Clear Island Waters, an upmarket residential suburb on the Gold Coast, is immediately west of Mermaid Waters, north of Robina and south-west of Surfers Paradise. It was named after a rural track, Clear Island Road, which ran from Merrimac and turned north through Mermaid Waters to Miami Keys. The transformation of the rural wetlands to canal estates in the early 1990s has obliterated most of the track, and the surviving section in the west has been renamed Boowaggan Road, Merrimac.
Clear Island Road crossed Boobegan Creek, much of which has been incorporated into Clear Island Waters. Near the creek's mouth there is a lock to control the suburb's water level. In addition to the water control device, land access is controlled by gates to some of the localities, the Isle of Istana being a notable example. Exclusivity is further enhanced by localities being separately named, Island Quays, Rhode Island and Santa Cruz. The northern part of Clear Island Waters is on land that stood apart from the original rural wetland. It was the site of the Surfers Paradise Golf Club (1968), built on a landholding owned by Bruce Small and named Cypress Gardens. The Club kept itself financially afloat in the late 1970s by building high rise accommodation and a tennis centre. The Cypress Gardens retirement centre and the St Vincent's Catholic primary school (1986) are contemporaneous with Clear Island Waters. They adjoin in the Merrimac Golf Course and the Surfers Paradise Golf Club.
There is local shopping near the school and larger retail areas at the Q Super Centre, Mermaid Waters, and at Robina Town Centre.
Community groups opposed a 9-storey development in 2007 on golf course land.
The census populations of Clear Island Waters have been:
| census date | population |
|---|---|
| 2006 | 4091 |
| 2011 | 3986 |
At the 2011 census, the median age of residents was 49, compared with 37 for Australia.
