Guide to Capricorn Coast Queensland Australia

The Capricorn Coast is the stretch of shoreline east of Rockhampton, straddling the Tropic of Capricorn. It runs for about 50 kilometres from the forests of Byfield in the north to the fishing village of Keppel Sands in the south, with Yeppoon and Emu Park as its two towns and the Keppel islands offshore.

Known For

• Thirteen beaches along the Scenic Highway
• The Keppel islands
• Byfield’s rainforest creeks and wild northern beaches

This is Rockhampton’s seaside, and it is an easy, uncrowded coast to explore: small headlands of volcanic rock, long quiet beaches between them, calm water sheltered by the reef and the islands, and a hinterland of pineapple farms and bush.

Things To Do in Capricorn Coast

Drive the Scenic Highway

The road between Yeppoon and Emu Park hugs the coast for 20 kilometres, passing Wreck Point lookout, Lammermoor and Kemp beaches, the headland walks of Capricorn Coast National Park, Rosslyn Bay harbour, the tidal Causeway Lake and Kinka Beach. Allow half a day with stops.

Visit the islands

Great Keppel Island is half an hour by ferry from Rosslyn Bay and can be done as a day trip. Smaller national park islands are open for camping, and tiny Pumpkin Island has eco-cabins.

Swim and walk

Yeppoon has a free beachfront lagoon, and Yeppoon and Emu Park both have patrolled beaches. The Bluff Point circuit and the Double Head track above Rosslyn Bay are short walks with big views.

Head north to Byfield

Byfield, 40 kilometres north of Yeppoon, has rainforest swimming holes and, for four-wheel drives, tracks to some of the most remote beaches on this coast.

Fish

The bay, the creeks at Corio Bay and Keppel Sands, and the Causeway Lake all fish well for whiting, flathead, bream, barramundi and mud crabs.

Where To Stay

Yeppoon has the widest choice of apartments, motels and holiday parks. Emu Park and Zilzie are quieter, and there are caravan parks at most of the beaches between.

Eat & Drink

Eat on the esplanade at Yeppoon, by the boats at Rosslyn Bay, or at the pub in Emu Park. Seafood, pineapples and mangoes are local.

History

The coast is Darumbal country and the islands are Woppaburra country. Cook sailed through Keppel Bay in May 1770. Emu Park became Rockhampton’s seaside resort in the 1880s, and Yeppoon followed in the early 1900s.

Getting to Capricorn Coast

Yeppoon is 40 kilometres from Rockhampton and Emu Park 45, on separate roads that make an easy loop with the Scenic Highway. Rockhampton has the airport and railway station.