Keppel Sands is a quiet beach settlement located 15 km off the Emu Park Road and 40 km from Rockhampton. The road ends at the Sands and, apart from the locals, not many tourists make it out to this quaint, older style settlement. The Sands are surrounded by wide Cawarral Creek to the north, extensive tidal flats to the east and the long, swampy beach ridges of Cattle Point to the south, while mangrove-filled tidal creeks make up much of the backing land. It is essentially a land island by the sea. The main Keppel Sands beach (1386) is 1.3 km long, faces east and is bounded by the northern 40 m high, conical headland and a southern protruding, 30 m high headland. The beach is backed by the bulk of the settlement, two rows of streets, then the backing mangroves and Pumpkin Creek mouth at the southern end. The beach has experienced some erosion and a rock seawall lines much of the beach. Between the seawall and the road is a narrow foreshore reserve which widens a little to the northern end, where there is a car park. Toilet blocks are located at each end of the beach. The beach consists of a narrow high tide beach fronted by several hundred metres of tidal flats. Waves average less than 0.5 m and calm conditions are common. read more

Beach Length: 1.3km