Hervey Bay & Bundaberg cruising guide
From Urangan at the top of the strait, the coast runs north-west round Hervey Bay past Burrum Heads and Woodgate to Burnett Heads and the Port of Bundaberg. Urangan and Bundaberg Port Marina are the two big stops, with the Burnett River leading up to Bundaberg town. Hervey Bay itself is shallow and gives little shelter in north-westerlies, and NGA warns that haze often comes with them. Bundaberg is the jumping-off point for the Bunker and Capricorn groups, which are next on our list.
- 1Urangan Boat Harbour & Hervey Bay · Marina / boat harbour
- 2Burrum Heads & Woodgate · Shallow river entrance + coastal stop
- 3Burnett Heads & Bundaberg Port Marina · Port entrance + marinas
- 4Burnett River to Bundaberg · River to town
Guides in this region, south to north
Urangan Boat Harbour & Hervey Bay
Marina / boat harbour
Urangan Boat Harbour, Great Sandy Strait Marina, fuel, haul-out and the Hervey Bay foreshore: free planning notes for skippers.
Burrum Heads & Woodgate
Shallow river entrance + coastal stop
Burrum Heads, the Burrum River entrance, Toogoom and Woodgate: shallow bars, ramps and anchoring between Hervey Bay and Bundaberg.
Burnett Heads & Bundaberg Port Marina
Port entrance + marinas
Entering Burnett Heads, Bundaberg Port Marina, Burnett Heads Boat Harbour, customs and the port rules: free notes. Not for navigation.
Burnett River to Bundaberg
River to town
Going up the Burnett River from the heads to Bundaberg town: channel, bridges, the barrage, moorings and shore access.
Entrances from the sea
- Burnett Heads & Bundaberg Port Marina: Dredged port entrance on leading lights. Strong streams, and ships in the channel.
- Burrum Heads & Woodgate: Shifting bar. MSQ: local knowledge needed even in shallow boats.
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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