Cowley Beach is a 7.5 km long, exposed, south-east facing beach. It is located between Double Point and the shifting mouth of Liverpool Creek. The small settlement of Inarlinga is located 1 km north of the creek mouth, with a small army camp immediately to the north of the settlement. The settlement consists of a few houses, with a concrete boat ramp across the beach. The beach can be reached by turning off at Cowley on the Bruce Highway and driving 7 km to the coast. The army has cleared a runway behind the northern half of the beach, but otherwise it is undeveloped. The beach fronts one of the most substantial beach-foredune ridge plains on the Queensland coast. Over the past 6000 years, up to 60 low, shore-parallel sand ridges have built the beach 3 km seaward, in the process joining Double Point to the mainland. This process is an indication of the high level of wave energy, an abundant sand supply and the sand-trapping effect of Double Point. The entire area should be preserved as a geomorphological site because of its significance and beautifully preserved record of shoreline evolution. There is also a small beach located in an open seacave on the south side of the point. Today the long beach receives waves averaging just over 0.5 m and often higher. These maintain a narrow, moderately steep high tide beach and an 80 m wide bar that, during and following higher waves, is cut by rips approximately every 100 m, with up to 60 rips occurring along the beach. Toward the creek mouth the bar widens into a series of tidal sand shoals. read more

Beach Length: 7.5km