K'gari Coast
1 hidden gem and 1 historic site.
Hidden gem
Nine and a half kilometres north of Urangan and the sand just appears out of the water: white silica, blue-green shallows, and a cay that grows all afternoon as the tide drops. Pelican Bank sits between fast deep-water channels on the run across to Moon Point, with fishing off the ledges and not a dingo in sight. Anchor up, let the kids loose, and keep half an eye on the current.
Historic site
The eastern beach of K'gari has taken more than a dozen vessels, making this one of the most concentrated wreck zones on the Australian coast. Surf, shifting sandbanks and an absence of shelter for the length of the island did the work. The Maheno is the best known - a trans-Tasman liner driven ashore by a cyclone in 1935 while under tow to a Japanese scrapyard - and its corroding hull is the anchor point most visitors reach. The beach is a gazetted road with aircraft using it. Wreck structures are sharp and unstable; do not climb on them.
