Just a short boat ride from Keppel Bay Marina in Yeppoon, you will find Great Keppel Island – an amazing island where you can experience the beauty of The Southern Great Barrier Reef – one of the 7 wonders of the world.
Not too far from Yeppoon you will find Great Keppel Island – the largest of the eighteen islands in the Keppel Group. Upon arrival we were greeted by glowing turquoise waters, clean sandy beaches and a wonderful array of native flora and fauna.
Eager to explore our new island home we checked in, dropped the bags and donned our swimmers as quick as you can say ‘budgie smugglers’!!
There are 17 beaches here on Great Keppel Island we soon found ourselves on Putney beach, which is only a few lazy steps from our garden cottage at the gorgeous Great Keppel Island Hideaway.
Basking in the warm sun we embraced island time while splashing in the shallows, looking for hermit crabs and climbing on the roots of a few fallen trees – some ‘au natural’ play equipment courtesy of mother nature.
After working up an appetite our focus (as always), soon turns towards food glorious food. With a fully equipped central kitchen and BBQ area you can bring your own food along for your Keppel holiday or you can kick back and treat yourself by dining at the full licensed restaurant and bar.
Great Keppel Island Hideaway offers 3 meals a day this beauty overlooks the glowing turquoise waters and surrounding islands. With cruisy island beats playing it has great atmosphere providing the perfect backdrop to relax, enjoy a meal and wash it all down with a tasty cocktail or cappuccino.
Eager to see what lives below these sparkling clear waters, our island days are jam packed full of fun adventures. Heading out on a glass bottom boat tour with Freedom Fast Cats was a great introduction.
Our mini blondies were captivated by the views below our boat as we cruised over vibrant flowing soft corals, huge stag-horn formations and loads of happy fish swimming about doing fishy things.
Our captain shared some valuable information about the the reef and all its inhabitants as we chugged around, stopping off to feed the humongous Estuary Cods and Coral Trout and watching some cheeky Dolphins play around our boat.
After that impressive display it was definitely time for us to don our masks and snorkels.
The most accessible snorkelling spot is a short 25 minute walk along Fishermans Beach and up over the headland. It’s a great little walk showcasing the beach, bush and epic island views as you climb over the southern headland.
As always navigating these walks with kids takes a little longer but we all made it happily with plenty of energy left to explore the underwater world.
The sandy beach of Shelving Beach is a great spot for kids and beginner snorkelers as it provides an easy entrance with a sandy bottom bordering the shallow reef.
Fully immersed in this underwater wonderland we spotted glowing clams, colourful fish and huge turtles. We were also lucky to see a few other unique species like a flying gurnard fish and the bearded ghoul fish.
Phew, what an awesome adventure …and to top it off, we crossed paths with a happy little echidna rooting around the beach track on our journey home.
Each day of our Great Keppel Island adventures ended with the most amazing sunset over the water and in true Aussie spirit, we made sure we were in prime position, at the beach, with a cool drink in hand. Cheers to living.
