Hervey Bay, (known as “The Bay” by the locals), is a relatively small town of about 53,000 residents, in the South East corner of Queensland, on the Fraser Coast. From the city of Brisbane, it is a 45 minute plane ride or a three and a half hour car ride north, so it is quite easily accessible.
The area boasts an enviable sub-tropical climate with temperatures ranging from 22-30C in summer and 14-23C in winter, with a low
rainfall. Beautiful one day, perfect the next!
Hervey Bay
The waters of Hervey Bay are protected by Fraser Island and offer visitors a safe swimming environment ideal for children. Enjoy a variety of water sports including kayaking, yachting, diving, water and jet skiing, wind surfing and snorkelling, with many other attractions – sailing, fishing, windsurfing, coral viewing, jet-ski, sky-diving, and a famous Shark Show where you can have your photograph taken standing inside the jaws of a shark!
It has about 40 miles of beautiful, safe beaches to enjoy and explore.
It is also the gateway to Fraser Island which is the largest sand island in the world -
a place where you can just relax and unwind.
Lady Elliot Island is within easy reach too – the first coral cay on the Great Barrier Reef.
The Whales
Hervey Bay is often referred to as Queensland’s jewel in the crown, and it has some of the best Whale Watching boat tours in the world; in fact, it is known as the Whale Watching Capital of the World, and is one of the most envied and sought after Whale Watching vacation destinations. The whales have become so relaxed in the Bay, it is also referred to as their own “playground“!
Every year from late July to early November, the Humpback Whales arrive in the Bay, making their regular stop in the Bay’s calm waters with their new calves, on their annual migration to Antarctica.
They are a sight to behold with their playful antics of spectacular breaching and tail flapping! They are one of the most active and acrobatic of species.
Whale Breaching
They seem to get great pleasure from entertaining tourists who venture out on the numerous boat trips to get a closer look at them, sometimes coming quite close to the boat. Experienced crew provide knowledgeable commentary and some boats have sound systems so passengers can hear the whales sing.
On these trips out into the Bay, other marine life can sometimes be seen, including large turtles, dugongs (manatee), and of course, the playful dolphins performing their own antics and cheekily following the boats!
It’s the experience of a lifetime, and not one to be missed!
This photos is awesome!! I bet this beach is really a beauty!
Thank you so much, and thanks for popping in and leaving a comment!
You are welcome!
Gorgeous photos… You did live in a piece of heaven.
I moved to another piece of heaven, Eliz! Will post about it later.
OMG!!! I’m dying to hear about it then.
What a fantastic beach! Apart from the enormous bugs I could feel quite at home there.
I understand the spiders are HUGE
Barb I’m sold on Harvey Bay. Will start saving up for a trip there next summer
You should go there Rayya, you will love it – very relaxed and friendly place.
You take such wonderful pictures!! I bet it was amazing! You probably don’t remember me?? I used to be: “when in the country?” Now it’s: when in the city!! Hope you’re doing good!!
Of course I remember you, and your blog – I think your name is Stephanie, am I right? It’s great to see you here, and I just signed up to your blog again!
Haha! I’m glad you remember me! I intended this blog up north! But even then, I was too busy for my own good! And, yes, even tried blogger again! Don’t know why, hardheaded I guess!! Thanks for signing up! Take care!
Great advertisement for our wonderful country! Love that opening shot! Now, if I could just spend a month there ….
Thanks Robyn – you should try to get up here sometime to see for yourselves. It’s a great place to relax when all your paperwork is finalized and the bureaucrats are satisfied!
I would love to see something about fish! I have 2 large tanks with a variety of fish in them! AND I LOVE MY PETS!
I haven’t written anything about fish, but I have a post on dolphins here
Beautiful place. Your description of this place says it all “Beautiful one day, perfect the next!”
Thanks aRVee!
You’re welcome Barb
Beautiful place and such a great article about the area.
Thanks Cathy, it’s always good to hear from you.
It would be awesome to see the sea life there, especially the whales!
We have some truly amazing marine life here Shell.
The whales are awesome though, and just like the dolphins, they seem to enjoy inter-acting with humans. I think they are as curious about us as we are about them!
ooohhhh…..beautiful beach and water!..and whales, too!
