Apart from the glorious weather, the best feature of Hervey Bay is the 60 kilometres of seaside with its unspoiled beaches, reserves, parklands and river inlets. Unlike many other coastal communities, Hervey Bay City has kept its foreshores free of development, using the area for parks and reserves. The reserves not only give you access to the many safe beaches, but there is enough spacious parkland for all visitors to picnic or BBQ with privacy in one of the many well equipped picnic areas.

A bicycle and pedestrian path was constructed along the entire length of the city seaside, the Esplanade, from Pt Vernon to Urangan some 15km in length. The path is not only used by cyclists and pedestrians but also roller skaters and skateboarders creating a real social flare of activity.

Fishing is another well known feature of the bay, with it's sheltered waterways enriched with many inlets, creeks and rivers providing plenty of good fishing spots. Boats can be launched into the water from a variety of public boat ramps found around the bay, all with sufficient parking. One of the most popular land based fishing spots is the Urangan Pier. Because of its length, there is ample room for everyone to fish and with plenty of light at night makes for a good fishing platform, 24 hours a day.

The Boat Harbour not only caters for commercial fishing operations and the whale watching fleet, but provides facilities for the Fraser Island ferries and recreational fisherman. It has a world class marina complex, a beautiful broadwalk offering spectacular views of the marina and harbour, a resort, shops and a magnificent Boat Club.

Situated between Woody Island and Fraser Island is the Roy Rufus Reef, the largest artificial reef in the southern Hemisphere and named after one of its founders. It was created in 1968 when a group of divers sank old barges, concrete rubble, 2500 car bodies, tyres and concrete pipes into the water and since then more has been added. Full of marine life it has become a major attraction for scuba divers.

Visitors can also enjoy water-skiing, para-sailing, sailing, kayaking and windsurfing, much of which you can hire on the beach.

Known also for the abundant wildlife, Hervey Bay is home to a wide variety of birds such as the famous Rainbow Lorikeet and Rosella Parrots. Visitors will be able to see Sea Eagles swooping and diving to catch fish from the water or hovering effortlessly over the beaches like kites in the wind. Point Vernon is home to some of the area's Osprey nesting grounds. The Wildlife Reserve Society, based in Urangan, have a free booklet for bird watching locations throughout the Bay.

Apart from aquatic entertainment and wildlife, there are many man made attractions for both young and old in and around the area such as museums, displays, nature parks and fun parks. One thing for sure, you won't be bored.

History of Hervey Bay

When land officially became available in the early 1870's, five seperate small communities developed along 20km of foreshore. These villages became known as Point Vernon, Pialba, Scarness, Torquay and Urangan. It wasn't until 1976 that these five communities united to form the Hervey Bay Shire Council and in 1984 officially became a city called "The City of Hervey Bay".

Today, the City encompasses 2351 sq kilometres with 60 kilmetres of foreshore extending from Burrum Heads in the west to River Heads in the East. The Bay inlet itself is very large, 60km wide and 65km long from north to south.

The earliest purchase of land was 16000 acres for grazing in 1855. In 1866, the first white settler Boyle Martin made his 'camp' at Pialba and began the timber industry by cutting the pines. More land was made available in the 1870's which allowed two more industries to rapidly develop, agriculture and fishing. Agriculture centred around cattle, bananas and citrus while fishing was mainly oyster farming and dugong hunting followed by net fishing and beach fishing in the 1930's. Today's fish operations include the exporting of scallops, crabs and fish. Game fishing is also beginning to be recognised as an emerging industry.

From 1897 to 1940, world prize-winning coffee was grown but the cutting of coastal vegetation exposed the coffee plants to sea salt stopping production.

Coal mining was first mined in the Burrum area 1865 and continued until 1997. In all, 94 mines dug 100% pure coal throughout this area which became also the first area to export coal internationally as it was regarded as the best in the world. The last mine to close was at Torbanlea. Today visitors can visit the Burrum District Museum located at 2 Burrum Street Howard.

Sugar cane was slow to gain recognition until a railway was built in 1896, which allowed the produce to be transported to the major township of Maryborough 34km inland. The railway was also used for the export of produce but ceased operation in 1969 when it became too costly to maintain. Pineapple gained recognition and became a leading export of crops. Today both the pineapple and sugar industry are still a major source of revenue for the area

In the 1950's the Caltex Oil Company began drilling, erecting rigs around Urangan area. Soon after, the drilling stopped without disclosing information. Caltex however did build an oil terminal adjacent to the pier at Urangan in 1960. Fuel was distributed from here to the Wide Bay area up until 1985, when the new oil supertankers were unable to navigate the Bay because of their size.

A powerhouse was built to service electricity at Howard but closed in 1980.

The Pier, named Port of Maryborough, was originally built to off load cargo from passing shipping and was opened in 1917. To reach the deep water channel the pier was 1.1km long (3690 ft). Later the railway line was extended to include the pier and the end building, the pier began being used by local industry, in particular Sugar.

From 1960 to 1985, the pier was only used for fuel. It closed in 1985 by which time the pier was in dire need of repairs, so the head of the pier was disconnected and the remainder used by locals for fishing. Because of historical significance and recognised as a tourist spot, the state government handed Hervey Bay City the pier in 1994. Restoration is in progress to restore it back to its original length. To help raise revenue for restoration, Hervey Bay holds an annual Pier Festival in September.

Tourism has now become one of the major industry in Hervey Bay. From the beginning, the foreshores of the bay were used for weekend social gatherings and listing to popular music bands. In the 1870's Maryborough businessmen began purchasing beach land to build holiday homes. People would come from 150km inland to enjoy the beaches or camp along the foreshores during a Christmas vacation.

Today Hervey Bay caters for all types of tourists, from the up-market to the most casual. The city has many attractions either natural or man made, bringing visitors to the area not just through the whale watching season but all year round.