Remote K'gari Fraser Island Boat Tour with Lunch from Hervey Bay

Urangan and the Great Sandy Strait

The day begins with pickup from your Hervey Bay accommodation and a short drive to the Great Sandy Straits Marina in Urangan, where the boat is waiting. Leaving the marina you pass the long timber line of Urangan Pier, then head into the Great Sandy Strait, the shallow, protected channel that separates K'gari from the mainland. The strait is a Ramsar-listed wetland of mangroves, seagrass meadows and sand islands, and it shelters dugongs, green turtles and resident dolphins that the crew look for on the way across.

The crossing itself is part of the experience, with commentary on the islands and birdlife and, between mid-July and October, the humpback whales that rest in these waters on their migration. The sea is usually calm because the island blocks the ocean swell, which makes this a comfortable cruise even for people who are not used to boats. Morning tea is served on the way.

The remote western coast of K'gari

Most Fraser Island tours concentrate on the eastern beach and the inland lakes, but the western side facing the strait is a different world: mangrove-fringed creeks, white sandspits, quiet bays and beaches that can only be reached by boat. This is the side the tour explores, anchoring off a secluded beach where there are no vehicles and often no other people. K'gari is the largest sand island in the world and has been World Heritage listed since 1992, and here you see why, with forest growing straight out of the dunes behind the sand.

The crew take you ashore by tender and you have the beach as your base for the middle of the day. If you have been wondering whether the remote side of K'gari is worth visiting compared with a 4WD day trip, the answer for water lovers is yes: it is calmer, cooler and far less crowded, and the wildlife is closer.

Guided walks: bush, forest and Butchulla stories

Once ashore your guides lead walks into the vegetation behind the beach, through coastal heath and paperbark into tall forest. They explain how rainforest can grow on sand, point out the trees used by the Butchulla people for tools and medicine, and show you signs of the island's wildlife, from goanna tracks to the nests of sea eagles. Guides share the Butchulla history of the island, whose name means paradise, and the story of how it came to be protected.

The walks are relaxed and suitable for children, usually 30 to 60 minutes at an easy pace, with time to stop and ask questions. Wear shoes that cope with sand and bring a hat, because the forest opens onto dunes in places. Between the walks and the water activities you can simply sit in the shade and watch the strait.

Swimming, kayaking and snorkelling off the beach

The water on the western side is calm and clear, so you can swim straight off the beach, paddle a kayak along the shore to peer into the mangrove edges, or put on a mask and snorkel to look for rays, small fish and sometimes turtles over the sand and seagrass. The boat carries kayaks and snorkelling gear for everyone, and the crew give a short safety talk before the activities begin.

For a shot of adrenaline there are tube rides: you sit in an inflatable towed behind the boat for a fast, splashy loop across the bay, a favourite with teenagers. Between activities there is a buffet lunch, with most dietary requirements catered for when you tell us in advance. Towels, swimwear and sunscreen are the three things to remember, because they are not provided.

Whales, dolphins and wildlife of the strait

Hervey Bay is famous for humpback whales, which pause here on their southward migration to rest with their calves in the sheltered water east of the strait. From mid-July to October the tour includes whale sightings on the cruise, and the sight of a whale breaching with K'gari's forest behind it is the moment many guests remember most. Outside the whale season the strait still delivers: bottlenose and humpback dolphins, green turtles, dugongs grazing on seagrass and sea eagles overhead.

The crew know where to look and slow the boat when something appears. The afternoon return across the strait, with afternoon tea served on deck, is the best time for photographs, with the sun lower and the island's dunes glowing behind you. The boat arrives back in Urangan around 17:00 and our driver returns you to your accommodation.