Awesome!
Thank you – they are awesome!
This looks gorgeous! We would love to see whales!
Bella and DiDi
They are magnificent creatures, and very curious about humans!
Hi Barb.
Hervey Bay has really grown over the years. I remember when it was merely a number of villages and now it is recognised as a city. We conducted childrens and teens camps at Barrawinga every year from 1984 to 2001.
I feel shame that as a ‘local’ I haven’t been whale watching. It is something we always meant to do but never got ‘a round tuit’. Now, we probably never will.
Shame on you, a local! However, I only lived up there for four years and never got round to going out on a whale watching trip either! Shame on me!
Nice to see you here Angela – hope Myles is doing well.
What a beautiful place :} Big Oceans, Whales, Blue Waters… it’s like paradise :}
I suppose it is like a paradise; I hope I never take it for granted.
=) Hey by the way Barb, i know that we’re pretty new to your blog, but we’ve decided to nominate you for an award! Thank you for sharing your wonderful photos on your blog, they really light up our day
Here’s the link to the blog post:
http://fluffypopcorn.com/2012/06/05/%E2%98%BAthankful-tuesday/
Congratulations! And I hope you have a beautiful weekend ahead!
Sending love and Poppy hugs,
Popcorn!
Thank you for your kind words about my blog, and for passing on this award – I am delighted to accept!
xoxo
You’re most welcome Barb!
Congratulations once again!
What a wonderful playground, as you named it, for people and whales alike. The water is beautiful. If only it wasn’t so far away….
That’s the drawback for visiting Australia – it’s so far away from everywhere else! It’s the same if I want to visit UK or USA – we went to UK last year but it’s a helluva plane journey.
Gorgeous place. That water is such a beautiful blue. I have always wanted to see whales in real life. Thanks for sharing this place of beauty sweet Barb. Hugs
Well, you will have to come visit me and see them for yourself but I don’t think Chancy and the gang would be happy about you leaving them! Hugs to all.
Gorgeous post, Barb! I could walk for hours on that beach.
I always think of you when I’m on a beach, Nancy! You would love this one.
What a beautiful place – I’d love to be there to see the humpback whales!
It is a beautiful place RD – the whales are waiting for you! I don’t think Daisy would be too impressed if you left her to visit though!
The colour of the water is amazing!
You should work for a travel agency – I so want to visit here
Haha, thanks Tilly!
The water really is that colour – and so clear you can see the ocean floor!
What a place … it almost looks/sounds like a utopia! I’d love to see that for real, also Fraser Island. You live in a wonderful country, Barb!
Reb, you are right, I do live in a wonderful country, and I appreciate it. Our flora and fauna are quite unique and although I live in the sub tropics where the sun shines mercilessly sometimes, we do have colder weather in some of our other states – heck, we even have the Snowy Mountains in New South Wales!
Having said that, you live in a very beautiful part of the world yourself.
Hi,
I have always loved Hervey Bay, a truly beautiful place, and of course the best place I feel to go whale watching. I have also found the people that live there are very nice, the many times we have stayed up there and booked tours etc. we have found that some people will go out of their way to make sure you have a wonderful time while visiting.
I remember you saying how much you love Hervey Bay Mags, it is a nice place and the whales are such a big attraction there. When we lived up there, we liked it, but missed our family and friends back on the Gold Coast, so we came back. No doubt we will go up to the Bay for visits from time to time though, it’s quite a unique place and now we know the best places to go!
The water is such a beautiful blue
It really is that blue!
I love watching sea life, whales, dolphins, manatees. However as beautiful as your beaches are, I’m not sure I could handle such a long plane ride. I guess I will have to live vicariously thru you.
Unfortunately Jodi, Australia is a helluva plane ride – we are such a long way from anywhere, but I am happy that you can enjoy and learn more about Australia through my blog!
It sure looks beautiful! We saw whales off the coast of Alaska. They sure are something to see.
Wow, you saw whales off the coast of Alaska, how exciting! Did they put on a show for you? They seem to be very curious about humans, and love to interact with us. You don’t realize how big they are till you see in for real, do you?