South of Alva Beach, the real Burdekin delta shoreline dominates the coast. This 30 km of shoreline contains some of the most dynamic beaches and shorelines in Australia. They are all in a continual state of change owing to the influence of the Burdekin and its massive floods, the river and tidal currents and the relentless force of the south-east Trade winds and their waves that push the sand northward along the beaches and bars. There is vehicle access only to the rear of the Anabranch Beach; the rest are backed by mangroves and/or surrounded by water. There are shack settlements on Anabranch and Scotties. All six beaches are exposed to the south-east Trades and their waves, with waves averaging over 0.5 m in the north, but decreasing slightly to the south. A feature of all the beaches are the extensive bars off Plantation, Anabranch and northern Rita Island, giving way to 1 km-plus wide sand bars off the river mouth in the south. During strong Trades the waves break for several hundreds of metres across these bars, producing an exciting approach to the river and creek mouths. Scotties Beach (897) is a narrow, 3 km long sliver of sand that is eroding into the backing mangroves, in places leaving the mangroves stranded on the beach. There are a handful of shacks on its northern tip, but otherwise it is a natural system. Extensive sand flats lower waves at the beach to usually less than 0.5 m. read more

Beach Length: 3km