Mackay Coast

Mackay

Andergrove, Apsley Way

The McCready's Creek ramp in Mackay's northern suburbs – a single lane with 15 bays, tide-limited, and lit and camera-watched since 2022.

Mackay

Bucasia, Bucasia Esplanade

The Eimeo Creek ramp at Bucasia – two lanes, 32 bays and a water tap on the north bank of the creek, but tide-limited: the creek mouth is sand at low water.

Sarina Coast

Campwin Beach, Boat Ramp Road

A single-lane ramp into Cabbage Tree Creek at Campwin Beach, across the creek from Grasstree – tide-limited, unformed parking, with solar lighting and CCTV since 2022.

Sarina Coast

Carmila, Carmila Beach Road

A concrete ramp at the mouth of Carmila Creek beside a beachfront camping area – tide-dependent, with toilets and barbecues on the foreshore.

Broad Sound

Clairview, Colonial Drive

A single-lane concrete ramp straight onto Clairview Beach – you need water under it, so it is a top-of-the-tide launch on a coast where the tides run to six metres.

Mackay

Dunnrock, Dunrock Esplanade

A single-lane ramp into Sandy Creek at the tiny settlement of Dunnrock, south of Mackay – 15 bays, no facilities, tide-limited, and a long creek run to the sea.

Mackay

Eimeo, Sunset Boulevard

The small Eimeo Creek ramp on Sunset Boulevard – one lane, five bays and a tap, on the Eimeo side of the creek opposite the bigger Bucasia ramp. Tide-limited.

Sarina Coast

Freshwater Point, Miran Kahn Drive

A single-lane ramp at the quiet holiday settlement of Freshwater Point, south of Sarina – tide-limited, with room for about 25 rigs, part of it marked.

Sarina Coast

Grasstree Beach, Boat Ramp Road

The better of the two Cabbage Tree Creek ramps – rebuilt to two lanes with a floating walkway in 2019, on the Grasstree Beach side of the creek. Parking is unformed and there are no facilities.

Mackay

Half Tide Tug Harbour

The public ramp inside the port's tug harbour at Hay Point – two lanes, a 40 m floating walkway added in 2018, and a bitumen car park, all inside a working coal port. Boats to 7.5 m.

Sarina Coast

Koumala, Landings Road

The Rocky Dam Creek ramp at the end of Landings Road – a single concrete lane into a secluded creek that locals rate as a hidden gem. Tide-limited, no facilities.

Mackay

Mackay, Mulherin Drive

Mackay's big one – four lanes, floating walkways on both sides, toilets, water and close to a hundred trailer bays inside the harbour at Mackay Marina. All-tide, and the launch for the islands and the reef.

Mackay

Mackay, River Street

The city ramp on the Pioneer River – three lanes rebuilt in 2021 with a new floating walkway, on the south bank below the Forgan Bridge. Only 22 bays, and mind the river on a low spring.

Mackay

Mount Jukes, Howell's Road (Constant Creek)

The Constant Creek ramp below Mount Jukes – a single lane into a mangrove creek on the Cape Hillsborough side of the coast, with 15 bays and no facilities. Tide-limited.

Mackay

Murray Creek, Landing Road

A single-lane ramp at Horseshoe Bend on Murray Creek, out in the cane country of Mount Pelion – 17 bays, no facilities, tide-limited, and a long creek run to St Helens Bay.

Mackay

Pleystowe

The freshwater ramp on the Pioneer River at Pleystowe, above the tidal reach – a council ramp and pontoon off the Pleystowe Connection Road for the river's upstream pools.

Sarina Coast

Sarina Beach, Sunset Drive

The Perpetua Point ramp at the southern end of Sarina Beach – two lanes, toilets and water, 32 shared bays, and the best-equipped launch on the Sarina coast. Tide-limited on the bottom of the springs.

Mackay

Seaforth, Port Newry Road

Victor Creek at Seaforth – four lanes, floating walkways, toilets and water, and 70 bays with a third car park added in 2020. The all-tide launch for the Newry Islands and the Hibiscus Coast.

Mackay

St Helens Beach, Ramp Road

The Carpet Snake Point ramp at St Helens Beach – a single lane and causeway rebuilt with a new breakwater in 2018, at the end of the road from Calen. Tide-limited, unformed parking, lit and camera-watched.

Broad Sound

St. Lawrence, Settlement Road

A single-lane creek ramp on the north bank of Bund Creek, six kilometres from the old port town of St Lawrence – tide-limited, unformed parking, and a long way from anywhere.

Broad Sound

Stanage Bay, Banksia Road

The two-lane ramp on Thirsty Sound at the end of a hundred kilometres of dirt – a fishing outpost with a store, fuel and a pub, and a ramp you use within about three hours of high water.

Mackay

Central Sugar Mill Ruins

The central mill system was built on a simple idea: rather than every plantation crushing its own cane, one mill would process the harvest of all the farms around it, running around the clock through the crushing season and connected to its suppliers by a network of narrow-gauge tramway. That model reshaped rural Queensland. Where mills have closed, what survives is heavy and immovable - concrete foundations, boiler and crusher mountings, tramway formations and loading sidings. Most of it is on working cane land. Observe from public roads and do not enter mill sites.