Rainbow Beach and Inskip Point — Big & Little Adventures

Always on the hunt for places you can go camping with dogs, we chose Inskip Point for our last long weekend away.

As well as needing to be dog friendly, our requirements also needed to cover beach time, fishing & a campfire. Inskip Point ticked all those boxes so off we went!

Inskip Point is located 10 mins drive from Rainbow Beach which is approximately 2 hours & 45 minutes drive from Brisbane.

We stopped at the Shell servo in Rainbow Beach to top up on fuel & they have a fantastic bakery in the complex where you can buy fresh bread & lots of yummy baked goods.

At Inskip Point, there are a number of campgrounds to choose from. We were hoping for M.V. Natone which is 4wd accessible only, but we couldn’t get in there with the van as the clearance was too low (overhanging branches etc.).

While we were trying to get out of M.V. Natone (this took some manoeuvring, as those of you with campers would well understand) our cousins found the perfect beachfront site at M.V. Beagle - the campground next door.

We couldn’t believe our fortune, having the beach right at our doorstep for the next 4 days!

Our campsite was a little bit grassy, with a little bit of sand and the rangers had been by recently to spread some pine bark chips around the campsites.

Right out the front of our campsite. That’s Fraser Island in the background!

Relaxing on the beach at Inskip Point

M.V. Beagle campground is located on the surf side of Inskip Point. It’s a beautiful beach and it looks straight out to Fraser Island.

You can also camp on the other side of the Point but beware of the mosquitoes & or midgies at certain times of the year.

There are no facilities at any of the campgrounds at Inskip Point other than long drop toilets. However, remember that Rainbow Beach is only 10 minutes away, so if you don’t have your own shower facilities or are desperate for a shower, there is a public toilet & (cold) shower block down near the beach at Rainbow.

Things to do

Fishing off the beach. You can buy bait from the servo at Rainbow Beach. We were using prawns & squid.

Crabbing. We took our canoe with us & put some crab pots out in the mudflats on the other side of the Point. We caught loads of mud crabs & sand crabs, but only one of them was legal so the rest were thrown back. We made delicious crab sandwiches with the one we kept! We used mullet as bait.

Beach walks, swimming & relaxing on the beach!

Beautiful beach sunsets. No filter, seriously!

Explore Rainbow Beach. We visited the Carlo Point Sand Blow which is an easy 600m walk to the sand blow. You’ll see hangliders & at this time of year, you might also see whales as well as dolphins & stingrays if you venture down into the sand blow towards the ocean. We were lucky to spot them all!

We had lunch at dog friendly Rainbow Beach Hotel & browsed a couple of the souvenir shops.

We drove down onto the beach (make sure you let some air out of your tyres - we took ours down to about 30 psi) and went as far as Middle Rock. Note, dogs are not allowed past this point & if you’re not travelling with a dog, you also require a permit to go any further - these are available in town.

Afterwards, the kids had a swim at the patrolled beach at Rainbow.

You’ll find these colourful steps on the way down to the patrolled beach.

To camp at Inskip Point you will need a camping permit - https://www.npsr.qld.gov.au/parks/inskip-peninsula/camping.html

Our 4 days went by so quickly. Our verdict? We loved it. Everyone, including our dog Dasher, had a ball. We will be back!

Note: We’ve actually driven through Inskip Point many times on the way to Fraser Island (Inskip Point is one of two departure points to take the barge to the island; Hervey Bay being the other). Please note, dogs are not permitted on Fraser Island so don’t attempt to take them. Fraser Island (K’gari) is a National Park and home to precious local flora and fauna, not to mention Australia’s most purebred Dingos!

We have a CGear Multimat we use as ground cover outside the tent or caravan. The sand seeps through all the tiny holes in the mat keeping everything cleaner & neater. This is what they look like - https://www.cgear-outdoor.com.au/phone/multimat.html We don’t just use it for sandy spots, we take it with us on all camping trips where we know will be staying in the one spot for a few days or more.

More pics on Instagram @bigandlittleadventures