Located on the coast approximately 290 kilometres or 3½ hours’ highway drive north of Brisbane and nearby Fraser Island. Hervey Bay is highly regarded for whale watching. In October 2019, Hervey Bay was named the First Whale Heritage Site in the world by the World Cetacean Alliance, for its commitment to and practices of sustainable whale and dolphin watching.
Hervey Bay is renowned for having Australia’s most equitable climate, with an average temperature of around 30 °C in summer and 22 °C in winter. Ocean breezes keep the temperatures down in summer and up in winter, preventing temperature extremes. As a result, Hervey Bay rarely experiences temperatures over 32.3 °C in summer or under 4.6 °C in winter, the highest ever recorded 36.8 °C. A 2010 study by Deakin University showed that people on the Fraser Coast area including Hervey Bay, were the happiest in Australia, no surprise there. Hervey Bay offers great facilities including Fraser Coast Airport with regular jet flights to Sydney, plenty of shops from Stocklands, major retail chains to little boutique style shops.
Great restaurants, cafes and tourist shops line the Esplanade and there’s no shortage of schools, private and state. Medical facilities include Hervey Bay Hospital, the private Hervey Bay Surgical Hospital and St Stephens Private with numerous GP and specialist clinics. In fact there’s not much you won’t find in Hervey Bay.