minutes of that highway is quite nice as you approach Noosa.

Standing at a lookout point near Tea Tree Bay – Noosa

Little Cove – Noosa Beach

Little Cove – Noosa Beach
Once you approach the Noosa fairy pools, you’ll notice it’s pretty busy. The main street is called Hastings Street and it’s literally right next to the beach. Take my special Kaptain Kenny insider’s tip….. type ‘Noosa National Park’ into your navigator and leave the centre of Noosa. You’ll find a parking spot easier and you’ll see a really special little beach with hardly any tourists.

Noosa National Park – look at those beautiful Australian gum trees!
Noosa National Park
The Noosa National Park is stunning and full of many gorgeous Australian gum trees. Gum trees equal the possibility of KOALAS. (*And yes, we did spot a koala!) There are only 12 species of gum trees found naturally in other parts of the world. Have a guess how many Australia has? 700 native species of gum trees!
Australian flora
One of Australia’s greatest treasures is her flora – a staggering 24,000 species of native plants have been identified compared to England’s 1700 native plants.
First of all, your car will be happily stationed at the Noosa National Park for a few hours, under the protection of many tall Australian gum trees. Shady tree coverage = a nice, cool car upon your return. (Things to consider in a hot place like Queensland, trust me!)

You’re not wrong! On a day like today, Noosa was 39 degrees Celsius but felt like 45 due to 85% humidity.

A lookout spot just around the corner from Tea Tree Beach.
Little Cove
Second of all, the National Park is just moments away from Little Cove. A perfectly little protected cove, only a 15 minute walk around the corner from the busy and over populated Noosa Main Beach. Take my second piece of advice and don’t bother with Noosa Main Beach! Noosa’s Little Cove is the only place you need. Think sparkling blue water where you can see all the way down to the sand, a backdrop of bushy gum trees and sharing the space with way fewer people.
Check this website for weather conditions, information about the tides and general beach safety, although every time I’ve taken someone here, the water has been safe and calm: https://beachsafe.org.au/beach/qld/sunshine-coast/noosa-heads/little-cove

Can you believe I call this ‘home’?

Standing at the cliffs near the Fairy Pools.
Noosa’s main street: Hastings Street
After you’re done at Noosa’s Little Cove, you may like to walk to the main street and get a plate of overpriced Aussie style lunch. Sorry backpackers but I do hope you’ve saved some extra coins. You probably know by now that Australia is ex-pen-sive but Noosa is one of Australia’s wealthiest coastal regions so expect to pay a lot here! I can’t really give any specific recommendations on Hastings Street. I normally just wander and eat where I like the sound of the menu. If you’re looking for good coffee by the way, I’d recommend downloading the app “Beanhunter”. It’s got a database of nearly 150 000 cafe reviews and will search your location and give you the best cafes in the area. https://www.beanhunter.com/australia

Not many people to share your beach with – Tea Tree Bay.
Thongs = Aussie for Flip Flops
After you’ve eaten, I’d recommend walking off the meal. Put on your walking shoes and head straight back to the Noosa National Park. *NB* If you want to see koalas in this region, make sure you look up at the trees when you’re in the National Park. We did see one during the day and it attracted quite the crowd.
Do not make the mistake of walking for the next 2 hours in thongs. (Thongs = an Australian word for rubber flip flops.) I did exactly this, got a painful blister between my toes and bruised the tendons in my foot slightly. Woops!

It could even be Hawaii – utter Australian paradise! Queensland has all the sunshine.
The Noosa Fairy Pools
Once you’ve made it back along the boardwalk to the Noosa National Park, you should now continue along the path right next to the water. Following the path, you now want to make your way in the direction of the Noosa Fairy Pools.

Standing and looking out at the ocean from the Noosa National Park.

I seriously couldn’t get over these colours. Orange, yellow, turquoise, green – I’m in love!
Even though I’d been to Noosa countless times, I’d always shown people the main street and Little Cove. This time around, I met up with two fellow travel bloggers Michelle and Hannah (from the U.S) and they showed me a picture of a place near Noosa National Park which they’d heard about: The Noosa Fairy Pools. The picture looked great! A sparkling, blue tidal pool with a gorgeous young woman, just floating in pure and utter peace. Not a soul nearby to be found. After typing it into Google and finding that it was only a 30 minute walk from the carpark, we decided to go!

