We’d been in Brisbane long enough that I was properly missing cat company. No cat of our own, no neighbour’s cat leaning on the fence, nothing. So on a day trip down to the Gold Coast I did the obvious thing and looked up whether Surfers Paradise had a cat café. It did — Crazy Cat Café, tucked upstairs on the Boulevard — and we walked in an hour later with zero plan beyond “pat some cats.”
Crazy Cat Café is on the first floor of Centre Arcade at 3131 Surfers Paradise Boulevard, right in the thick of the main strip. Worth knowing before you go: there’s no lift, just 17 steps up with a landing halfway, so it’s not a great fit if you’ve got a pram you can’t fold or anyone who struggles with stairs.
Parking around Surfers Paradise is always a bit of a gamble, but the Chevron Renaissance car park nearby gives you two hours free, which was plenty for our visit plus lunch. Thaitanic, a Thai place right next door on the same block, was a handy option once we’d had our fill of cats and needed actual food.
Booking, or Just Turning Up
We hadn’t booked and got in anyway, though we were later in the day and the staff mentioned it’s a genuine gamble — if you’re travelling with kids or visiting during the school holidays, book ahead. Crazy Cat Café runs paid sessions in the cat lounge rather than free entry, with separate rates for adults and kids, and you pay before you go in. Prices do shift over time, so I’d check the current session prices and book directly on their website rather than go off anything printed here or on an old TripAdvisor listing.
If you’re visiting Surfers Paradise during the Queensland school holidays, assume it’ll be busy and book a session in advance. Kids aged 12 and under have to stay with a supervising adult the whole time, and one adult can only take up to four kids in with them — reasonable, given there are cats wandering around rather than staying put for photos.
Hand Washing Before You Meet Anyone
Before we went in, we washed our hands at a sink near the entrance — no hand sanitiser, since the residue apparently bothers the cats’ paws and noses. It’s a small thing, but it made sense once I thought about it: a café serving food generally isn’t allowed to have animals anywhere near the kitchen or dining tables under Queensland’s food safety rules, which is presumably why the cat lounge sits behind its own doors, separate from where the coffee and food are actually made.
The Cats Themselves
There are 24 resident cats altogether, though only 23 were around the day we visited — it was mid-afternoon, prime napping hours for anyone with fur. A handful were genuinely out and about, chasing feather wands and flopping onto laps, while the rest were curled up in the window boxes and cat trees looking thoroughly unbothered by the humans.
Every cat has a little bio pinned up on the wall — breed, personality, quirks — so you’re not just guessing who’s friendly and who’d rather be left alone. If a cat’s unwell or needs a bit of extra care, that’s noted too, which felt like a genuinely thoughtful touch rather than something bolted on for show.
My daughter Aubree spent most of the hour dragging a toy mouse around the floor while I sat cross-legged patting whichever cat wandered close enough. Nobody hissed, nobody bolted under a couch — they seemed properly used to visitors, which isn’t something I’d take for granted after a few dodgy roadside “farm” experiences over the years.
If animals-with-kids outings are your thing generally, we’ve reviewed a few other animal encounters around Australia worth bookmarking for the next trip.
An Hour Goes Faster Than You’d Think
We booked in for an hour and it disappeared. I kept meaning to check the time and kept getting distracted by a cat deciding my lap was acceptable seating. By the time staff came around to let us know we were nearly up, I genuinely wanted another thirty minutes — which, to be fair, you can add on the spot if you’re not ready to leave.
What It Actually Cost Us
Between one adult, one child and a coffee, we came away having spent a bit over forty dollars for the visit. That’s roughly in line with what a family session runs to, though exact prices for the 30-minute and 60-minute sessions have changed since we went, so treat my number as a ballpark rather than gospel — check current pricing before you book.
Would I Take the Kids Back?
Yes, with a caveat: book ahead, especially if you’re going during a Gold Coast school holiday rush, and don’t expect a five-star dining experience out of the café side of things — we were there for the cats, and the cats delivered. Food and atmosphere were solid rather than remarkable; the actual point of the visit, meeting two dozen very chill cats in the middle of Surfers Paradise, absolutely was.
If you’re building out a longer Gold Coast itinerary, it’s worth pairing this with something else nearby so the drive down feels worthwhile — we’ve got more things to do with kids on the Gold Coast if you want to fill out the rest of the day.
Good to know before you go
- Address: 63 & 64 Centre Arcade, 3131 Surfers Paradise Boulevard, Surfers Paradise QLD 4217 (upstairs, 17 steps, no lift)
- Phone: 07 5630 1110
- Parking: Chevron Renaissance car park nearby has 2 hours free
- Book ahead, particularly with kids or during school holidays — book here
- Wash hands on arrival; skip the hand sanitiser