Developing a detailed understanding of the mixing dynamics within coastal waters is extremely important for the effective and efficient design and management of engineering works (such as desalination plant outflow systems) and fisheries, and as a possible indictor of climate change. While large scale dynamics have received significant attention as a result of their large scale and relative ease of measuring, ocean turbulence has received significantly less attention, even though it strongly influences the vertical diffusion rates and energetic mixing processes throughout the coast zone. To help alleviate this knowledge deficiency a new free falling profiler, TurboMap-9, is being used to measure turbulent microstructure and CTD (conductivity, temperature and density) properties initially within the coastal waters of the Gold Coast, Australia. In an initial baseline study of the region the TurboMap-9 is being deployed at a range of sites in water depths from 20 to 80m (up to 15 km offshore). The data collected to date reveals that a number of mixing processes exist off the Gold coast with the dominant process observed being internal waves shoaling (upwelling) and wind induced surface mixing. The turbulence data can also be used to estimate bottom drag coefficients, which are required for more accurate coastal modelling activities. This unique study has revealed the highly complex 3D nature of the region and that upwelling indeed plays a major role in water property redistribution and horizontal advection. Further studies are underway to quantify energy dissipation levels and active vertical diffusion rates within the region.