Rosslyn Bay, Yeppoon & Great Keppel
Rosslyn Bay Boat Harbour, just south of Yeppoon, is the Capricorn Coast's all-weather stop and the jumping-off point for Great Keppel and the Keppel islands. It's a proper breakwater harbour with Keppel Bay Marina, public ramps, fuel and a fishing fleet, and it's often the last good marina before the long run north past Shoalwater Bay. Fill up here: the next real fuel is Mackay.
- 1Rosslyn Bay entrance channel · TMR LV96.
- 2Rosslyn Bay Boat Harbour · OSM.
- 3Rosslyn Bay ramp (north) · TMR LV71, 4 lanes.
- 4Rosslyn Bay ramp (south) · TMR LV73, 4 lanes.
- 5Great Keppel Island · OSM.
- 6Great Keppel lighthouse · OSM.
At a glance
| What it is | Breakwater boat harbour with a marina, ramps and fuel |
| Entrance | Dredged channel. MSQ CC-A warns it may shoal between dredging |
| Inside | No anchoring in the harbour (MSQ CC-A); public moorings shown outside |
| Islands | Great Keppel (Wapparaburra) lies about 7 miles east-south-east |
| Map age | MSQ CC-1 and CC-A current to 16 June 2014. Old, so lean on the chart |
Getting here
- Phone (07) 4933 6600 (listed on the MRQ website)
- Emergency: VHF 16 or Triple Zero (000)
Rosslyn Bay is a breakwater harbour, not a surf bar, but its entrance channel shoals. QF11 Yeppoon is the local volunteer rescue unit; ring them before you head out to the islands.
Contacts checked on the unit's official website on 19 October 2026: www.mrq.qld.gov.au/rescue-units/qf11-yeppoon.The harbour. MSQ's Rosslyn Bay enlargement shows the marina, the fuel berth, the fishermen's area, public ramps and toilets inside, and public moorings in the bay. It also carries two warnings: no anchoring inside the boat harbour, and the entrance channel may shoal between dredging. Come in slowly near low water and watch the sounder.
From the south. NGA says an extensive shoal under 3.6 m runs from about 1.5 miles east of Double Head towards Great Keppel Island. Give it room if you're cutting the corner from Keppel Bay.
Old map. The Capricorn Coast booklet is the oldest on this stretch (June 2014), and MSQ notes depth contours weren't resurveyed after the 2011 and 2013 floods. Use the current chart.
Anchoring and berths
- Keppel Bay Marina. The marina's own site says the office is open 7 am to 5 pm, seven days, and that bookings are essential.
- Great Keppel. NGA describes it as the largest of the Keppel islands, inhabited, with islets, rocks and banks off each side that are best seen on the chart. There's a light hut on the east point. OpenStreetMap names several bays around it, including Clam Bay, Butterfish Bay, Considine Bay and Wreck Bay. Pick one for the wind and check the zoning first.
- Other islands. NGA describes North Keppel Island, 7.5 miles NE of Double Head, with a spit of foul ground running 1.5 miles south from it past Pumpkin and Sloping islands.
Facilities
- Fuel at the harbour (MSQ CC-A).
- Ramps. Two public ramps, 4 lanes each with pontoons (TMR), plus Fig Tree Creek ramp nearby.
- Town. Yeppoon is a few kilometres north, with shops and services.
Rules in brief
- Marine park. The Keppel islands are in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. Check the zones on the Reef Authority's zoning maps before fishing or anchoring near reef.
- Notices. Capricorn Coast notices cover the harbour and the islands.
Ashore
What's within about a 15-minute walk (1.2 km) of each marina, ramp or landing on this page, measured along streets and footpaths in OpenStreetMap. Addresses are from OpenStreetMap where it has one; where it doesn't, we show the name and distance only. ⚠ As at 18 October 2026: we haven't confirmed each place is still trading, so check before you walk.
