Maheno Beach

Located on the eastern coast of Fraser Island, Maheno Beach is a popular nine-kilometer-long and wide white sand beach with many rocky portions that extend from The Pinnacles to the freshwater Eli Creek.  Maheno Beach is part of the well-known Seventy Five Mile Beach, and is positioned on the eastern coastline of the World Heritage-listed Fraser Island.   The original name for Fraser Island is K'gari, which comes from the Butchalla language and means “paradise” –  the island is 123 kilometers (76 miles) long and 22 kilometers (14 miles) wide, and at 710 square miles, it is the largest sea island in the world.  

Maheno Beach is located off the coast of Queensland and has a beautiful backdrop of rugged ledges and coastal vegetation, providing spectacular views of the vast ocean.  Interestingly, the beach is named after the SS Maheno, a shipwreck that lay on its shores just north of Happy Valley during a cyclone in 1935.  The SS Maheno was a well-known luxury ship that operated in the Tasman Sea between New Zealand and Australia in the early 20th century.  Presently, the Maheno shipwreck is located approximately 10 kilometers north of Fraser Island Happy Valley, slowly deteriorating in the harsh salt environment.

Maheno Beach does not have lifeguards but offers several other amenities, including restrooms, a large playground, informative signage, and a nearby campground.

Maheno Beach offers several fun activities, including swimming, sunbathing, beachcombing, surfing, fishing, tidepooling, watching wildlife, driving, and hiking.  If you are planning to go into the water, the water is known to have unpredictable rip currents.  If you enjoy surfing, the beach provides great opportunities for surfers due to its frequent windy weather.  Despite being a popular beach, this one is dangerous, with up to 450 rips running the length of the inner bar alone, and the entire length of the beach has rips around every 200 meters.  Hence, if you are not an experienced surfer, we advise you to check Maheno Beach tide times and exercise extreme caution during the high tide.  Hikers can enjoy the nearby hiking trails, which offer unique insights into the local biodiversity.  Depending on the time of year, visitors may spot manta rays, sharks, and whales.  The sandy terrain of Maheno Beach allows visitors to drive their four-wheelers, but we advise adhering to speed limits and being cautious of tidal timings since conditions can change rapidly with shifting sands and high tides.  The beach attracts a large influx of visitors, especially during the summer.  Dogs are allowed on the beach if they are on leash, and it is open from sunrise until sunset.

Maheno Beach offers an access path for people with disabilities.

Getting to Maheno Beach is easy - the beach has a small parking lot located near 75 Mile Beach Road, which is easily accessible by Fraser Island Beach Track.

Maheno Beach is one of the most photographed and iconic beaches on Fraser Island and attracts a large influx of tourists annually who come to marvel at the unique sight and learn about the history of the SS Moheno.  This luxury passenger ship was built in 1905 in Scottland and was being towed to Japan when a winter cyclone caused its towline to break.  As a result of the break, the ocean waves pushed the TSS Maheno to the eastern beach of Fraser Island, where after several failed attempts to put the ship back into the water, it remains today.

There are many attractions near Maheno Beach.  Fraser Island Recreation Area is a UNESCO World Heritage-listed site known for its natural landscapes, unique geological features, and diverse ecosystem, including rainforests, creeks, beaches, freshwater lakes, and coastal heathlands.  Visitors can enjoy many fun activities, including four-wheel driving, swimming, sunbathing, beachcombing, bushwalking, camping, fishing, and watching wildlife, including dingoes, wallabies, echidnas, and various bird species, making it a popular destination for nature enthusiasts and eco-tourists from around the world.  Eli Creek is the largest freshwater stream, surrounded by lush vegetation on the eastern side of Fraser Island, that pours up to four million liters of clear, fresh water into the ocean every hour.  Visitors can enjoy many fun activities, including wading, swimming, and picnicking.  Lake Allom is a freshwater lake nestled within a kauri and hoop pine rainforest that is popular for its native freshwater turtles, known as Mary River turtles. Visitors can enjoy swimming, picnicking, photography, walking, and watching turtles swimming in the clear waters or basking on the logs and rocks around the lake's edge.  Red Canyon is a sandstone that was created by minerals rich in iron, which gave the sand a wide variety of colors.  The sandmass has been eroded over thousands of years by wind and rain, exposing its older, softer core, making it an ideal spot for geological research and photography.  If you are looking for another nearby attraction, Champagne Pools are natural rock pools filled with bubbly seawater caused by waves crashing over volcanic rocks. These pools can be easily accessible via a wooden boardwalk, where visitors can enjoy swimming, sunbathing, watching wildlife, and hiking.

If you get hungry, there are many great restaurants within a 36-minute drive of Maheno Beach.  Fraser Island Retreat serves salads, pasta, burgers, seafood, meat, and poultry dishes.  The Sand Bar serves delicious salads, burgers, pizzas, pasta, seafood, meat, and poultry dishes.  McKenzie's Restaurant serves amazing soup, salads, pasta, seafood, meat, pork, and poultry dishes.  DUNE Restaurant and Rainforest Bar serves amazing salads, steaks, sandwiches, seafood, meat, poultry, and pork dishes.   If you are looking for another good and affordable nearby restaurant, Sand & Wood Restaurant and Maheno Bar is another famous Maheno restaurant that serves salads, burgers, seafood, beef, and poultry dishes.

If you are looking for nearby Maheno Beach hotels, there are many great options nearby.  If you are looking for an upscale hotel, the 5-Star Oaks Hervey Bay Resort and Spa is three hours away by car and offers many amenities, including an outdoor pool, a fitness center, a spa, and a restaurant.  A more affordable hotel is the 4-Star Kingfisher Bay Resort, which offers several amenities, including an outdoor pool, a spa, and three restaurants.   Another moderately priced option is the 4-Star Sailfish On Fraser, which has many amenities, including an outdoor pool, a hot tub, a garden, and barbecue grill facilities.  A more reasonably priced option is the 3-Star Fraser Island Retreat, which offers a few amenities, including an outdoor pool and a restaurant.  If you are looking for another good and affordable nearby hotel, the 3-Star K'gari Beach Resort offers several amenities, including two outdoor pools,a coffee shop, a bakery,a barbeque grill area, and tennis courts.