Great Sandy Strait & Wide Bay cruising guide
The Great Sandy Strait runs about 40 miles between K'gari and the mainland, from the Wide Bay Bar in the south to Hervey Bay in the north. It's sheltered, tidal, shallow in the middle and wonderful to cruise. NGA says only those with local knowledge should navigate it, and the least depth through the banks near Sheridan Flats is normally 0.6 to 1.4 m, so plan the tide. The Wide Bay Bar is the big one: MSQ marks it with AIS virtual aids, resurveys it often, and names MRQ Tin Can Bay as the place for current conditions.
- 1Wide Bay Bar & Double Island Point · Bar crossing + open-coast anchorage
- 2Tin Can Bay & Snapper Creek · Boat harbour + inlet anchorages
- 3Southern Great Sandy Strait · Strait passage + anchorages
- 4Mary River, River Heads & Maryborough · River + town berths
- 5Kingfisher Bay & the Northern Strait · Island resort + anchorages
Guides in this region, south to north
Wide Bay Bar & Double Island Point
Bar crossing + open-coast anchorage
Crossing the Wide Bay Bar into the Great Sandy Strait: waypoints, the Double Island Point anchorage, Inskip and when to wait.
Tin Can Bay & Snapper Creek
Boat harbour + inlet anchorages
Tin Can Bay and Snapper Creek: the boat harbour, fuel, anchorages in Tin Can Inlet and Carlo Point, and getting in from Wide Bay.
Southern Great Sandy Strait
Strait passage + anchorages
Southern Great Sandy Strait passage notes: the shallow middle bit, Garry's Anchorage, Ungowa, Poona, Boonooroo and Tuan.
Mary River, River Heads & Maryborough
River + town berths
River Heads ramps and ferries, the Mary River up to Maryborough, Susan River and where to stop. Free notes. Not for navigation.
Kingfisher Bay & the Northern Strait
Island resort + anchorages
Kingfisher Bay, Moon Point and the K'gari west-coast anchorages in the northern Great Sandy Strait: shelter, ferries and shore.
Entrances from the sea
- Wide Bay Bar & Double Island Point: Designated coastal bar with AIS virtual aids. MSQ: local knowledge only. Ring MRQ Tin Can Bay first.
Before any bar crossing, read MSQ's bar advice and the current notices to mariners. Depths on bars change between surveys.
Neighbouring regions
About these guides
These are planning notes written by a working delivery skipper from public sources: MSQ maps and notices, NGA Pub. 127 and OpenStreetMap. They are not for navigation. Use the official AHO charts, current MSQ notices to mariners, official tide tables and local advice. Each page shows when its facts were last checked and flags anything dated or unconfirmed.
Sources & credits
Maritime Safety Queensland. Contains Maritime Safety Queensland data (Beacon to Beacon guide, notices to mariners, nav-aid open data, pump-out map C2-335, speed-limit schedule, 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 Gold Coast Waterways Authority), 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.
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