(Courtesy of Keppel Bay Marina website)

Description - Great Keppel Island is one of 14 islands in the Keppel Group. Part of the Great Barrier Reef, the Keppel Islands boast beautiful coral reefs, some with spectacular underwater landscapes.

Steep hills and cliffs plunging into the sea are features of the Keppel Islands, but you will also find sheltered bays and quiet sandy beaches which gently shelve into the water.

There are in fact 17 beaches on Great Keppel Island alone. Almost all of Keppel Bay is a marine park, the aim of which is to encourage balanced use, including some commercial use, while protecting the environment.

History - The Woppabura - The first known inhabitants of the Keppel Islands were the Woppabura island people who are believed to have lived on Great Keppel Island at least 700 years ago and on North Keppel at least 4500 years ago.

While the land area of Great Keppel Island is too small and unproductive to support a community, it is believed that about 80-90 Woppabura people lived on the island all year round by using the resources of the inter-tidal zone, fringing reef and surrounding seas... they were marine specialists and knew what food was available and the best way to get it.

European Explorers - British explorer Capt James Cook first entered Keppel Bay in May 1770. Sailing through the bay, Cook wrote about the islands "most of them are pretty high and of small circuit and have more the appearance of barrenness than fertility". He named Keppel Bay and the islands after Rear Admiral Augustus Keppel, and noted seeing people on the island.

Settlement - The first white man known to have set foot on Great Keppel Island was a naturalist named McGillivray, who landed at Leeke's Creek in 1847. Over the years, there have been attempts to establish a grazing industry on Great Keppel Island. The homestead which still stands today is a reminder of these times. Grazing continued until 1962, but was never a really profitable industry.

The island resort first opened in 1967, and tourism has been the primary industry for the island ever since. It is not just the marine life which makes cruising the Keppel Islands a picturesque experience. The landscapes and vegetation on the island constantly changes and provides a stunning backdrop against the blue water and white sandy beaches.

Plant & Birdlife - Plant life on the island is particularly varied. As you cruise the island you will notice the rocky shoreline with the strange looking pandanus trees. Dunes covered in grasses and spinafex, cabbage palms and sheoaks back the sandy shores.

Great Keppel Island also has significant areas of grasslands, heath & shrublands, open forests and woodlands, rainforest and freshwater wetlands. The variety of plant life supports an abundance of bird life as well.

While cruising around the island, you will see terns plunge down for their catch, cormorants and darters swim on the surface before diving down. White-bellied sea-eagles, ospreys and brahminy kites are the magnificent birds of prey often seen above the bay and beaches.