About Hervey Bay

Location

Hervey Bay is a coastal city, located on Queensland's Fraser Coast, just 300km north of Brisbane. The Bay is a quiet suburban town made up of five suburbs: Point Vernon, Pialba, Scarness, Torquay and Urangan, situated along 10km stretch of coastline.

Hervey Bay has two very important tourist attractions that add to its bountiful charm; it's the main entry point for the world's largest sand island, Fraser Island and it is one of the best places in Australia to view migrating humpback whales. It is also known for its fine fresh seafood, four wheel driving adventures and world class fishing.

Urangan Boat Harbour, located at the southern end of the Bay, is Hervey Bay's meeting location for many different aquatic activities, including the whale watching vessels, passenger ferries, the barge to Fraser Island, and fishing charters. You can also find restaurants and cafes in this area.

The Esplanade takes in the picturesque foreshore and has great walking and cycle paths as well as picnic and play areas, a bustling marina and entry point to the botanical gardens.  The Esplanade at Pialba is also where Sapphire Luxury Retirement Apartments can be found.

Climate

Hervey Bay enjoys a wonderful subtropical climate year round with temperatures ranging from 14 to 23 degrees throughout winter and 22 to 29 degrees in the summer months.  Hervey Bay also records lower than average rainfall – so more sunshine to enjoy every day!

Local Community Amenities  

Hospitals

Hervey Bay Hospital is a modern 104-bed facility which was opened in 1997. This hospital facility provides acute services, including operating theatres, general surgery, day procedure unit, 24-hour emergency department, intensive and coronary care,orthopaedicsurgery, ophthalmology, pathology, medical imaging, renal dialysis, cardiac rehabilitation, oncology, specialist outpatients and pharmacy services to the Hervey Bay community.

Medical centres & General Practitioners

Hervey Bay is well serviced by medical centres and general practitioners, with seven medical centres in the immediate Pialba area. There are 23 Medical Practitioners/Doctors in the Hervey Bay region.

Library

The region is well equipped for avid readers with the Hervey Bay City Council Library located close by to Sapphire, in Pialba.

Cinema

The Big screen Cinemas on Boat Harbour Drive are always playing the latest blockbusters, and only a stone’s throw from Sapphire.

Golf Courses

To suit the relaxed pace of retirement, or to fill your sporting schedule, Hervey Bay has four golf courses for the serious golfer or the happy amateur.

Sailing Club

No perfect seaside retirement would be complete without a sailing club – and Hervey Bay has one of those, too!

Local History

Hervey Bay was discovered by Captain James Cook in 1770 while travelling the east coast of Australia. He named the bay 'Hervey's Bay' after Lord Augustus Hervey, an admiral of the Blue, the Earl of Bristol and Captain Cook's boss.

The first European settlement of Hervey Bay occurred in the 1850s, originally part of a cattle station.

In the 1870s many Scandinavian settlers moved into the area and for a short time Hervey Bay became known as Aarlborg. At this time the area was basically used for dairy farming. In the 1880s sugar was introduced to the area and the Kanakas were brought from the South Pacific islands to work on the sugar plantations.

In 1896 the Bay was connected to Maryborough by railway and in 1917 the Urangan Pier was completed.

The attractions of the area were obvious. The fishing was good, the place was quiet, the weather was excellent, and the area around the bay was flat and accessible. All these factors quickly led Maryborough businessmen to take up large waterfront blocks of land for weekend retreats. A number of villages began to develop throughout the area and were individually named: Polson's Point which became Point Vernon; Barilba which became Pialba; Torquay; Urangan; and, Gatakers Bay.

It was not until September 1977 that the combined villages were declared the Town of Hervey Bay and the area was finally named a city in February 1984.