Otto Merchel Park is one of a series of parks along the foreshore on the Hervey Bay Esplanade Trail.
The park has a sheltered picnic table area with a free BBQ. A toilet block is located at the park as well.
A parking area with a few perpendicular parks is at Otto Merchel Park. Access to the beach is right at the park where the parking area is.
The beach is north of where Shelley Beach is located on the maps but there is an information sign about it.
Shelley Beach was named after the many shells that wash up on this section of Hervey Bay’s shoreline. Apparently, it is one of the best places along the shoreline to fish for bream and whiting. There is a Big Fighting Whiting 
in Hervey Bay commemorating its reputation.
Once a feasting ground for fish, crabs, and oysters by the Butchulla People, discarded shells developed mounds called middens. Hundreds of middens can still be found across the Fraser Coast.
Otto Merchel
There doesn’t seem to be much information about Otto Merchel, for whom the park was named after. He lived at Booyal, west of Hervey Bay, and had a daughter June Merchel. There is mention of June riding a horse 
to receive “very favourable comment” for her style, particularly over the hurdles.
Trying to dig deeper, it was easier to find information about June Merchel. I found an article of her winning the “Belle of the Ball” competition at Booyal in 1951.
