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Peel Island & Dunwich

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Island anchorages · mooring areas · Straddie ferriesLast checked: 18 October 2026Report a correction

Peel Island sits in the middle of southern Moreton Bay, a low island a short sail from Cleveland or Manly, with anchorages marked around it on MSQ's maps. Across the Rainbow Channel, Dunwich on North Stradbroke Island ("Straddie") is where the ferries land, with a ramp, jetty and mooring areas at One Mile, and a brewery, a seafood shop and a supermarket ashore. For cruising boats this is a natural first or last stop for the bay, and the jumping-off point north up the Rous Channel towards Amity and South Passage. Most of the water around Peel is marine park, so read the zones before you fish or drop the pick.

Map of Peel Island and Dunwich on North Stradbroke Island with numbered markers for Peel Island, the One Mile ramp and jetty, the Dunwich ferry terminal, a research buoy in Rainbow Channel, secured pontoons off Peel and a partially submerged vessel in Rous Channel. — Peel Island, Dunwich and the Rainbow and Rous channels. Blue: island; green: ramp; navy: ferry; purple: notices. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL). Positions are approximate and for orientation only. **Not a chart. Not for navigation.**
1Rous Channel partially submerged vessel · Fl Y 2.5s, Aug 2026 (MSQ 466(T)/2026).
2Rainbow Channel research buoy · Yellow special, 'Keep Clear', Dec 2024 (MSQ 610(T)/2024).
3Dunwich, One Mile: Yabby St ramp and jetty · 2 lanes, pontoon, toilets (TMR).
4Peel Island (OSM centroid) · Marine park green and yellow zones; go-slow.
5Dunwich passenger ferry terminal · Straddie ferries (OSM).
6Pontoons secured off Peel Island · Adrift pontoons secured, Aug 2026 (MSQ 447(T)/2026).

At a glance


What it is	Peel Island in mid-bay, and Dunwich, One Mile and Myora on the west side of North Stradbroke Island
Channels	Rainbow Channel runs about 7 miles south from Amity Point to Peel Island (NGA); the Rous Channel leads north
Moorings	Marine park mooring areas at One Mile, Dunwich and Deanbilla Bay
Fuel	None confirmed in our sources; nearest confirmed is Raby Bay, Cleveland
Map age	MSQ Beacon to Beacon maps SMB-2 and SMB-3 current to 9 May 2016
Last checked	18 October 2026

Getting here

From Cleveland or Manly, it's an open-water hop across the bay to Peel. From the north, NGA describes the channel from Amity Point running about 7 miles south to Peel Island. MSQ's open data has 94 aids in this patch, most of them lit, and MSQ's maps name the Welsby and Douglas lights. The 2017 soundings give medians of about 2–3 m.

Things to know:

Rous Channel. MSQ's map warns that the banks around the Rous Channel are always shifting and shoaling may occur. Its buoys have been moved, renumbered or withdrawn at least six times since April 2024, most recently in August 2026 (Rous Channel 3). Use the latest notices, not an old chart.
⚠ August 2026: a yellow buoy (Fl Y 2.5s) marks a partially submerged vessel in the Rous Channel.
⚠ August 2026: two pontoons that had gone adrift were secured off Peel Island while recovery was organised.
⚠ December 2024: yellow research buoys marked "Research Equipment – Keep Clear" were laid in the Rainbow Channel north-west of Dunwich.
⚠ June 2026: some aids off Dunwich were permanently withdrawn.
Coral. MSQ's map warns of coral reef near Peel Island.
Old maps. MSQ says depth contours mostly haven't been re-surveyed since the 2011 and 2013 floods.

