Rainbow Beach trends south-southwest for 2.5 km from the dolerite rocks at Middle Rock Point to the sedimentary rocks at Bonny Hills, site of a growing community of 2300. The beach is backed by a foredune, then 2 km long Duchess Gully Creek that drains across the southern end of beach, where it is called Little Vinegar Creek, linking with a second small creek. This area only began opening up in the 1950s with the Wauchope-Bonney Hills SLSC being established in 1959, drawing its membership from the timber town of Wauchope. Ocean Drive skirts round the beach with access only available at Middle Rock, where there are no facilities, while Bonny Hills has the surf club, a park and picnic area, and two caravan parks (Fig. 4.95). The beach is composed of fine sand and receives little protection from the headlands, with waves averaging 1.5 m, to maintain a wide double bar system with an attached inner bar usually cut by rips every 300-400 m, with more widely spaced rips on the outer bar (Fig. 4.96), and strong permanent rips against Middle Rocks and the southern headland. read more

Beach Length: 2.5km