Sunshine Beach flood map & planning overlays
The smallest blocks in Noosa Shire, 536 m², and the most schools, 6.
Things you won't regret: spending $9 to know the lot before you commit.
Free map preview, then PDF reports from $9 - about the price of an iced latte on a public holiday.
A planning-constraint profile of Sunshine Beach
(Noosa Shire, QLD) - 1.9 km², mapped from live council and
state overlay data. This suburb is highly constrained.
Profile updated 7 November 2026.
Constraint readout
1.9 km² - this suburb is highly constrained by planning overlays.
Elevation hillshade with street names, clipped to Sunshine Beach's boundary, with the flood, bushfire and environmental overlays drawn on top. Magenta is where aircraft were observed in the sampled period, brightest below 3,000 ft.
Nearby suburbs, nearest first
How common is mapped flood risk across Sunshine Beach properties?
Counts of properties, not share of land, across 2,214 analysed Sunshine Beach properties; no individual property result is identified.
Lot-level readout
Flood-risk rating across all 2,214 properties
From LayeredGeo's lot-risk engine: council flood overlays, historical flooding and terrain, resolved to each individual lot in Sunshine Beach.
Aircraft noise and flight paths over Sunshine Beach
The ANEF contour is a published planning forecast and observed overflight is what a sampled tracking feed recorded - neither describes any individual property.
Observed overflight - sampled 4 Sep to 7 Nov 2026
typical observed square 1 a day
Night movements: not established - night is sampled as often as day, but too few night flights have been seen here to conclude either way.
How this is measured
Traffic is sampled rather than watched continuously, so every figure is a floor: aircraft not captured between samples are not represented. Rates are per 500 m square - the busiest square in the suburb, not a count of flights over the suburb - and a square is only rated where enough traffic was seen to measure it. Altitudes are above mean sea level. Flight paths change with runway use, weather, season and airspace design. This is a record of observed traffic; it is not a noise contour and not a planning control.
Sunshine Beach at a glance
Schools in and near Sunshine Beach
Public school-location data shows availability across the suburb; it does not rate schools or assign any individual address to a catchment.
Inside the suburb boundary
3 schools providing primary years and 3 providing secondary years. A combined school may be counted in both teaching levels.
Nearest school availability
Primary: inside the suburb
Secondary: inside the suburb
Source: Queensland Government school geographic information. Catchment boundaries can divide a suburb and change over time; use the official catchment finder for a specific address.
How Sunshine Beach is zoned
Selling in Sunshine Beach? The lot-level zone is the zoning Part 3 of Queensland's Form 2 seller disclosure statement asks for - see our Form 2 planning data guide.
Across its 1.9 km², Sunshine Beach is highly constrained by planning overlays. Flood mapping covers the suburb and none of it falls within a mapped flood overlay, and 27% is flagged bushfire-prone. The dominant land-use zone is Low Density Residential. The terrain is hilly, and the median lot measures about 536 m² across 2,452 parcels.
Who lives in Sunshine Beach
Census 2021 figures published by the ABS for the Sunshine Beach suburb boundary itself, not a wider region.
Socio-economic standing
ABS SEIFA 2021 ranks every Australian suburb. Decile 1 is the most disadvantaged tenth of the country, decile 10 the least.
Score 1049, and decile 9 within Queensland. The national average is 1000.
Age profile
Share of Sunshine Beach's 2,480 residents in each ABS age band.
Population trend, 2001 to 2025
Estimated resident population of Sunshine Beach, the wider ABS statistical area containing Sunshine Beach. There is no annual population series published at suburb level, so this describes the surrounding area rather than Sunshine Beach itself.
6,393 in 2001 to 7,524 in 2025, up 18%.
Source: ABS Census 2021 and SEIFA 2021 (Suburbs and Localities), Regional Population (SA2), CC BY 4.0. Small counts are randomly adjusted by the ABS.
Sunshine Beach data sources and coverage
“Not mapped” means we hold no source layer for this suburb - never an all-clear.
| Dataset | Coverage | Publisher |
|---|---|---|
| Flood mapping | Mapped | the relevant council planning scheme and Queensland Government spatial data |
| Bushfire-prone mapping | Mapped | the relevant council planning scheme and Queensland Government spatial data |
| Zoning | Mapped | the relevant council planning scheme and Queensland Government spatial data |
| Heritage and environment | Mapped where published | the relevant council planning scheme and Queensland Government spatial data |
| Aircraft noise contours (ANEF) | Not held | the relevant council planning scheme and Queensland Government spatial data, Defence |
| Observed flight paths | Observed | adsb.lol, under the Open Database License |
| Demographics | Available | Australian Bureau of Statistics (2021 Census and SEIFA) |
| School availability | Available | Queensland Government |
Profile last materially updated 7 November 2026. See the methodology and full source list. Source data changes over time and critical decisions should be checked with the responsible authority.
