Australia’s first year-round beachfront cabana club opens

Beloved by boaties, beachgoers and the occasional bogan for more than 60 years, Queensland’s Tangalooma Island Resort has taken a multimillion-dollar punt and opened Australia’s first year-round beachfront cabana club.

But will it be enough to attract visitors from nearby Brisbane and beyond?

Despite its sprawling coastline, Australia has been slow to adopt the beach club concept prolific in places such as Indonesia and southern Europe.

While beach clubs aren’t strictly new to Australia, such venues have largely been pool clubs or temporary beach pop-ups due to strict environmental zoning, native title considerations and coastal erosion protections that make building permanent commercial infrastructure directly on coastal land notoriously difficult.

Tangalooma has been able to get around this under a legacy perpetual lease arrangement struck with the state government in the 1970s, which allows the resort to build right up to where their private lawn meets the sand.

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The launch of the permanent Tangalooma Dunes Cabana Club in partnership with Carnival Cruise Line marks an Australian first.

The venue offers 20 private beachfront cabanas for day hire, costing $240 on weekdays and $290 at weekends for all-day access (9am-5pm) for up to eight guests. Each cabana includes bench seating, a table for food and drinks, and a private bar fridge.

While the menu is still being finalised, it’s set to include bottled beer, wine and champagne, and share platters of fruit, charcuterie goods and sandwiches.

Cabanas, some with wheelchair accessibility, feature adjustable shutters and a fan to manage heat on the west-facing beach.

After more than $5 million investment, the cabanas are available from this week for full-venue hire or to Carnival Cruise Line passengers, who will have exclusive access on cruise ship days. Individual cabana bookings open from late spring 2026.

Tangalooma Island Resort director David James said the investment was part of a broader commitment to elevating the visitor experience in the lead-up to the 2032 Brisbane Olympic and Paralympic Games.

“Investments like this are exactly what’s needed to uplift the region’s tourism product and ensure we can offer world-class experiences to visitors from across the globe,” said James.

The aluminium cabanas, which measure 2.4 metres by 3.8 metres, resemble the shacks redolent of Melbourne’s Brighton bathing boxes but with a fresh Queensland white twist.

Guests will check in via a sage green kiosk and collect their cabana key, which unlocks a storage unit for personal items. There’s a shelf for towels and books and multiple charging pods, power points and device holders.

Blue bench seating that matches the ocean outside wraps around a plywood centre table, similar to a luxury yacht dining area, and eco decking on the floor completes the space.

A continuous playlist is beamed from snorkel-like speakers on each cabana, spilling out onto a manicured lawn with four beach showers. Cabana guests can use the main resort’s toilet facilities.

In late July, Tangalooma Island Resort also launched three new boat tours aboard its $500,000 vessel Calypso, through Tangatours, which allow visitors to explore Moreton Bay aboard a 10.5-metre retrofitted catamaran.

The writer travelled as a guest of Tangalooma Island Resort.

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