Anchoring and moorings

MSQ's maps name Horseshoe Bay on Peel Island and show anchorage symbols around the island, but our sources don't give depths, holding or shelter. Here's what they do give:

Mooring areas (marine park): One Mile (MGA20), Dunwich (MGA21) and Deanbilla Bay (MGA23).
No anchoring on Myora Reef (NAA03), which is also a green zone (MNP22).
Peel Island has a green zone (MNP23) and a conservation park zone (CPZ08), and is a go-slow area (GSA04).
NGA gives a big-ship anchorage off Cleveland with the south end of Peel bearing 110° (see our Cleveland page).

Skipper's notes

Garry's own observations from deliveries through Peel Island & Dunwich. 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.]

Notes last updated: [date]

Facilities

Dunwich: the passenger ferry terminal, plus the One Mile jetty and ramp. ⚠ September 2026: bed-levelling work was proposed at One Mile.
Little Ship Club has a jetty at Dunwich (OpenStreetMap). We haven't confirmed whether it takes visitors.
No marina, fuel or boatyard in our sources on this side of the bay. Cleveland is the nearest town with fuel and trades (see that page).

Rescue. MSQ's maps print VMR North Stradbroke Island (weekends and public holidays), Coast Guard Brisbane and VMR Raby Bay. ⚠ As printed in 2016 and 2021. Confirm current hours and channels.

Fuel, water and pump-out

None confirmed in our sources. The nearest fuel we know of is Raby Bay Marina at Cleveland (unconfirmed 24/7, see that page) or Manly.

Boat ramps

From the Queensland Government (TMR) list, managed by Redland City Council:

Dunwich, Yabby Street (One Mile): two lanes, pontoon, toilets, not tide-limited. TMR also lists the One Mile entrance channel, the Harold Walker Jetty and facilities at Junner Street.

Rules in brief

Marine park. Green zones (no fishing) at Peel Island (MNP23), Myora Reef (MNP22), Amity Banks west (MNP21) and Wanga Wallen Bank (MNP20). Conservation park zones at Peel Island, Goat and Bird islands, and South Passage–Boat Rock. Dunwich is a small general use zone.
Go-slow. Peel Island and Amity Banks.
No anchoring on Myora Reef.

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 Dunwich passenger ferry terminal (marina)

Name	Type	Walk	Street address (OSM)
Bars, pubs and clubs
Straddie Brewing Co.	Pub	580 m	–
Restaurants and cafes
Perry's Seafood	Takeaway	670 m	–
Supermarkets and provisioning
Straddie Bakery	Bakery	530 m	11 Ballow Road, Dunwich
Spar Express	Convenience store	610 m	–
Stradbroke Island Butchery	Butcher	620 m	–
Foodworks	Supermarket	680 m	–

From Dunwich, One Mile: Yabby St ramp and jetty (boat ramp / dinghy landing)

Name	Type	Walk	Street address (OSM)
Restaurants and cafes
Little Ship Club	Restaurant	80 m	–
Entertainment
North Stradbroke Island Historical Museum	Museum	750 m	–

Nothing mapped within the 15-minute walk of: Peel Island (OSM centroid).

No marine stores or chandlers are mapped in OpenStreetMap within the walk; see the Facilities section above for marine businesses we know of.

About this page

This page is a planning aid written by a working delivery skipper from public sources. It is not for navigation. Use the official AHO charts (Aus 236 and Aus 814), 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 fresh words from the facts in the Hartshorne Marine Sailing Directions area guide for Dunwich, Peel Island and the Rous Channel (edition of 16 October 2026, Ashore data added 18 October 2026) and chapter 3 of the Tweed to Mooloolaba guidebook. Those draw on NGA Pub. 127, MSQ Beacon to Beacon maps SMB-2 and SMB-3 (current to 9 May 2016) and the Moreton Bay series (26 August 2021), MSQ notices to mariners to 16 October 2026, the Moreton Bay Marine Park layers and TMR boating-facility data. The Peel Island position is the OpenStreetMap island centroid.

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? Rous Channel buoys get moved often. Tell us what you found. Report a correction and tell us what you saw and when.
Last checked: 18 October 2026.

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