Wathumba Creek located on the north western side of Fraser Island is a bucket list destination for many boaters and fishers visiting Hervey Bay. Located approximately 50km N/NE of Hervey Bay. Wathumba creek offers gorgeous scenery and isolation from crowds. Perhaps the most prized feature of Wathumba creek is that it also offers a protected overnight anchorage for visitors. Especially those wishing to fish the Roonies Point area. Or, those wishing to jump Breaksea Spit and head wide of Fraser Island.
For others, it is simply the perfect location to utilise as a central base. Which allows them to take advantage of the reduced travel distances. To fish the centre and northern reaches of Platypus Bay.
Before any planned boating or fishing adventure taking note of the weather forecast is paramount. Gaining some local insight into how certain wind directions can impact boating conditions around Hervey Bay and Platypus Bay is a must.
Wind And Weather
Generally speaking, any wind direction with ‘west’ in it. Will make a boating trip to Wathumba creek a challenge. NW’ly, straight westerly, and SW’ly winds blow directly into the open and exposed western beaches of Fraser Island. These winds push waves and chop which gather momentum across Platypus Bay into Fraser Island at differing angles. You would be well advised to wait for a wind forecast featuring our more preferred SE’ly trade winds before making the journey to Wathumba Creek.
The Fraser Coast seems to experience these westerly wind directions mostly during October and November each year. Sometimes they can extend into December. During these months you may only find a 1 or 2-day window suitable for boating north into Platypus Bay. In between weeklong stints of strong north westerly winds.
The deep-water channels which lie between the Urangan boat harbour in Hervey Bay and Moon Point on Fraser Island. Are perhaps the most critical areas to watch and treat with respect when planning your trip. These channels are very deep and narrow with vast quantities of water moving through them. When you get wind against tide in these channels. Boating conditions can deteriorate very quickly.
Departure Points
The Urangan boat harbour in Hervey Bay is perhaps the most popular departure point for any boating or fishing expedition north into Platypus Bay and beyond. However, you can also launch your boat from the Gatakers Bay boat ramp, located in Point Vernon, Hervey Bay or even the Burrum Heads boat ramp located in the small coastal village of Burrum Heads.
The Route
Before you depart the Urangan boat harbour, please ensure that you log your trip with the local volunteer marine rescue. VMR466 / Marine Rescue Hervey Bay on the local channel 73. Set your radio to dual monitor channel 73 and 16 during your journey. Once you are about halfway you will need to swap channel 73 for channel 22 due to coverage. To get the latest on channels to monitor etc simply ask VMR when logging on.
The Creek Itself
Wathumba creek is approximately 50km’s N/NW from the Urangan boat harbour. To reach it you will need to plot a course past the yellow marker EU1 located slightly north west of Round Island which you will see as you leave the harbour mouth. Then head to the northern side of the red marker EU2. Your next navigational marker is the norther cardinal for Big Woody Island known as BWN. From there you strike out across two of the deep-water channels feeding the Great Sandy Strait towards Pelican Bank. There is a red marker there called S8 and you will need to pass this on the southern side.
From here, Moon Point on Fraser Island will be visible. Lying between S8 and Moon Point there is a series of sand banks which you will need to navigate. These will only prove an issue if you are travelling close to low tide, however, ensuring your chart is up to date is important to make this crossing to Moon Point safely.
Once you are safely across to Moon Point the journey north to Wathumba creek is easy as you can hug the beach all the way. Be careful not to pass to close to the mouth of Coongul creek along the way as there is a shallow sand bar extending from the mouth of the creek.
Wathumba Creek Itself
On large tides the entrance to Wathumba Creek will completely drain. You are best to try and enter Wathumba Creek for the first time with a rising tide and at least 2 hours after low tide. The channel into the creek does move around quite a lot and is bordered by shallow, moving sand bars. Plot the channel into the creek on your gps and take your time entering.
There is deep water inside for anchoring and large expansive sand flats for beaching yourself if you prefer. Yabby beds are aplenty. Camping is allowed on Teebing spit which is on the western side of the creek and in the main campground on the eastern side near the access track from Orchid beach. Both areas do require a camping permit.
Amenities
Amenities are pretty much non-existent. There is an old toilet and shower block located at the main campground. The toilets do still work but they are not very well maintained, and you will need to supply your own toilet paper. There are some taps located in the main campground which provide non potable water.
Wathumba Creek itself extends a fair way into the island and eventually reaches a wide-open expanse of swamp country. Further into the creek are some deep holes which have been known to contain some nice mud crabs. Fishing in the creek is always successful with an abundance of bread and butter species to be found.
Fishing
Wathumba Creek is a great base camp location for striking out towards Roonies Point which lies a further 20km to the NW. Others use it as safe anchorage for epic adventures across the Breaksea spit located at the northern tip of Fraser Island.
There are many publicly available fishing marks for the central and northern reaches of Platypus Bay available on the Fish & Boat Magazine website or my own Fishing Boating Exploring website. These make for a great starting point to explore the area.
During the warmer months large schools of longtail tuna can be found only a short drive from Wathumba Creek and at certain times of the year juvenile black marlin and large cobia cruise the shallow sand flats between Roonies Point and Wathumba Creek looking for a feed. Year round an assortment of fish species can be found not far from the mouth of Wathumba Creek. It does pay to have a good quality sounder and to put some time into exploring the many gravel patches and shallow reef areas as the fish schools are known to move around quite frequently.
From July to November each year the whales visit Platypus Bay, and it is quite a sight to roll out of your swag in the morning to witness whales breaching only a few hundred metres from your camp site.
Alternate Access
You can also access Wathumba Creek by road from Orchid Beach on Fraser Island. On a nice day, especially on school holidays many people visit Wathumba Creek by 4×4 as a day trip destination from Orchid Beach. Some even tow over their smaller boats from Orchid Beach, beach launch and head out to a few close fishing marks around the Wathumba Creek mouth.
Boat tours and charters are also available departing from Hervey Bay and Kingfisher Bay Resort and take in many of the sights along the remote western side of Fraser Island. At the right time of year some of these tours offer whale watching experiences. Other focus purely on the fishing and some pull up to the beach and let you explore.
Summary
I hope this ablog provides you with enough information to perhaps tick visiting Wathumba Creek off your boating and/or fishing bucket list. It truly is a magical place to visit and very achievable with some good planning.