⚠ 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.

Brampton, Keswick & Seaforth

No MSQ Beacon to Beacon map covers this waterMSQ's Beacon to Beacon series stops at Keppel Bay. Use the official chart, plus these official maps:Reef Authority zoning Map 12: MackayReef Authority zoning maps (all)MSQ Beacon to Beacon guides (index)
Island anchorages · Egremont Pass · mainland rampLast checked: 27 October 2026Report a correction

North of Mackay the Cumberland Islands start: high, wooded, pine-covered islands with deep water between them and a good choice of anchorages. The southern ones, Brampton and Carlisle, Keswick and St Bees, and Scawfell further out, are a nice first night out of Mackay or a quieter alternative to the busy Whitsundays. On the mainland opposite, Seaforth has a decent public ramp.

Map of the southern Cumberland Islands with markers for Maryport Bay on Carlisle Island, Brampton Island, the off-station Hesket Rock buoy, Horseshoe Bay on Keswick Island, St Bees Island and the Seaforth ramp at Victor Creek.
Southern Cumberlands and Seaforth. Blue: anchorages; green: ramps; red: hazard; purple: features. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL). Positions are approximate and for orientation only. Not a chart. Not for navigation.
  1. 1Maryport Bay, Carlisle Island · OSM.
  2. 2Brampton Island · OSM.
  3. 3Hesket Rock buoy, off station (477/2026) · Fl(1)5s.
  4. 4Horseshoe Bay, Keswick Island · OSM.
  5. 5St Bees Island · OSM.
  6. 6Seaforth ramp, Victor Creek · TMR PI21, 4 lanes.

At a glance
What it is Southern Cumberland Islands plus a mainland ramp
Brampton and Carlisle Joined by a drying reef and sandbar (NGA)
Keswick and St Bees Separated by Egremont Pass (NGA)
Seaforth ramp Victor Creek, 4 lanes, pontoon, toilets (TMR)
Maps No MSQ Beacon to Beacon map. Chart and Reef Authority Map 12

Getting here

From Mackay. It's a short hop north. NGA describes the islands as mostly high, rocky and thickly wooded, particularly with pines, which makes them easy to pick out.

Marks. NGA lists a light on a rock off the west end of Brampton Island. ⚠ 477/2026 (28 August 2026): the south cardinal buoy at Hesket Rock, near Carlisle Island, is off station at about 20°48.094'S 149°18.234'E, and its light has been changed to Fl(1)5s. Don't trust it as a mark until MSQ says it's fixed.

Anchoring

  • Maryport Bay, Carlisle Island. On the west side of Carlisle. NGA says it's sheltered except in winds from NE round to W.
  • Egremont Pass. Between Keswick and St Bees. NGA gives an anchorage in the north entrance of the pass in 16 m, about 0.5 mile west of Schooner Rock, and says small vessels with local knowledge can shelter in the pass, but with care.
  • Scawfell Island. NGA gives good shelter in 13 m in Refuge Bay, on the north-west side.
  • Cockermouth Island. NGA gives a deep spot (27 m) about 0.5 mile north of its north-west end.

Facilities

  • Seaforth. The Victor Creek ramp (TMR) has 4 lanes, a pontoon and toilets.
  • Islands. OpenStreetMap shows a barge ramp on Keswick Island. There's no fuel on any of these islands that we could confirm. Fuel up at Mackay.

Seaforth: which one?

There are two. Seaforth town is on the mainland, with the ramp above. Seaforth Island is a small island just south of Lindeman Island, further north in the Lindeman Group. NGA rates its anchorage in 13 m, about 0.5 mile east of the north end, among the better ones in that group. If someone says "meet you at Seaforth", ask which one.

Rules in brief

  • Marine park. These islands are in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. Check the zones on Map 12 before fishing or anchoring near reef.
  • Notices. Central Queensland and Mackay notices cover these waters.

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.

Nothing mapped within the 15-minute walk of: Maryport Bay, Carlisle Island; Horseshoe Bay, Keswick Island; Seaforth ramp, Victor Creek.

OpenStreetMap shows no bars, restaurants, shops or marine stores within a 15-minute walk of the landings on this page.

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.

Sources & credits

Written in our own words from NGA Pub. 127 para 7.27 and the Lindeman Group notes (no MSQ Beacon to Beacon map covers these islands) (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. MSQ notice 477/2026 (28 August 2026, Hesket Rock buoy) read in full on 19 October 2026. A Mackay and Whitsundays advice on feral animal control at St Bees Island is listed but would not download (HTTP 403), so it is not summarised.

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.

Spotted something wrong or out of date? Tell us if a mark or an anchorage has changed. Report a correction and tell us what you saw and when.
Last checked: 27 October 2026.

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