Guide to Deception Bay Queensland Australia

Deception Bay is a residential suburb on the shore of the bay of the same name, about 35 kilometres north of Brisbane between the Redcliffe Peninsula and Caboolture. Its attraction for visitors is a long, peaceful foreshore of parks and paths, with broad tidal flats that draw wading birds, a set of historic bathing pools cut into the rock, and easy fishing and boating.

Known For

• A long foreshore of parks and shared paths
• Tidal flats and migratory shorebirds
• The heritage Bancroft bathing pools

The suburb faces north-east across a shallow bay towards Bribie Island and the Glass House Mountains. The Esplanade follows the water for several kilometres, lined with parkland. Shops and services are a little inland, and the large retail centre of North Lakes is ten minutes away.

This is a quiet place, short on attractions in the usual sense, and best enjoyed with a bicycle, a fishing rod or a pair of binoculars.

Things To Do in Deception Bay

The Foreshore

A shared path runs along the Esplanade through a chain of parks with barbecues, shelters, playgrounds and exercise stations. The bay is so shallow that at low tide the water withdraws for close to a kilometre, exposing sand and mud flats, and at high tide it laps gently against the sea wall. Sunrise and moonrise over the water are highlights.

Bancroft Baths

In the 1880s Dr Joseph Bancroft, a Brisbane physician and scientist who had a property here, had bathing pools cut into the sandstone of the shore so his family could bathe safely at any tide. The rectangular pools survive and are heritage listed, and a memorial nearby records his research into tropical diseases, native plants and food preservation. They are an unusual relic of colonial seaside life.

Birdwatching

The flats and mangroves of Deception Bay are part of the Moreton Bay Ramsar wetland. From September to April they host migratory shorebirds that have flown from Siberia and Alaska, including godwits, curlews and sandpipers, along with resident pelicans, oystercatchers, herons and ospreys. The best viewing is on a rising tide, when the birds are pushed towards the shore. Keep dogs on a lead near the roosts.

Fishing and Boating

Whiting, bream and flathead are caught from the shore and from small boats, and the bay is known for sand crabs and mud crabs. Public boat ramps give access to the bay and to the Caboolture River and Pumicestone Passage. The calm water also suits kayaks and stand-up paddleboards around high tide.

Heritage Trail

Signs along the foreshore describe the history of the area, from Aboriginal fishing and the visit of the explorer John Oxley to the meat-canning works that operated here in the nineteenth century.

Where To Stay

Deception Bay has little tourist accommodation.

A few motels and holiday rentals operate in and around the suburb, and hotels and serviced apartments are available at North Lakes, close to the motorway and the shopping centre.

Caravan parks are found at nearby Beachmere and on the Redcliffe Peninsula, where there is also a wider range of holiday apartments.

Most visitors come for a few hours from Brisbane or stop on the way to the Sunshine Coast.

Eat & Drink

Dining is simple. Local shopping centres have cafes, bakeries, takeaway shops and a tavern with a bistro, and fish and chips from a shop near the Esplanade can be eaten in the foreshore parks.

North Lakes has a large choice of restaurants and a cinema, and the seafood market and waterfront cafes of Scarborough are 15 minutes away.

History

Deception Bay is in the country of the Gubbi Gubbi people. It was named in 1823 by John Oxley, who at first took the shallow bay for the mouth of a river and recorded his disappointment in the name.

Graziers took up land in the 1860s, and Dr Bancroft established an experimental farm and a meatworks on the shore in the 1880s. The area stayed rural until the 1970s, when it began to develop as an affordable residential suburb.

Getting to Deception Bay

By car Deception Bay is about 40 minutes from central Brisbane, leaving the Bruce Highway at the Deception Bay Road exit. Trains run to Rothwell and Mango Hill on the Redcliffe Peninsula line, with connecting buses.

Parking along the Esplanade is free. A car or bicycle is the best way to get around.

Nearest Airport: Brisbane