Agnes Water, Queensland, almost feels like it is in the middle of nowhere. I mean, it kind of is – Rockhampton and Gladstone are the closest cities north of Agnes Water (225km and 124km away respectively) and Bundaberg lies 122km south. It is remote and it is beautiful!
Agnes Water twins with the town of 1770, and is surprisingly not yet a hotspot on the typical east coast backpacker tour. It is therefore such a breath of fresh air. I had never even heard of this town until speaking to a fellow traveller, and I am so glad I put it on my itinerary!
Agnes Water is home to the northern-most surf beach on the east coast of Australia.
It is also one of the only places on the east coast from where you can watch the sun set over the ocean.
So, the two things not to miss – surfing and sunsets! Surf lesson are readily available, at reasonable prices too, and the sunset can be best enjoyed from easily accessed 1770.
The lifestyle is so relaxed, and really does just revolve around heading to the beach for a surf or stroll, soaking up the forever warm sun of Queensland.
There isn’t much around in town, but there is all you need. A few cafés, takeaway options, a bar, supermarket, surf shops etc. Don’t go expecting your typical chain stores or anything but lets face it, all you really need is beach attire anyway!
What to do in Agnes Water?
- Visit main beach
- Surf
- Discovery Trail Lookout
- Take a trip to Deepwater National Park
- Watch the sunset at 1770
How long to stay for?
2/3 nights is ideal. There is enough to see and do for this amount of time, but if you want to continue to live the ultimate beach life, stay longer!
I planned to stay 3 nights but actually ended up staying 4 because I went on an extra little adventure one night! 4 nights did not feel like too long, I managed to keep busy and was happy to have that little bit of extra time.
Where to stay?
Beachside 1770 YHA is a top choice! I stayed here and had such a good time.
You can usually find a good deal on this hostel through Booking.com
There is a good sized outdoor dining/common area which joins onto the open plan kitchen. This is where you can expect to find yourself the majority of the time while at this hostel. The rooms aren’t particularly exciting, pretty standard really. I hardly spent any time in the room though, they way it should be I guess! In short, the overall vibe is really good, and it is worth staying here!
There are plenty of other backpacker options around though – all of which I am pretty sure are solid options. The dreamy beach vibe exists everywhere in Agnes Water!
My Agnes Water Adventure
The Journey
Agnes Water was my first stop after Magnetic Island. I therefore had a really long journey to get there – it took me around 16 hours in total. Australia is a BIG country!
I left my hostel on Magnetic Island, taking a bus to the ferry, then ferry to Townsville. Next up was the Greyhound bus from Townsville to Airlie Beach, then the overnight bus from Airlie Beach to Agnes Water. I departed my hostel initially at 2:30pm and arrived at 6:30am the next morning! I had already been to Airlie Beach before, so decided to skip it this time round and not stay a night just for the sake of it – this is where you would want to stop off before or after Agnes Water (depending if heading up or down the coast).
Anyway, the benefit of taking the night bus: no need to pay for accommodation. Not sure it was worth that though, it wasn’t so fun.
- The bus was freezing! Pretty sure there was an actual problem with the air con. I had not prepared for such – everything warm I had was packed in my main backpack I had no access to. Luckily I had my towel and it was my blanket but oh it was not doing much to help!
- I had a really weird older guy sitting next to me. Like you know those people you see and you just think ‘oh please no, don’t sit next to me.’, as in, when they smell weird and just give that odd vibe. The bus was totally full though and there was no option but to go where you ended up.
- I also had next to no food with me – shops on Magnetic Island were expensive and I just never really thought to stock up for such a long journey..smart! 1am crisps and chocolate from a gas station were the way forward.
So, shivering, no sleep, sugary snacks, strange man (he finally got off at one point before me thankfully!) – that sums it up.. This journey was also off the back of a crazy party night on Magnetic, I have no idea how I was functioning.
Safe to say I was so happy to finally reach Agnes Water!
Day 1
Arrived into Agnes Water at 6:30am to be picked-up from the bus station by my accommodation – no walking required, the dream after such a long journey!
It was of course too early to check in, so blankets and pillows were provided and the new arrivals were encouraged to take a nap in the lounge room. This was very much appreciated – the hostel was very welcoming!
