Great Keppel Island

Great Keppel lies about fifteen kilometres off the Capricorn Coast, a continental island rather than a coral cay, with seventeen beaches of coarse white sand and fringing coral reefs close enough to snorkel from shore at several of them. A large resort operated here from the 1960s and closed in 2008, and the island has been quiet since, with redevelopment repeatedly proposed and stalled; what remains is a scattering of small accommodation, a beach bar and a lot of empty sand. Walking tracks cross the island to quieter bays and a lighthouse, and the coral, while affected by bleaching events, still supports turtles, rays and reef fish in the sheltered bays.

History

The Woppaburra, perhaps 60 to 80 people, lived on the island, Wop-pa, for around 10,000 years, leaving middens of seafood, and James Cook named the Keppel islands in April 1770 after the First Lord of the Admiralty, Augustus Keppel. The naturalist John MacGillivray of HMS Rattlesnake made the first recorded European visit in 1847, and by the end of the 19th century settlers had killed or removed most of the Woppaburra; a pastoral lease began in 1866, Robert Lyons won the lease at auction in 1882, and his stock-keeper William T. Wyndham became the island's first permanent European resident, raising sheep (Wikipedia, Great Keppel Island).

What's there

• The white beaches - seventeen bays, most of them empty on any given day.
• The fringing coral - snorkelling directly from shore at several beaches.
• The walking tracks - routes across the island to remote bays and the lighthouse.
• The closed resort - the abandoned buildings of the old holiday complex.

When to go

April to October for the dry season and calm water; summer brings heat, humidity and marine stingers. Whales pass in winter. Ferries run daily but are weather-dependent, and services thin outside holiday periods.

Things to know

Facilities are limited since the resort closed, with few places to eat and no supermarket; day trippers should bring water and food. The abandoned resort buildings are unsightly. Coral condition varies and has declined in places.

Nearby

Yeppoon and Rosslyn Bay are on the mainland; Rockhampton lies inland.

Key facts