The tree featured in this picture is one of the gum species. It’s actually called the Paperbark for its paper-like shedding qualities. Back in school, we’d rip sheets of this off the tree and write notes to each other.
So getting there by foot (the only way) was more on the 45 minute side but admittedly, we stopped *many* times along the way. Why? I was astounded by the beauty of the coastline, especially as this was the first time that I, the local, had seen the ‘other’ side of Noosa. The scenery was jaw-dropping on each turn and it was lovely walking through the National Park’s bushland.
On your way to the Noosa Fairy Pools, you will have the chance to stop at many lookout points and a couple of small little beaches (like Tea Tree Bay) which you won’t have to share with many other people.

Perfect timing – just had a pedicure done the day before!
So after the 45 minute walk along the sunny cliff face (bring suncream!), we finally made it to the Noosa Fairy Pools. Think less ‘secluded’ and more ‘packed with Swedish, German and Brazilian backpackers. No worries, I still got a couple of snaps but I didn’t jump into the water. Let’s just say that I’m super glad I went – I got some incredible photos for this post for the walk along the way and I got to see a new side to Noosa. My advice would be to stop at the beach along the way and make that your swimming spot. In saying that, I was at the Noosa Fairy Pools on a pristine day without a cloud in the sky. And it was the second last day of the school holidays, so busy anyway.

The Noosa Fairy Pools – if you manage to get it all to yourself, it’s not a bad little spot!

Totally in love with this piece of Australia.
This link has plenty of awesome information on Noosa, the Fairy Pools and organic cafes in the area. Thank me later! http://www.wildswimmingaustralia.com/
If you’ve been to the pools or are planning on heading there, let me know your thoughts. Also, if you’ve been to Noosa before, tell me if I missed something special.

So have you been to the Fairy Pools?
Thanks so much for reading & I hope you found this helpful 🙂

At Noosa’s ‘Blended’ cafe, trying to cool down.
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7 Comments
VIF: A Frankfurt Insider’s Tip – Kaptain Kenny Travel
February 26, 2017 at 9:26 pm[…] you roll your eyes but it’s so true…. just click here to see where I’m from: Everything you need to know About Noosa and its Fairy Pools) and I’ve swapped that for a beautiful, old apartment from the 1900’s smack-bang in the […]
Kirsty
October 3, 2017 at 3:44 pmWell you may be surprised to hear that this is actually my favourite article of yours. Even though we are in Norway at the moment and I found your Faroe Islands blog absolutely incredible (and is now on the bucket list); there’s nothing like a blog from your own home. This gave me some extra insight into a place I thought I knew inside out. I also loved the tip on Beanhunter app as I did not know this existed and have found it very useful to date. Thanks Kaptain kenny 🙌🏻
kaptainkennytravel
October 3, 2017 at 3:47 pmGirl, I got you! So pleased you love my stuff – you wouldn’t believe how long it takes me to do it all including the blog, writing, photos and Instagram/Facebook. It’s worth it though when I hear things like this!
Cai Hong
October 4, 2017 at 7:05 amHiiii Phoebe! You know how tough it is to choose a Single blogpost to favourite, because you have so many good ones?
I still vividly remember the night I served you in the restaurant during your stopover in Singapore and asked you where u are from. And how my eyes lit up when you said you’re based in Germany because I knew I was going there for the first time, soon. You handed me one of the most pretty namecard I’ve ever seen, and now I’m a follower. 🙂
Fast forward I’m back home from the most amazing solo adventure I’ve had to date and I am already planning my next big trip: DOWN UNDER! and I’ve looked here for inspiration. This fairy pools are beautiful. Fingers crossed I get to see them next!
I give thanks to Travel bloggers and Photographers like you who keeps my wanderlusting exciting and alive. ❤
kaptainkennytravel
October 4, 2017 at 10:55 amCai, your comment has absolutely made my day. I always love giving out business cards and this is exactly why! It helps me to be connected to beautiful people from all over the world. I’m crossing my fingers that you win the prize! 🙂
Astrid Pineda
October 10, 2017 at 7:40 pmHi Kenny! I have got to say that this my favorite blogpost of yours. And I´ll tell you why. This reminded me of home! I come from Honduras and not a lot of people know this but after you guys (Australia) we have the second biggest coral reefs in the world. <3 I always miss the beaches from and I guess you do too since were now living in Germany. If only Germany had better beaches! Vamos a la playa oh oh oh. Australia is truly a gem. Hopefully I can make it there one day. So glad that youre sharing beautiful places of the world with us.
Lots of hugs,
Astrid
kaptainkennytravel
October 16, 2017 at 8:42 amHey Astrid, thanks a lot for stopping by my page and leaving such a heartwarming comment. I believe you when you tell me this post reminds you of your home – sometimes when it’s rainy and miserable in Germany, I really wonder why I gave up such good beaches and weather in Queensland 🙂 But that’s part of moving abroad I guess, you can’t have everything.