Check a specific Sunshine Beach address
See exactly which overlays touch a single property - the interactive map is free. Need it on paper? A full planning PDF is just $9.
See what's in the $9 report →Aircraft have been seen below 3,000 ft over about 99% of Sunshine Beach. The report's Aircraft Overflight page narrows that to the address itself: how many aircraft a day, how low, and at what heights.
Published flood models are held over parts of Sunshine Beach. The free check tells you whether one reaches an address; where it does, a Flood Model Report is +$9 with the planning report.
The Terrain Report shows the fall of the block - contours, cross sections and a 3D model of the lot to spin round in your browser (+$9 with the planning report).
Building or pricing a slab? The $119 geotechnical desktop report covers geology, soils, bores and the indicative soil reactivity range to expect for a Sunshine Beach lot.
Sunshine Beach planning - frequently asked
Is Sunshine Beach flood-prone?
Flood mapping covers Sunshine Beach and less than 1% of the suburb falls within a mapped flood overlay (the council-wide suburb average is 28%). Across the suburb, 0% of the 2,214 properties we analysed carry some level of mapped flood risk, including 1 rated high risk or historically affected. Published flood models are held over parts of Sunshine Beach; the free check on the Flood Model Report page says whether one reaches a given address.
Is Sunshine Beach bushfire-prone?
Around 27% of Sunshine Beach is mapped as bushfire-prone, compared with a Noosa Shire average of 76%.
Is Sunshine Beach under a flight path?
Aircraft were observed below 3,000 ft over about 99% of Sunshine Beach, and over about 100% at any altitude up to 10,000 ft, in the period sampled (4 Sep 2026 to 7 Nov 2026). The lowest measured aircraft was at 500 ft, with an average of 1,500 ft. At the busiest point in the suburb about 3 aircraft a day were recorded passing over one 500 m square. Traffic is sampled rather than watched continuously and flight paths change with runway use, weather and season; the ANEF contour is the planning instrument.
What is the zoning in Sunshine Beach?
The dominant planning zone in Sunshine Beach is Low Density Residential, though the suburb also includes Community Facilities and Medium Density Residential.
Does Sunshine Beach have heritage-listed places?
No heritage-listed places are on record within Sunshine Beach.
Is Sunshine Beach hilly or flat?
Sunshine Beach is hilly: the median ground slope is about 11%, and 34% of measured points sit on grades of 15% or steeper. Ground level runs from roughly 21 m to 66 m AHD across the suburb.
What is the typical lot size in Sunshine Beach?
Across 2,452 surveyed parcels in Sunshine Beach, the median lot size is about 536 m². There are also 161 registered easements mapped in the suburb.
Does Sunshine Beach have a train station?
There is no train station inside Sunshine Beach itself. The suburb is served by 15 bus stops.
What is the population of Sunshine Beach?
At the 2021 Census Sunshine Beach had 2,480 usual residents, with a median age of 49 and an average household size of 2.2 people. The wider Sunshine Beach statistical area, which contains Sunshine Beach, went from 6,393 people in 2001 to 7,524 in 2025, up 18%.
Is Sunshine Beach an advantaged suburb?
On the ABS SEIFA 2021 index of relative socio-economic advantage and disadvantage (IRSAD), Sunshine Beach scores 1049 and sits in decile 9 of 10 nationally and decile 9 within Queensland (decile 1 is the most disadvantaged tenth, decile 10 the least).
What is the median household income in Sunshine Beach?
Median household income in Sunshine Beach was $1,735 a week at the 2021 Census, against $1,602 for the typical suburb in Noosa Shire. Median rent was $495 a week and the median mortgage repayment $2,167 a month.
Compare nearby suburbs
| Nearby suburb | Distance | Flood mapped | Bushfire-prone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sunrise Beach | 1.4 km | 1% | 41% |
| Noosa Heads | 1.5 km | 25% | 67% |
| Castaways Beach | 3.3 km | 6% | 95% |
| Marcus Beach | 5.1 km | 8% | 97% |
| Noosaville | 5.3 km | 69% | 42% |
| Weyba Downs Sunshine Coast Regional |
8.0 km | 15% | 72% |
| Peregian Beach | 8.1 km | 18% | 93% |
| Doonan | 8.7 km | 13% | 96% |
| Tewantin | 9.0 km | 30% | 77% |
| Peregian Beach Sunshine Coast Regional |
9.0 km | 24% | 60% |