Eventually I got checked in and so of course it was time to treat my tiredness in the best way – with a trip to the beach for a true chilled out Agnes Water beach day, what it is all about here! I went with a fellow traveller who had also just arrived too which is always nice!
Agnes Water Main Beach
The gorgeous stretch of sand that is Agnes Water main beach spans 5.5km along the coast, and is where you should intend to spend most of your visit.
The views along the beach are lovely, and it is generally uncrowded, making it even more appealing!
As previously mentioned, this is the last beach heading north where you can surf, or your first surf opportunity if heading south down the coast. So, of course, you should take advantage of this (read on to find out about cheap surf lessons!).
Thanks to a patrolled swimming area you can safely take a swim in the ocean here. Be careful if venturing further along the beach – surf beach of course means bigger waves than you may expect to encounter – best to stick around the main area.
The sun was shining when I arrived at the beach and I was already so happy to have made Agnes Water a stop on my travels. I spent the day just lounging on the sand, going for a dip in the ocean – having the best chill out day, which was much needed!
Day 2
The morning of my second day was all about doing what Agnes Water is notorious for – surfing!
Surf Lessons
I signed up through my hostel the previous day to head out on a surf lesson. There is more than one surf school around but, as a budget backpacker, I opted for the cheapest one (and had already been recommended to go with this one!). I had actually had a couple of surf lessons before, in South Australia, but that was seven months before and I definitely needed a refresher course!
Reef 2 Beach Surf School provides the cheapest surf lessons around (I wouldn’t be surprised if in the whole of Australia!). It is $25 for 3 hours.
The reason it is so cheap is that the lessons occur in a very large group of people. So of course it isn’t so intimate – the attention is on a big group of people, and the lessons are really just suited to beginners. Therefore, if you are super serious about learning to surf this might not be the one for you, but even still it provides all the basics needed and is a lot of fun!
There is a photographer too. You can go and check out the photos at the shop afterwards, and get a copy of them should you wish. This is a nice way to have a proper memory of your Agnes Water surf experience (in good quality – despite maybe the not so good quality surfing from a newbie)!
So, my Agnes Water surf experience…
A bus came to pick myself and the fellow soon-to-be surfers up at the hostel, from where we were taken to the surf shop to sign in. We then headed to collect the surf boards and walked down to main beach (not so easy with a big surfboard in tow when you are not used to carrying one!).
The first part of the lesson is spent on the sand, all about grasping the basics for when you hit the waves. Then you get to go cool off in the water and put it to practice! When in the water, because the group is so big, it is pretty fast paced – a constant ‘next’, ‘next’, ‘next’ is shouted… one after another everyone continuously mounts their boards and tries to catch a wave! This is good though, there is no time wasting – by the time you get yourself paddled back out you actually don’t have to wait too long until your next go. You just don’t get as many pointers as you would in a smaller group lesson, but it is great fun!
The length of the lesson is good too. It goes pretty fast, but you do start to get tired (when not so used to this sport) and are kind of ready to head back in when it is time. A group photo ensues and the not so desired walk back with the board.
I’d definitely recommend doing this, for $25 it is a real bargain for a morning of fun in the sun!
Following the surf lessons I was beached out for the time being, feeling very salty and sun-kissed! So I went on a little walk in the afternoon, which takes me to the next must do…
Discovery Trail Lookout
A short walk worth checking out is the Discovery Trail Lookout. It is a nice easy bushland walk, on a clearly marked path. The access point is by the museum in town. I’d say the walk, leaving from the YHA, is around 30 minutes (one way) to the lookout.
The lookout point provides the best, and most accessible view over Agnes Water main beach and along the coast to 1770, as well as Workmans beach and more to the south. You could even head down to Workmans beach if desiring a change from main beach!
(Although I said I was ‘beached out’, this didn’t mean I didn’t still want to see the beach, I always want to see the beach!). This was the perfect way to spend my afternoon!
Day 3
My third day in Agnes Water turned out to be a very random day/night… camping suddenly came on the cards. This was one of times that you feel like ‘this is what travel is all about’ – a spontaneous little adventure amidst the already existing adventure that is travelling solo.
So where did I end up for the night?
Deepwater National Park
Deepwater National Park lies on the coast just south of Agnes Water. I honestly never would have even known this existed had my random trip not happened.
