Great Keppel Island is the largest of 18 isles in the Keppel Group and is the jewel in the Keppel Bay crown, with pristine sandy beaches offering a mix of attractions and different perspectives – so much so that it deserves three separate posts to share its riches! The first of these is Monkey Bay and its astonishing underwater life.
Swimming amongst the corals
We had been told by a fellow yachtie at Hummocky Island that this bay offered excellent snorkelling: great corals and tropical fish. Nothing could have prepared us for the quantity of fishes we saw and swam with. It was outstanding. Schools of fusiliers, butterfly fish, whiting surrounded us: above, around, under us… they were everywhere. We did two dives at Monkey Bay. With 4m tides, we had to time our dives at low water for best viewing. The ocean was colder there, and the current was noticeable, but boy was it worth it! It was very exciting and as usual sunset was memorable too!
Here is what we saw. Click on the first image to display the gallery in full screen and experience some of these underwater wonders.
Sv-Anui 
gorgeous shots
Thanks Julz – it was a feast for the eyes!
what are you using for the underwater shots?
Wade’s Olympus camera – it goes down to 10m below, so perfect for snorkelling.
fantastic
Wow, exiting to see so many little fish, beautiful, what a spot
It was amazing – even better than Lady Musgrave from a quantity point of view! We will take you there in December! Can you snorkel?
Only on the top of the water
Well, that’s all you need to be able to do!
You transported me to an underwater colorfest!! Fantastic shots, Chris. Looks like you all are having a blast 🙂
Oh Kirsten it has been so amazing! Very hard to get back to work!
I can imagine it must be hard to leave that behind! I could stare for hours at the fish 🙂
Yap that’s me now!
Lovely pictures. How warm was the sea while you were there? We had really cold sea in the Whitsundays when we made a July visit. Surprisingly cold, so much so I thought it must be borderline for coral growth.
Hi Phil! It varied between 19 and 22 degrees. Definitely needed a wetsuit, and we never were in the water for very long – 1/2 hr to 3/4 hr max.