K’gari / Fraser Island lakes
Wondering which K’gari / Fraser Island lakes are the best for swimming? Or which ones are the best to escape the crowds? Maybe you’ve been to the well known ones but now you want to really explore? After visiting K’gari / Fraser Island for over three decades, these are my favourite lakes and swimming holes to visit.
Lake Birrabeen
Out of all the lakes on K’gari / Fraser Island, Lake Birrabeen is my favourite. Why? Because it’s just as beautiful as McKenzie (see the next lake in this list), but it has fewer tourists. Like its beautiful sibling, Lake Birrabeen is a perched lake. This means it’s a lake that occurs above the water table with a base of organic matter and sand, which forms a catchment for the rain and eventually creates the lake.
Lake McKenzie
Many say that Lake McKenzie is the most beautiful on K’gari / Fraser Island and it’s hard to argue once you see it. What is for sure, is that McKenzie is the most visited lake on the island. It’s a popular stop for tour operators and, as a result, is often the most crowded. Finding a shady spot when it’s busy is nearly impossible, so it pays to arrive early before the tour buses.
Basin Lake
Basin Lake can’t be reached by vehicle like many of the other lakes on K’gari / Fraser Island, but it can be hiked into from either Lake McKenzie or Central Station on a day trip. It’s around 2.5-kilometres one way from Central Station, taking around an hour.
Basin Lake is a picturesque perched dune lake on K’gari / Fraser Island and offers a serene spot for swimming and picnicking. Reeds and white sand fringe the deep, tannin-stained water which is clear around the edges and according to QLD Parks, it’s home to more species of frogs than anywhere else on the island.
Ocean Lake
Whilst not as pretty as Birrabeen or McKenzie, Ocean Lake is still an awesome wild swimming spot on K’gari / Fraser Island. Ocean Lake is a window lake which means that the lake has formed because the ground drops below the water table. The fine white sandy base acts as a filter, giving the water clarity.
Due to its location away from the tourist hotspots, Ocean Lake is incredibly peaceful. The water is tannin-stained from the tea trees, so it isn’t as clear as some of the other lakes. Nevertheless, Ocean Lake is still a natural and beautiful lake to visit on K’gari / Fraser Island.
Lake Wabby
Lake Wabby is the most unique lake on K’gari / Fraser Island as its both a window lake and a barrage lake, which is formed by the damning action of a sandblow, blocking the waters of a natural spring. It’s also one of the few lakes that supports several varieties of fish.
The waters of Lake Wabby are a deep green and it is said that the sandblow will eventually engulf the lake as it makes its gradual progress westward across the island.
You do have to hike in a few kilometres to reach Lake Wabby on K’gari / Fraser Island. It’s mostly an easy walk until you come out at the sand blow. It then becomes scorching underfoot and quite steep down to the lake and back up again. If your kids are young, you will probably need to carry them back out. They will be too tired to manage the walk after a morning spent swimming in the lake.
Eli Creek
Eli Creek is a pretty unique swimming experience on K’gari / Fraser Island, but it’s technically not a lake. The creek reportedly releases 4.2 million litres of fresh water an hour. You can stroll along a lovely wooden boardwalk partway up the creek, then jump in and let the current take you back out towards the ocean.
The water flow has changed over the years, but more recently, the creek makes a sharp turn as it reaches the beach and runs parallel to the ocean for a while before making another sharp turn into it. This section of the creek is really popular and usually lined with 4WDers who’ve arrived early and set up for the day. It’s first in best dressed here!
Lake Garawongera
Lake Garawongera is a perched lake and, like Ocean Lake and many others on K’gari / Fraser Island, its tannin-stained. The refreshing water is clear on the shoreline before fading to yellow and then red. The red eventually becomes very dark as the lake deepens. It’s a fascinating contrast to the blue shades of McKenzie and Birrabeen.
Whilst not as pretty as some other lakes, Lake Garawongera is still very appealing and a great place to swim. Particularly if your goal is to avoid crowds and explore more of the lesser visited lakes on K’gari / Fraser Island.
Lake Allom
Surrounded by a forest of Melaleuca trees and Hoop Pines, Lake Allom is extremely peaceful and feels very remote. The lake is dark due to the tannin-stained water and the layer of vegetation that ensures the water stays put.
Out of all the K’gari / Fraser Island lakes, Lake Allom is probably my least favourite to swim in, but one of my favourite to visit. Why? Because there are turtles in there! If you don’t feel like swimming, plonk yourself on the viewing platform, dip your feet in and spend a morning spotting turtles.
There is also a great little circuit walk that skirts around the lake here.
Lake Boomanjin
Holding the official record as the largest perched lake in the world, Lake Boomanjin is a good one to tick off your K’gari / Fraser Island bucket list. This lake is surrounded by white sand and has a very distinct red taint to the water due to three very small creeks that carry water heavily stained by tannin into the lake.
It’s not really pretty when compared with some of the other lakes, but it’s fascinating and a great place to swim with young kids due to the shallow water.
Champagne Pools
Ok, so it’s not a lake, but it’s too good not to include since we’re talking about great places to swim on K’gari / Fraser Island.
The Champagne Pools are a set of natural rock pools that are best enjoyed at low tide. There are shallow sections suitable for younger kids and deeper sections for older kids and adults and it’s worth bringing a snorkel due to the abundance of small fish that get trapped in the rock pools when the tide is out.
When the tide comes in, it crashes over the rocks with force, so be very careful at high-tide here.
Looking for more awesome Family Holiday Destinations?
For more information on visiting K’gari (Fraser Island) with kids, head on over to our main K’gari (Fraser Island) page. Alternatively, jump on back to the home page for other destinations around Australia and worldwide.
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