Rainbow Beach is a 23 km long, curving beach located in Wide Bay between sandy Inskip Point, opposite Fraser Island, and rocky Double Island Point. The open bay faces north-east and the beaches in the bay face variously north, east and north-east as they swing around between the two points. The growing town of Rainbow Beach is located in the centre of the beaches, with the northern end of the large Cooloola National Park extending south of the southern half of the bay.Between Eight Mile Rocks and Double Island Point 13 km to the south-east, wave height continues to decrease. The beach (1530) faces initially north-east, then north and finally north-west against the point. The rips decrease in size to the south and are soon replaced by a continuous, rip-free low tide bar. The final 2 to 3 km to the point are dominated by elongate sand waves, in the form of migrating sand spits, that periodically form off the point and move westward along the beach, often impounding a backing lagoon. They gradually merge with the beach and the sand continues up the beach toward Inskip Point. The most spectacular part of the beach is, however, the brilliantly 'rainbow' coloured scarped sand dunes, averaging 100 m in height and up to 135 m high. read more

Beach Length: 13km