Guide to Rainbow Beach Queensland Australia

Rainbow Beach is a small, sandy-footed town on the Cooloola coast, about three hours north of Brisbane and an hour east of Gympie. It sits at the end of the road, hemmed in by national park on every side, with a long surf beach in front and cliffs of coloured sand running away to the south. It is also the southern gateway to K’gari (Fraser Island), whose tip lies a ten-minute barge ride from nearby Inskip Point.

Known For

• Cliffs of coloured sand in dozens of shades
• Carlo Sand Blow and its views over the coast
• The quickest crossing to K’gari, from Inskip Point

The town has a single main street leading down to the surf club and the beach, with a pub, cafes, tour offices and a few shops. About 1,200 people live here, joined by backpackers heading for the island, four-wheel-drive travellers and families who have been camping in the district for generations. Great Sandy National Park wraps around it: forest, lakes and high dunes to the south, and the low, sandy peninsula of Inskip to the north.

Things To Do in Rainbow Beach

The coloured sands

South of the town, sand cliffs up to 200 metres high are stained in bands of cream, yellow, orange, red and brown by iron and other minerals. Walk along the beach at low tide to see them at close range; it is about two kilometres to the first of the big cliffs. In a Kabi Kabi story the colours came from the rainbow spirit Yiningie, killed in a fight above the beach.

Carlo Sand Blow

A walk of about 600 metres through forest from the top of Cooloola Drive leads to this vast bowl of bare sand, covering some 15 hectares on top of the cliffs. The view sweeps from Double Island Point to Inskip Point and K’gari, with Tin Can Inlet behind. Sunrise and sunset are the best times, and hang-gliders and paragliders often launch from the edge. Keep off the steep faces, which erode easily.

Inskip Point and K’gari

Inskip Point is a narrow sand peninsula 15 minutes north of town, with beach camping under the casuarinas and the landing for the vehicle barges to K’gari. The crossing to Hook Point takes about ten minutes and runs through the day, depending on tides. A four-wheel drive and a vehicle permit are needed on the island; day tours and hire vehicles with briefings are available in town for those without their own.

Double Island Point

With a four-wheel drive and a permit, drive south along the beach or across the Leisha Track to Double Island Point for its lighthouse walk, long surf break and calm lagoon. Kayak and surf tours from Rainbow Beach go there daily, and dolphins, turtles, rays and, in season, whales are regularly seen.

Forest walks and lakes

From the Bymien picnic area, a few kilometres from town, an easy track leads through rainforest to Poona Lake, a tea-coloured perched lake with a white sand beach, about four kilometres return. On the road in from Gympie, Searys Creek has a boardwalk to a clear freshwater swimming hole.

Diving, riding and more

Wolf Rock, off Double Island Point, is one of Australia’s best dive sites, home to grey nurse sharks all year; a dive centre in town runs trips for experienced divers. Horse rides along the beach, surf lessons and skydiving with a beach landing are also on offer.

Where To Stay

Rainbow Beach has holiday apartments and small resorts near the beach, motels, a large caravan park in the middle of town and several backpacker hostels geared to travellers joining island tours.

Campers head for the national park sites at Inskip Point, strung along the peninsula and named after wrecked ships, which have toilets but no water or power and must be booked ahead. Erosion has reduced the space at some of them, so check park alerts. School holidays and long weekends book out early.

Eat & Drink

The Rainbow Beach Hotel, a big timber pub in plantation style on the main street, is the place for a meal and a drink on the verandah. The surf club, on the hill above the beach, has a bistro and a deck with a wide ocean view. The main street also has cafes, a bakery, pizza and fish and chips, and an Italian restaurant facing the sea.

History

The coast is the country of the Kabi Kabi people, with the Butchulla to the north. The beach was long known as Back Beach and was visited mainly by fishermen from Tin Can Bay. Mineral sands were mined from the dunes in the 1960s and 1970s, and the mining company built the road and the first town buildings; the name Rainbow Beach was adopted in 1969. After mining ended in 1976 and the dunes were added to the national park, the town turned to tourism.

Getting to Rainbow Beach

From the Bruce Highway at Gympie, follow Tin Can Bay Road and Rainbow Beach Road for about 75 kilometres. With a four-wheel drive, the town can also be reached from Noosa along the beach and inland tracks of the Cooloola coast. Coaches run from Brisbane and from Hervey Bay most days.