AustraliaIslandUNESCO World Heritage

K'gari

1,659 km² of land in the Coral Sea.

Satellite: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX (CC BY 4.0). Outline and points © OpenStreetMap contributors / Natural Earth. North up.

In numbers

1,659km²

Area

336km

Coastline

245m

Highest point

152

People

27°C

Warmest sea

February

4km

To the mainland

When to go to K'gari

Best for the beach from April to May and from October to December.

The sea is warmest in February (27 °C) and coolest in August (21 °C). You can swim comfortably all year (21 °C or more).

27°27°25°

Jan15

27°27°25°

Feb16

27°27°25°

Mar16

26°25°23°

Apr14

24°23°21°

May14

22°21°19°

Jun12

21°20°18°

Jul8

21°21°18°

Aug7

22°22°20°

Sep7

23°24°21°

Oct9

24°25°23°

Nov11

26°26°24°

Dec14

Sea temperature (the water level) Air: night low to afternoon high Wet days Best months

Averages 1991–2020. Sea: NOAA OISST, the water within 35 km of the coast. Air, rain and sun: NASA POWER. Best months weigh warm afternoons (23–30 °C), sea of 24 °C or more and few wet days.

Island located along the southern coast of Queensland, Australia

K'gari is an island in Australia. It covers 1,659 km², with 336 km of coastline. Its highest point rises to 245 m. About 152 people live on it. The nearest mainland is 4 km away. It is part of a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Getting there

Hervey Bay Airport (HVB)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 29 km in a straight lineCar hire at HVB airport (Hervey Bay)Discover Cars · Affiliate link
FerriesKingfisher Bay Ferry, Fraser Venture Barge
4 km from the mainlanddistance to the nearest continental coast
From April to May and from October to Decemberbest months to go (from 30 years of averages)

Plan the trip

Ferries, stays and things to do

Car hire at HVB airport (Hervey Bay)Discover CarsSee

Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.

On the island

What you find on K'gari.

15beachesSouth Waddy Beach, Orchid Beach, Platypus Bay and 12 more
22viewpointsNulwarr Hill, Markwells Lookout, Leading Hill and 19 more
1lighthousesSandy Cape Lighthouse
3ferry terminalsWangoolba Creek Ferry, Hook Point Ferry, Urang Creek barge landing
11named peaksBowarrady Hill, Pine Hill, Burrgum Hill and 8 more
3ruins and archaeological sitesMcKenzies Jetty and Mill, Poyungan Forestry Camp
1waymarked walking routesK'gari (Fraser Island) Great Walk
66campsitesWathumba, Buff Creek, Cooloolio Creek and 63 more
9hotels, guesthouses and apartments
5restaurants, cafés and bars

Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit, inside the island's outline. A low number may only mean nobody has mapped it yet.

Cross-checked with our atlases

K'gari in our other atlases

Everything Coastya, Peakyas, Lakeyas and Cascadyas know about what lies inside K'gari, each with its own numbers.

5beaches and covesCoastya
10lakesLakeyas

Largest lake
1.9km²
Lake Boomanjin
according to Lakeyas
Warmest lake
28.0°C
Lake Carree
surface water, warmest month · according to Lakeyas
Beach with the warmest sea
27.2°C
Manann Beach
sea in the warmest month · according to Coastya

5 beaches

on Coastya, the beach atlas

Corroboree Beach27.1°C
Maheno Beach26.9°C
Seventy Five Mile Beach26.9°C
Manann Beach27.2°C
Orchid Beach27.2°C

Open Coastya ↗

10 lakes

on Lakeyas, the lake atlas

Lake Boomanjin1.9km²
Lake Jennings0.86km²
Lake Bowarrady0.71km²
Lake McKenzie0.62km²
Lake Wanhar0.39km²
Lake Benaroon0.31km²
Goochee Lagoon0.25km²
Lake Minker0.22km²

2 more on LakeyasLakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗

The shape of the land.

On average the island stands 73 m above the sea. 100 % of it is below 200 m.

37 %0–50 m
63 %50–200 m
<1 %200–500 m

Share of the island's area in each altitude band, from the Copernicus DEM (30 m, read at 30–240 m on large islands).

Size, for real

Next to islands you may know.

K'gari1,659 km²

Tenerife2,038 km²

Long Island3,529 km²

50 km

All outlines drawn to the same scale (Natural Earth and OpenStreetMap).

Month by month

The weather on the island.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Afternoon high (°C)	27	27	27	25	23	21	20	21	22	24	25	26
Night low (°C)	25	25	25	23	21	19	18	18	20	21	23	24
Sea (°C)	27	27	27	26	24	22	21	21	22	23	24	26
Rain (mm)	138	164	140	72	70	80	46	46	39	84	63	134
Wet days	15	16	16	14	14	12	8	7	7	9	11	14
Sun h/day	9.4	8.5	7.8	7.8	7.1	6.3	7.3	8.5	9.5	9.6	10.2	9.5
Wind (km/h)	24	25	25	24	21	21	19	19	20	21	22	23

Averages 1991–2020 for the ~55 km NASA POWER cell over the island; the sea from NOAA OISST.

Recent years

Warmer and cooler years at sea.

Each month's sea temperature compared with its 1991–2020 average, in degrees.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
2020	+0.5	+1.0	+0.5	+0.6	−0.2	−0.2	+0.2	−0.3	+0.5	+0.3	+0.5	+0.4
2021	+0.5	−0.1	+0.6	+0.1	−0.2	−0.4	−0.2	+0.1	−0.3	+0.2	+0.4	+0.8
2022	±0.0	−0.3	+0.2	+0.2	+0.4	−0.3	−0.8	−0.7	−0.4	−0.2	−0.4	−0.7
2023	−0.2	+0.3	+1.0	+0.6	−0.4	±0.0	+0.5	+0.7	+0.6	+0.4	±0.0	+0.6
2024	+1.3	+1.3	+1.0	+0.5	+0.1	+0.1	+0.4	+0.4	+0.8	+0.4	+0.9	+1.1
2025	+0.9	+0.5	+0.5	+0.7	+0.6	+0.3	+0.3	+0.6	+0.3	+0.8	+1.0	+1.0

+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual

Photos

Seen by visitors.

Fraser island ferry — Photnart · CC BY-SA 3.0

Fraser Island view from Indian Head — Unknown author · Public domain

Dingo of Fraser Island — Newretreads · CC BY-SA 4.0

4x4 Truck driving at Fraser Island Australia — Havardtl · CC BY-SA 4.0

About these numbers

Names, area, population	Wikidata (Q134905) · CC0
Outline	© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
Sea temperature	NOAA OISST v2.1 · 1991–2020
Climate	NASA POWER · 1991–2020
Relief, 3D model	Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA
Beaches, ports, lighthouses, trails	© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
Towns	GeoNames · CC BY 4.0
Images	EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons
Beaches, mountains, lakes and waterfalls	Coastya, Lakeyas — Wikidata · CC0; © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0; NOAA OISST; HydroLAKES (Messager et al. 2016) · CC BY 4.0, LakeTEMP (Korver et al. 2024) · CC BY 4.0

Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.

The family

Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers or canyons?

Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, month by month, in seven languages.

beaches

Find your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit

lakes

Every lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Coming soonVisit

mountains

Every summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit

waterfalls Cascadyas

Every waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Coming soonVisit

islands

Every island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.You are here

rivers

Every river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.Visit

canyons

Every canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Coming soonVisit