The Sanctuary Cafe Dicky Beach

The Sanctuary Cafe sits at 3/10 Beerburrum Street, Dicky Beach, a short walk up from the sand on the Caloundra coast, and it opens 6am to 8pm every day of the week. It is known across the Sunshine Coast for a kitchen that is roughly ninety percent gluten-free, and it doubles as an easy dog stop: the outdoor footpath and alfresco tables out front welcome leashed dogs after a walk along the foreshore.

The dog setup

Dogs are welcome at the outdoor tables on the street side of the cafe, on lead and beside your seat. These are footpath tables rather than a separate courtyard, so pick a spot that leaves your dog room and keep the lead short when the strip is busy. Water bowls are often out, but bring your own as backup. After a swim or a morning beach walk, the walk-up counter setup makes this an easy coffee-and-calamari kind of stop.

From the kitchen

The gluten-free range runs nearly the whole menu, with a dedicated gluten-free fryer and cross-contamination protocols that make it a serious option for coeliac diners. Expect fish and chips, burgers including a works burger and a Philly cheese steak, calamari, sweet potato chips, avo on toast for breakfast, and thickshakes. Coffee is solid, and the menu runs breakfast through to dinner.

Beach rules before you sit

Dicky Beach itself has council-managed dog zones: dogs are permitted off leash on the sand north of Ann Street, while the area around the surf club and the patrolled flags requires a lead. Check the signage at each beach access, as boundaries shift near the dunes. Coochin Park, at the corner of Beerburrum and Cooroy Streets, is an unfenced off-leash park with big shade trees, open around the clock.

Close by with the dogs

The Coochin Park off-leash area is your pre-breakfast run, and the Currimundi dog beach is a few minutes south. Between the Flags Coffee is another Dicky Beach coffee stop, and Groundskeeper Willie Coffee Roasters is worth the detour up the coast. The Queensland restaurants index and the Dicky Beach destination guide pull the area together.