A guide to Great Keppel Island – How to get there, when to go, what to do and what to see PLUS our blog of our day trip to the island.
Definitley worth a visit to the island for the day is the beautiful Great Keppel (Wo Pah) Island. It has crystal clear sea which is great for snorkelling and incredibly soft white sandy beaches. There are three main beaches for snorkelling – Shelving Bay, Clam Point and Monkey Island. We didnt have any snorkellling gear and rented some for the day right off the beach as we arrived.
Great Keppell Island is only 18km off the mainland coast, We got there using Freedom Fast Cat see https://freedomfastcats.com/ for pricing and timetable you can also get there using https://www.keppelkonnections.com.au/
There are 17 beaches overall to visit. Enjoy watersports such as snorkelling, stand up paddleboarding, kayaking. You can hike around the island – check out https://www.visitcapricorn.com.au/6-amazing-walking-tracks-on-great-keppel-island for an overview of great walking tracks on the island!
We also found our that humpback whales migrate through Keppel Bay around April to November (we sadly visited in too late in the season) you can book a 3hr tour with Keppel Explorer for AUD 180 for the day https://keppelexplorer.com.au/whale-watching-tours/
Did you know that Manta Rays also feed offshore from May to August?!… it seems like any time of the year is a good time to visit the island!
We only visited for the day, but if you wish to you can also stay overnight at some of the accomodation available. Including – Camping, Backpacker dorms, twin rooms and cabins.
Accomodation is available from https://gkiholidayvillage.com.au/ and https://greatkeppelislandhideaway.com.au/ we would certainly consider staying when visiting next time.
Heres our amazing day at Keppel Island….
We awoke early and took the 7.30am fastcat ferry (much cheaper to go at this time rather than 9.30am) bumpy but fun…and 30mins later we had arrived in paradise!
We walked off the main beach…bit busy…about 5 people on it…hired some snorkles and walked through the island jungle to Monkey Beach/point where we had the whole beach of squeaky white sand and clear sea to ourselves!!
In a nutshell the day was awesome…in the same eyeful we saw tiny little reef sharks, osprey, lots of beautiful coloured fish, stingrays…spent the day lounging about getting burnt even though we are being really really good with the factor 50…plopping into the bathwater temperature sea…did obtain minor injuries on the sharp coral but this was our own fault…luckily no larger sharks were tempted by our blood.
Only mysterious downside of the day…something ate our lunch! Got back from snorkelling to find lunch strewn across the rocks! Mystery creature ??crow had even opened the packet of banana bread!!
Best beach ever 
so far… WO PAH!!
Check out more adventures in Australia such as our time up in the Daintree Rainforest and river tour http://thetravellingdragon.com/australia-crocodiles-cassowary-in-the-daintree-rainforst-with-solar-whisper-tours/