From Rosslyn Bay Boat Harbour / Rosslyn Bay ramp (north) / Rosslyn Bay ramp (south) (boat ramp / dinghy landing, marina)
| Name | Type | Walk | Street address (OSM) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Restaurants and cafes | |||
| The Waterline Restaurant | Restaurant | 160 m | 1 Waterline Way |
| Beaches Restaurant | Restaurant | 480 m | 34 Vine Jones Memorial Drive, 4703 |
| Entertainment | |||
| Ferry to Great Keppel Island | Attraction | 70 m | – |
| Keppel Konnections | Attraction | 90 m | – |
No marine stores or chandlers are mapped in OpenStreetMap within the walk; see the Facilities section above for marine businesses we know of.
Places, types, addresses and walking distances: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), fetched 18 October 2026.
About this page
These are free planning notes written by a working delivery skipper from public sources. They are not for navigation. Use the official chart, current MSQ notices to mariners, official tide tables and local advice. Spotted something out of date? Please use Report a correction below.
Official links
Check these before you go. They beat anything on this page.
- MSQ notices to mariners, Capricorn Coast outside pilotage areas (1770 to Shoalwater Bay)
- Keppel Bay Marina (business site)
- Reef Authority (GBRMPA): zoning maps, all areas
- Reef Authority: know your zones
- MSQ: crossing a coastal bar (safety advice)
- Queensland notices to mariners, all areas (subscribe)
- MSQ Queensland tide tables
- Bureau of Meteorology: tide predictions
- Bureau of Meteorology: Queensland warnings (incl. marine wind warnings)
- Bureau of Meteorology: Queensland coastal waters forecasts
Sources & credits
Written in our own words from MSQ Beacon to Beacon Capricorn Coast sheet CC-1 and enlargement A Rosslyn Bay Boat Harbour (both current to 16 June 2014) (read 19 October 2026; each MSQ sheet carries its own 'information current to' date, quoted on the page), NGA Pub. 127 Sailing Directions (Enroute) East Coast of Australia and New Zealand (2025), the MSQ notices-to-mariners listings on publications.qld.gov.au (notices named on the page read in full on 19 October 2026; notice lists rechecked 27 October 2026), the Queensland Government (TMR) recreational boating facilities list (fetched 19 October 2026), Marine Rescue Queensland unit pages (checked 19 October 2026), Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority zoning pages (linked, not reproduced) and OpenStreetMap. NGA Pub. 127 paras 5.50 and 5.53 (Keppel islands, Double Head). Keppel Bay Marina website (fact only, 19 October 2026). MSQ Capricorn Coast notices list checked 19 October 2026.
Maritime Safety Queensland. Contains Maritime Safety Queensland data (Beacon to Beacon guide, notices to mariners, nav-aid open data, port procedures maps, tide information) © State of Queensland (Department of Transport and Main Roads), licensed under CC BY 4.0. Facts restated and summarised in our own words. Not endorsed by MSQ or TMR.
Queensland legislation. Transport Operations (Marine Safety) Regulation 2016 and Transport Infrastructure (Waterways Management) Regulation 2012 © State of Queensland, CC BY 4.0. Summarised; the authorised versions at legislation.qld.gov.au prevail.
NGA. Background from NGA Pub. 127, Sailing Directions (Enroute) East Coast of Australia and New Zealand (2025), U.S. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, a US Government work in the public domain. Parts of it are out of date; where a page leans on it, we say so. Not endorsed by NGA.
OpenStreetMap. Map tiles and some facility positions © OpenStreetMap contributors, data available under the Open Database Licence (ODbL).
Others. Facts from local authority pages and notices (for example the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, Queensland Parks and Defence notices), volunteer marine rescue sites and businesses' own websites are cited for fact only and restated in our own words. Listing a business is not an endorsement.
Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority. Zoning maps and plans of management are linked, not reproduced; the official maps and the zoning plan prevail.
Last checked: 27 October 2026.
Need a boat moved to or from Rosslyn Bay?
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