the best of Hervey Bay
• Hervey
Bay has 14 kilometres of golden beaches aranged around
sheltered waters
• relax
on safe, clean and unspoilt beaches
• brilliant
for kids – sun, sea and sandcastles!
• Great!
no stingers
• Sorry!
No surfing - the Bay is just too calm!
• indulge
in a variety of water sports
• 3
Golf courses in Hervey Bay
• 7
other Golf courses in the vicinity
• fish
from the shore and the piers
• hire
a boat and leisurely sail the Great Sandy Strait
• hire
a boat and visit one of the local islands to picnic and swim
• glass
bottom boat out to view our mini-reef off Round Island
• swim
and snorkel amongst the coral and colourful reef fishes
• Bay
waters are home to turtles, bottlenose dolphins and dugongs
• dolphin
watching from the shore and by boat
• fishing
charters in the Great Sandy Strait and the Pacific Ocean
• tours
& cruises on the mainland and to Fraser island
• bicycle
ride along the 14 kilometre foreshore cycle track
• walk
the foreshore track and the beaches
• public
picnic and barbecue areas along the foreshore
• birdwatching
– many exciting species in the area
• animal
park – with Koalas, kangaroos and wombats!
• look
hard! – wild kangaroos around the area too
• theme
parks for fun and adventure
• sky
diving, wind sailing, jet skiing and other adventurous sports
• gateway
to Fraser island!
• from
August to November – the best humpback whale watching in
the world.
holiday fun in Hervey Bay…
• Quad
bike adventures
• jet
ski
• surf
ski
• 4WD
Hire
• skydiving
• horse
riding
• bowls
• 10-pin
bowling
• sea
kayaking
• go
karting track
• skating
• hire
a bike
• Golf
lawn
• 18-hole
mini golf
• 2
x 9-hole golf course (with 18 tees)
• 18-hole
golf course
• tennis
• wildlife
park
• botanic
garden
• aquarium
• shark
show
• Reefworld
• shell
display
• model
railway
• water
slides
• Hovercraft
joy flights
• Scenic
air flights
• Nut
Factory
• the
bat colony in Pialba
favourites in Hervey Bay…
• Hervey
Bay Marina in Urangan – boaties delight
• shopping
at the Marina
• Marina
cafés and restaurants – fab
• shopping
and cafés along the esplanade – to suite every
taste!
• more
shopping in Boat Harbour Drive, Pialba
• popular
wining and dining on the Esplanade pavement restaurants
• resort-style
evenings – more fabulous food!
• club-style
evenings + pokies at the RSL and Boat Club
• gallery,
plant nursery and restaurant at Gatakers Bay
• 6-theatre
Cinema
• evening
cruises and dining to Fraser island
• Backpacker
heaven! Everything the discerning backpacker looks for
is provided
what golf ?
• Hervey
Bay Golf and Country Club
• Eagles
Nest 9-hole course, Urangan
• Craignish
Golf Course and Country Club
• Burrum
District Golf Club, Howard
• Childers
Golf Course
• Maryborough
Golf Club
• Gympie
Golf Club
• Gunabul,
Gympie, par-3 course
• Boonooroo
Golf Course
• Tincan
Bay Country Club
• On
the fringes: more courses at Noosa and Bundaburg
10 courses!
how do we get there?
• Just
north of Queensland’s Sunshine Coast and just south of
the Tropic of Capricorn
• leisurely
4 hour drive north of Brisbane on the Bruce Highway
• less
than 1 hour from Brisbane by air
• From
Bruce Highway via Maryborough northbound or via Torbanlea
southbound
• Mainline
trains to Howard & Maryborough :
trainlink coaches
• coach
terminal at Bay Centra;
• sail
directly into Hervey Bay Marina from anywhere in
the world!
what
fishing ?
Year round – great fishing around
Wide Bay in estuaries, offshore and reef…
• Coral
trout, Red Emperor, Sweetlip, Parrot, Snapper, Baramundi, Beam,
Whiting, Flathead, Javlin Fish, Tailor, Mackerel, Cobia, Golden
Trevally, Yellow and Blue Fin Tuna. Marlin and Sailfish
The Esplanade, beaches, shoreline &
shopping
• A
Bike track has been provided by the Council long
the complete 14k length of Hervey Bay shore and beaches.
This track is shared by walkers, joggers,
strollers and other pedestrians.
• Another
innovative feature provided by the Council is the thoroughfare
for cyclists and pedestrians following the course of the old
railway line: this cuts through the town from Pialba,
follows the route of Boats Harbour Drive for a distance and
then turns sharply towards the shore to end in Urangan
• The
original villages of the Bay have grown together over the years
but as you pass through the City you will see that each
individual area has retained its own name…
• Urangan (at the southern
end) is known for its boat harbour, decorated sea wall,
botanical gardens, pier, and airport. The long Urangan Pier was
completed in 1917, originally for the export of sugar. Today it
is used by amateur fishermen, walkers and here the Pelicans
view the tourists from on high.
• Torquay has a fine beach and offers jet-skis,
canoes, sailboards, catamarans, and fishing boats for hire.
Organ Park is part of the strip of foreshore parkland
between the beach and the Esplanade.
• Scarness is also popular with tourists and there is
a jetty that is frequented by amateur fishermen and it is home
to the Sailing Club. Hire a few Water craft, enjoy a
swim, or just laze in the sand. An underwater reef not far from
shore is easily reached by snorkelling swimmers at low tide.
• Pialba can justifiably
claim to be the CBD of Hervey Bay (although the Council Offices
are in Torquay). Here are the major shopping centres,
professional offices, cinema complex, fast food stops and well
known famous brand stores line the sides of Boat Harbour Drive.