It is a gorgeous, tranquil spot that should be checked out, if access permits. A 4WD is best – depends where you’re coming from, where you’re headed within the park, etc. But it’s not quite a ‘navigate this on foot or take a public bus there’ kind of trip. Which is why I feel so lucky I got the opportunity to experience the nature of this area.
It is seriously serene – perhaps busier in peak season, but on this November day there was no one around. The beach was deserted and it all felt a little surreal to be honest. I had no idea where I was, or really who I was with – the beauty of travel.
So, how did I end up here?
I’m still unsure exactly what the deal was. Essentially, the hostel were in search of some people to go test out a camp site area. I guess they were hoping to set it up as a real little camping retreat for the future, which after some research I believe has now happened! Pretty cool I was an OG tester I guess!
So, I soon agreed to spend an extra night in the area than initially planned, checking out of my room (I’d switch on return the next day), and saw myself heading out on a camping trip with some people I did not know. Because why not? I was on no strict time schedule, I literally had no reason not to! There weren’t too many of us that went – mainly workers from the hostel and just a few fellow guests who were up for it too. So, we got our belongings together and headed on a mini-bus to the destination: Deepwater National Park.
On arrival, we found a large open space grassy area, with some tents already set up for us, including little camp beds, sleeping bags, pillows for our arrival. The basic camping essentials existed, there was some running water too – always a win, and to get to the toilet you had to take a little path through the bush.
After settling in we soon headed out in a very old Landrover.. as in, this thing didn’t even have breaks that work. Good thing there was no one else around and it was just little roads through the park we were taking. It was so fun but a little terrifying!
Wreck Rock Beach was where we were headed, and is a main spot to check out. This would be a ‘prime’ area of the park – Wreck Rock campground exists just by the beach – would make for a great area to spend the night.
As noted, the beach was deserted, and I imagine it often does look this way. It was lovely, the waves were quite fierce however (and it is not patrolled), so we just opted for more of a paddle and beach stroll!
The evening was then spent having a classic Aussie bbq, drinking, chatting, playing games kind of night – all there is to do when out in nature. We were also treated to a lovely sunset! Oh, plus spending plenty time trying to avoid the many frogs jumping around!
Day 4
Day four of course started off waking up in a tent, surrounded by nature, with some breakfast provided before saying goodbye to Deepwater National Park to head back to the hostel. So, we didn’t see much of the park really, but it was such a cool, unexpected little getaway!
Since I had been away for the night I now had to switch rooms in the same hostel (story of my travel life – this happens way too frequently). After getting checked in again my day turned into another randomly fun one. It was time to spend my last day in town in true Agnes Water fashion – I was easily convinced to go surfing with some others from the hostel. I spent so little time alone on this trip – solo travel, really?!
After getting a hold of some boards (no lessons this time, just surfing freely) and heading down to the beach, it was time to hit the waves… and these sure were real waves this time, but not in a good way, for a beginner at least. At one point I was immersed under water, tumbling round as if I were inside a washing machine, trying not to get absolutely decked by the board. It was actually pretty scary, it’s times like those you really remember the ocean is the one in control! BE SAFE OUT THERE KIDS.
So, surfing didn’t last long on this occasion, but it was fun to get out there for a little while and (try to) take advantage of it! After a post surf beach chill and a little café stop the afternoon was over, but the day wasn’t.
Next up:
1770 Headland Sunset
My last evening in Agnes Water was perfect as I got to watch a gorgeous ocean sunset from the headland at 1770.
The hostel provides a bus to take groups of people out to watch the sunset there, and it is a must do (whether that be through an accommodation trip or by making your own way there)! I love a good sunset, so I definitely wasn’t missing out on this.
1770 headland provides parking and a short walk to a ‘proper’ lookout point. That is not where we headed, however. Once descended from the bus we scrambled our way over some rocks (flip-flops were not the ideal footwear at this time..) to the perfect little spot to watch the sun melt into the ocean, well, the bushland behind the ocean.
With some cider in hand, a warm ocean breeze, my skin sun-kissed and still salty from the sea, tunes playing, a group of people I just met and a stunning view, this was one of those ‘THIS is the ideal travel life’ kind of times.
That pretty much concludes my Agnes Water trip. A 6:30am bus the next morning had me on the road again, down the coast to Brisbane.
Agnes Water is such a magical little place. Immerse yourself in the beauty and the laid-back lifestyle, live the real deal Aussie surf dude version of life and you will also love it here!
