Queens Beach / Queensland / Australia

This attractive, curving bay is definitely not one for beginners, but for those who have the appropriate experience it is a great place to be.  In addition to the sport side of things, there is plenty of wildlife to watch including dolphins and turtles. 

The beach is quite short at this point, and the size of it will vary with the tide – it almost disappears at high tide.  Launching isn’t easy as the area is only small and above an embankment with sharp rocks underfoot, so you’ll need to be careful; and wear boots.  It is also a popular location for visitors and will frequently be crowded.

You get a mixture of thermal and frontal winds here, and they are best when coming in from the north or northeast.  The speed varies between 10 and 20 knots or thereabouts, and it is a decent wind for most of the year with only the winter being a bit poor.  The water is deep, clean but cloudy, and there is usually a lot of chop around but it can occasionally be flat or have some small waves.

This is a very quiet seaside town, and it doesn’t provide much in the way of entertainment or nightlife.  There are a few places available for accommodation and a couple of decent restaurants if you want to hang out round here though.  Access to the beach is easy enough, you’ll just need to drive to one of the nearby streets then park up and take a short walk across the grass.

This isn’t an easy place to stay safe.  Submerged reefs, stingrays, sharks, are all seen round here.  Locals will let you know quite forcefully if they think you don’t know what you are doing.