Queensland’s seven best beach experiences

From swimming with dolphins to watching turtles hatch under the cover of darkness, hiking lush national parks or just relaxing on a pristine tropical island on the Great Barrier Reef, here are Queensland’s seven best beach experiences.

QUEENSLAND’S best beaches aren’t just pretty faces.

Here are seven top beaches offering far more than just surf and sand.

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Moreton Island’s Tangalooma manages to cram three memorable experiences in to one stunning location.

Visitors can swim with dolphins at Tangalooma on Moreton Island.

Sunsets over the ocean, snorkeling or diving the wrecks or nightly visits from a pod of dolphins – take your pick, or go all three.

Burleigh Heads. Picture: Jude Gravestock

While Burleigh’s beach is gorgeous in its own right, it’s the added extras that set it apart.

Walk around the iconic headland and end up at another beachside wonder – Tallebudgera Creek, where you can hire stand-up paddleboards or just float in the crystal clear water.

Noosa Main Beach and National Park. Picture: John McCutcheon

On the Sunshine Coast, locals don’t say Noosa’s Main Beach is as good as Burleigh – they say it’s better.

Nudey Beach on Fitzroy Island.

Fitzroy Island is one of the most accessible beach escapes near Cairns and if you follow the signs to Nudey Beach, you’ll understand why it so often features on lists of the state’s best beaches.

Whitehaven Beach on the Whitsundays.

No best beach list is complete without mentioning the spectacularly white sands of Whitehaven Beach near Hamilton Island.

Just being there is an experience in itself.

Turtle encounters on Mon Repos Beach near Bundaberg.

Mon Repos near Bundaberg shines brightest under the stars when nesting turtles make their way up and down the dunes each summer in one of nature’s greatest spectacles.

The hatching season will draw to a close in the coming weeks, but the nearby beach town of Bargara is a chilled out place to spend a few days and a good base for day trips to the southern tip of the Great Barrier Reef.

Kangaroos on the beach at Cape Hillsborough. Picture: Tourism and Events Queensland

Cape Hillsborough near Mackay is another beach experience that’s about more than just a dip in the ocean.

It’s the scene of some of our most iconic sunrise photos, when koalas and wallabies converge on the shoreline to scavenge for snacks.

QUEENSLAND’S BEST BEACH EXPERIENCES

■ Visit the wrecks and dolphins of Tangalooma

■ Hike Burleigh Headland

■ Visit the national park beside Noosa’s Main Beach

■ Snorkel at Fitzroy Island’s Nudey Beach

■ Feeling the sane between your toes on Whitehaven Beach

■ Witness nesting and hatching sea turtles at Mon Repos

■ Photograph wildlife at sunrise at Cape Hillsborough

Originally published as Queensland’s seven best beach experiences