The University of Southern Queensland
University Campus is located in Pialba on Old Maryborough Road.
On Pilba Esplanade events are staged at the beachfront
Ovals – such as the Yag’ubi Fesitival. Pialba
beach is popular with dog walkers as well as sun seekers and
here Tooan Tooan Creek flows into the bay. About 100 metres
upstream from this spot lives a colony of over a million fruit
bats.
• Point
Vernon is
at the northern end of The Bay.
The beach is rocky but enjoyed by
fishermen and the ribbon of houses overlooking the bay towards
Fraser Island. Gatakers Bay is a lovely spot complete
with plant shop, gallery and a popular restaurant.
what birds?
An ornithologists paradise!
• 250
species identified in the area
• Migatory
birds passing through from around the world : including
Siberia, Alaska and Japan
• The
Great Sandy Strait is an area of International Wetland
Importance
(RAMSAR site)
• Commonly
seen : Rainbow Lorikeets, Galahs, Cockatoos, Kookaburras,
Pied Butcher Birds, Noisy Miners, Ospray, Jabiru, Brolga,
Brahminy Kite, Jacana, Cattle Egret, Great White Egret, Herons,
Ibis, Pelicans, Black Swans, Sea Eagles, Peregrine falcon,
Kites, Brush Turkey, Pied Oystercatcher, Kingfishers, Magpies,
any very many more!
Gateway to
Fraser island…
• It
is easy to visit Fraser Island for the day whilst based in
Hervey Bay
• A
variety of accompanied tours and trips are available
• For
more freedom, hire your own 4-wheel drive vehicle
• OR
go as a foot passenger on a barge, sea cat or boat from Hervey
Bay Marina or River Heads.
• Spend
the day lazing on the beach or use the facilities of Island
Resorts
Whalewatching capital of the world!
The season - August to November…
From August to November the Humpback
whales come and frolic in the calm waters of Hervey Bay.
Returning south from giving birth in and around the
Whitsundays they take a short holiday before returning to the
colder southern oceans for the summer.
• Whalewatching
was born in Hervey Bay about 15 years ago when one of the local
fishing boats abandoned the fishing for the season to take
interested locals and tourists to watch these wonderful
creatures.
• Now
a fleet of boats based at the Marina congregate for this annual
event.
• Whalewatching
entices people from around the world to see and commune with
these great, friendly mammals and their young.
• It
is an amazingly emotional and rewarding experience.
• Eye
contact with a mammoth whale has sent big men to raptures,
women to tears, and youngsters have even sung along with the
whalesong!
• This
is an unforgetable, lifetime experience.
Gateway to Cooloola, Sugarland
and the Great Barrier Reef…
There are many easy day trips to make
whilst based in Hervey Bay. Book into your resort as a base for
the week (or longer!) and adventure out in a variety of
directions…
• Just
20 minutes to River Heads for fabulous views of the Great Sandy
Strait, Fraser island and across the Mary and Susan river
estuaries
• Drive
the northern beaches to Toogoom, Burrum Heads and Woodgate :
serentiy, scenery and fabulous white sands
• The
Town of 1770 and Agness Water : tread in the footsteps of
Captain Cook
• Lady
Elliot Island (fly just 35mins from
Hervey Bay airport!) at the
southern tip of the Great Barrier Reef : go reef walking and
snorkling off the beach
• Bundaberg
: the home of Bundy rum, the CCC Turtle Sanctuary and sandy
beaches
• Childers
: Heritage town on The Bruce Highway
• Maryborough
: historical town full of wonderful grand, antique
Queenslanders and Heriage Trail
• Gympie
: herritage town with a golden past
• The
Mary Valley Scenic Way : fertile rural hinterland, antique
shops and wineries
• The
Cooloola coast : Boonooroo, Poona, Tinnanbar, Tincan Bay, for
bushland, birdlife, sandy beaches, fishing and even feeding the
dolphins from Tincan jetty.
• Rainbow
Beach : coloured sands, the Carlo sand blow, 4-wheel
access to Teewah Beach drive to Noosa
• Noosa
: cosmopolitan shopping, restaurants, ocean beaches and
riverside resorts
• Dozens
of wonderful hinterland and beachside National Parks
• A
variety of Marine National Parks
• Golf
Courses at Boonooroo, Bundaberg, Childers, Gympie, Howard,
Tincan Bay, Maryborough, Noosa / Tewantin.
all make wonderful day trips!
1 7 7 0 & all that…
• The
history of Hervey Bay and Fraser island is inexorably bound up
with that of Australian Aborigines.
• Anthropologists
believe that Aboriginal peoples reached eastern Australia at
least 40,000 years ago.
• Tribes
lived in the area now known as Hervey Bay and Fraser Island
until the English arrived.
• The
area was discovered by Captain James Cook in 1770 whilst
travelling the east coast of Australia.
• Captain
Cook named the BAY (not the place!) ‘Hervey’s
Bay’ after Lord Augustus John Hervey an admiral of the
Blue, the Earl of Bristol who was his commanding officer.
• He
presumed - wrongly - that Fraser Island was joined to the
mainland and the sheltered waters behind it were a bay.
• The
waters of the Great Sandy Strait are very shallow and he did
not sail far enough south to find the passage between Fraser
Island and the coast.
• In
fact he was some 6 km offshore as he sailed north.
• Matthew
Flinders passed through the area twice.
• In
1799 Flinders sailed around Fraser Island entering the bay and
going ashore on the mainland at the present site of Dayman
Park.
• He
was the first European to step ashore at Hervey Bay.
• Returning
to the area in 1802 on his historic circum navigation of the
Australian continent, Flinders mapped Hervey Bay in more detail
• It
is an irony of history that Flinders did not locate the Great
Sandy Strait on either of his voyages.
