Kennedy Bay is the site where, in 1848, Edmund Kennedy and his party began their epic and fateful trek to Cape York. While not part of Edmund Kennedy National Park, located a few kilometres to the south, the bay bears his name and is accessible from Mission Beach along the delightful 3.5 km long Kennedy Track. The track skirts Lovers Beach, Lugger Bay and Tam O’Shanter Point to reach the northern end of the bay, with a picnic area provided in the shade behind the beach. This is the only land access to the otherwise relatively remote and natural beach. The beach (788) is 3.3 km long and initially faces south-west in sheltered protection afforded by the southern tip of Tam O’Shanter Point. Such is the protection that sand flats and a few mangroves front the northern end of the beach. The beach then swings around to face south-east into the Trade winds and waves, which average over 0.5 m. These produce a 150 m wide low tide bar, usually cut by rips every 100 m at low tide, with a trough and second bar paralleling much of the main part of the beach. Toward the southern end, the bars give way to the tidal shoals and currents of the Hull River, that extend for 500 m off the river mouth. read more

Beach Length: 3.3km