Kingfisher Bay & the Northern Strait
North of River Heads the strait widens out, and the K'gari shore turns into a string of sandy bays, creeks and lagoons: Kingfisher Bay with its resort and ferry jetty, the Wangoolba Creek and Urang Creek barge landings, Moon Point, and Big and Little Woody islands out in the middle. It's lovely sheltered cruising in the usual south-easterly, and a lee shore when the wind goes west. Across the water, Urangan Boat Harbour is only a few miles away for fuel and supplies.
- Kingfisher Bay jetty position on the map is approximate; OpenStreetMap had no named jetty in our download.
- 1Kingfisher Bay jetty (approx.) · Resort ferry jetty, approximate.
- 2Urang Creek barge landing · OSM.
- 3Wangoolba Creek ferry · OSM.
At a glance
| What it is | Northern Great Sandy Strait along the west coast of K'gari |
| Shelter | Good in E to SE winds. Exposed to westerlies |
| Landings | Kingfisher Bay resort jetty, Wangoolba Creek and Urang Creek barge landings |
| Hazards | Ship navigation area off the strait entrance (MSQ GSS-2 and GSS-4) |
| Map age | MSQ GSS-2 and GSS-4 current to 28 January 2016 |
| Rescue | MRQ Hervey Bay covers the strait north of Stewart Island |
Getting here
From Urangan, it's a short run east across the strait. From the south, the channel comes up from River Heads past Big Woody Island. MSQ's GSS-2 and GSS-4 sheets cover this water, and both carry a caution for the ship navigation area, so keep a lookout for anything big. NGA gives one important bit of advice for coming in from Hervey Bay: keep in more than 13 m until you have an accurate position. The banks off the northern end of the strait are broad.
Anchoring
MSQ's GSS-4 sheet, which covers Kingfisher Bay, Picnic Island and Big Woody Island, marks an anchorage in this stretch. We haven't matched the symbol to a spot on the map image, and our sources don't give holding or depths. North of here, NGA describes Platypus Bay on the eastern side of Hervey Bay as good anchorage in 13 to 24 m, sheltered from winds between SE and N, with a short sea in onshore winds. Small vessels can anchor in Lagoon Anchorage, 3 miles north of Triangle Cliff, in 7 to 11 m, 0.5 to 1.5 miles offshore. That's a longer passage up the island, but it's the classic place to sit out a south-easter.
Skipper's notes
Garry's own observations from deliveries through Kingfisher Bay & the Northern Strait. First-hand notes, dated, and no substitute for the chart.
- Depth
- [Garry to add: depths seen, state of tide and date.]
- Holding
- [Garry to add: bottom type and how the anchor held.]
- Shelter
- [Garry to add: wind directions it is good or bad in.]
- Other notes
- [Garry to add: anything else worth knowing, with date.]
- To check
- [Garry to add: Kingfisher Bay anchorage: holding, and how bad it gets in a westerly.]
- To check
- [Garry to add: Can visiting yachts land at the resort jetty?]
- To check
- [Garry to add: Other west-coast spots you use (Moon Point, Big Woody Island).]
Notes last updated: [date]
Facilities
Kingfisher Bay has a resort with eateries and a ferry jetty, but our sources don't say whether visiting yachts can use it. There's no fuel, chandlery or marina on this side of the strait. Go to Urangan for those.
Rules in brief
- K'gari is national park and World Heritage. Camping and vehicle access need Queensland Parks permits. Be dingo-safe ashore.
- Marine park. The strait and Platypus Bay are in the Great Sandy Marine Park.
- Ferries. Keep clear of the barges at the landings.
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 Kingfisher Bay jetty (approx.) (marina)
| Name | Type | Walk | Street address (OSM) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bars, pubs and clubs | |||
| Sunset Bar | Bar | 170 m | – |
| Cool Dingo Bar | Pub | 1.2 km | – |
| Restaurants and cafes | |||
| Sand bar | Restaurant | 110 m | – |
| Seabelle restaurant | Restaurant | 430 m | – |
| Entertainment | |||
| Cool Dingo Tour | Attraction | 470 m | – |
| Dundonga Creek | Attraction | 990 m | – |
| Supermarkets and provisioning | |||
| Village Store | Convenience store | 560 m | – |
Nothing mapped within the 15-minute walk of: Urang Creek barge landing; Wangoolba Creek ferry.
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, Maryborough pilotage area (Wide Bay Bar, Great Sandy Strait, Urangan)
- Queensland Parks: Great Sandy Marine Park zoning app and maps
- Great Sandy Marine Park zoning (Queensland Government)
- 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 Great Sandy Strait sheets GSS-2 and GSS-4 (read 19 October 2026; each 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), Sector 5, the MSQ notices-to-mariners listings on publications.qld.gov.au (titles and dates checked 19 October 2026), the Queensland Government (TMR) recreational boating facilities list (fetched 19 October 2026), Marine Rescue Queensland unit pages (checked 19 October 2026) and OpenStreetMap. NGA Pub. 127 paras 5.36 and 5.38.
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.
Last checked: 19 October 2026.
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