⚠ NOT FOR NAVIGATION. Use official charts and tide tables. This page is a planning aid only. Navigate with the current AHO chart, MSQ notices to mariners, official tide tables and local advice.

Burrum Heads & Woodgate

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Shallow river entrance · ramps · coastal stopLast checked: 19 October 2026Report a correction

Halfway between Urangan and Bundaberg, the Burrum River breaks through the low, wooded coast at Burrum Heads. It's a handy, pretty river with a bar at the mouth, holiday towns on both sides (Burrum Heads to the south and Walkers Point at Woodgate to the north) and the Burrum Coast National Park around it. NGA calls it navigable by small vessels of 1.8 m draft up to Howard, with safe anchorage in 5 m inside the bar. MSQ's own sheet is more cautious, so read both before you commit a keel to it.

Map of the Burrum River entrance with markers for the Burrum Heads ramps and pontoon, Walkers Point at Woodgate, Buxton and Toogoom ramps.
Burrum Heads and Woodgate. Green: ramps and pontoons. Positions from the TMR list. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL). Positions are approximate and for orientation only. Not a chart. Not for navigation.
  1. 1Burrum Heads, Ross St ramp · TMR HB56.
  2. 2Burrum Heads pontoon · TMR HB74.
  3. 3Burrum Heads, Riverview Dr ramp · TMR HB58.
  4. 4Woodgate, Walkers Point ramp · TMR IS11.
  5. 5Buxton, Powers St ramp · TMR IS31.
  6. 6Toogoom ramp · TMR HB41.

At a glance
What it is River entrance on the western shore of Hervey Bay
NGA Navigable by 1.8 m draft to Howard, 14 miles upriver. Bar and channel beaconed. Safe anchorage in 5 m within the bar
MSQ ⚠ HB-8: "channels and banks are constantly shifting", and the shoaling entrance needs local knowledge even for shallow-draught vessels
Ramps Several at Burrum Heads, Walkers Point, Buxton and Toogoom (TMR)
Map age MSQ HB-7 and HB-8 current to 31 May 2023
Rescue MRQ Hervey Bay covers waters to Theodolite Creek; MRQ Bundaberg north of that

Getting here

From seaward, NGA describes Burrum Point, 15.5 miles SE of Elliott Heads, as a thickly wooded point visible from the Great Sandy Strait fairway buoy, with the river entrance 2 miles SSW of it showing a clear opening in the coast. The bar and channel are marked by beacons. MSQ's HB-8 sheet covers the entrance and the river past Walkers Point and Buxton, and carries a red warning that the channels and banks are constantly shifting and that the shoaling entrance needs local knowledge even for shallow-draught boats. HB-7 covers the coast from Toogoom to Woodgate, with enlargements of the Toogoom entrance and Theodolite Creek.

Anchoring

NGA gives safe anchorage in 5 m inside the bar. Our sources don't pin it to a spot, and MSQ's warning suggests the deep water moves. Off the open coast, Hervey Bay gives little shelter in north-westerlies (NGA).

Skipper's notes

Garry's own observations from deliveries through Burrum Heads & Woodgate. 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: Is the Burrum entrance usable by keelboats, and on what tide?]
To check
[Garry to add: Any anchorage you would use on the Hervey Bay to Bundaberg run.]

Notes last updated: [date]

Facilities

These are holiday villages, with general stores, a pub or club and cafes, but no marina, fuel berth or chandlery in our sources. Bundaberg and Urangan are the places for those.

Boat ramps

From the TMR list: Burrum Heads, Ross Street (2 lanes), Riverview Drive (2 lanes, pontoon) and Burrum Heads Road (1 lane), plus a TMR pontoon; Woodgate, Walkers Point (2 lanes, toilets); Buxton, Powers Street (2 lanes, pontoon); Toogoom (2 lanes, tide-limited); Pacific Haven and Howard upriver.

Rules in brief

  • National park. The Burrum Coast National Park borders the river. Camping needs permits.
  • Speed. General limits apply, with 6 knots near ramps and pontoons where signed.
  • Notices. Check both the Bundaberg and Maryborough lists.

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 Burrum Heads, Ross St ramp / Burrum Heads pontoon / Burrum Heads, Riverview Dr ramp (boat ramp / dinghy landing)

NameTypeWalkStreet address (OSM)
Bars, pubs and clubs
Burrum Heads HotelPub940 m–
Restaurants and cafes
A Taste of Burrum Fish & ChipsTakeaway480 m–
Supermarkets and provisioning
FoodworksSupermarket390 m–
Burrum Heads ButcheryButcher420 m–
Burrum Heads BakeryBakery420 m–
QuickStopConvenience store1.1 km–
Marine stores, chandlers and boat services
Burrum Bait and TackleFishing tackle & bait510 m–

From Toogoom ramp (boat ramp / dinghy landing)

NameTypeWalkStreet address (OSM)
Restaurants and cafes
Goody's On The BeachRestaurant30 m–
Salty Squid CafeRestaurant110 m–

From Buxton, Powers St ramp (boat ramp / dinghy landing)

NameTypeWalkStreet address (OSM)
Supermarkets and provisioning
Buxton General Store QLDConvenience store380 m5 Hume Street

Nothing mapped within the 15-minute walk of: Woodgate, Walkers Point ramp.

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.

Sources & credits

Written in our own words from MSQ Beacon to Beacon Hervey Bay sheets HB-7 and HB-8 (with enlargements D Theodolite Creek and E Toogoom Entrance) (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 para 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.

Spotted something wrong or out of date? The Burrum bar and channels shift constantly. Report a correction and tell us what you saw and when.
Last checked: 19 October 2026.

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