Mon Repos Regional Park is on the coast between Bargara and Burnett Heads. Much of the coastline is rocky basalt slabs. Mon Repos is a kilometre of sandy beach between the rocks. The sandy beach is the largest concentration of nesting marine turtles on the eastern Australian mainland.
The Mon Repos Turtle Centre is open daily with different hours during turtle season. You can learn about the turtles and their journey, and the history of the area. Bert Hinkler, Australia’s pioneering aviator, used Mon Repos beach for his first successful flight.
There are a number of walking trails to explore. The Turtle Trail is a walking and cycling path from Burnett Heads to Bargara passing through Mon Repos. The Mon Repos coastal track runs along the Turtle Trail in Mon Repos, with coastal tracks to explore closer to the beach.
A rock wall is passed on Rookery Road when entering Mon Repos Turtle Centre. The 1.6km rock wall was built by South Sea Islanders clearing the area for growing sugar cane. There is an audio sign where you can listen about how the islanders lived in the area.
I went on the Cable House Creek circuit walk, which takes you through the Woongarra rainforest scrub that once covered the area before clearing for farming. It has the only natural vegetation, with the rest of Mon Repos replanted. It is best to do this walk wearing shoes you can walk in water with. I took my shoes off to cross the outflow from the tidal lagoon, to later find you want along the creek floor. The tide was out, but the sand was soft and squishy, so your shoes will get soaked. I noticed a fair bit of broken glass bottles, so I didn’t want to try walking through barefoot. There are the remains of WWII bunkers, but I didn’t get to see them. You can drive to a separate parking area for this walk, or walk from the main car parking area, passed the rock wall on the way.
From November to late March, you can go to the Mon Repos Turtle Encounters. Arriving at the Mon Repos Turtle Centre at 6.45pm, you are assigned a group, then your wait begins while staff search the beach for turtles. While you wait you can have a look around the turtle centre, visit the souvenir shop, and there is a food available with cold and hot food and drinks.
We returned in 2024 and attended a turtle encounter in February to see the turtle hatchlings. Known nest sites are caged to protect them from predators and hatchings are kept ready for the encounters. This lets rangers to conduct surveys, including what types and quantities of turtles have hatched, as well as increase the likelihood hatchlings will be seen during the encounter.
When the turtles arrive, rangers call your group and guide you to the beach. Depending on the time of the year, you witness the sea turtles make their journey onto shore to lay their eggs, or in the later months see the newly hatched turtles begin their journey to the sea. By the end of the night, you could be there for 6 hours, and there may be no turtles arrive at all, although this is supposedly unusual, especially for the hatchings now that they are managed and protected.
Be prepared in case of wet weather, but note umbrellas are not allowed. Insect repellent and drinking water would be a good idea too.
, head east on Avenue St and turn right into Alexandra St. Follow to the next intersection and turn left into Whittred St and follow up to the traffic lights. Turn left onto Princess St and follow for 7.7km becoming Bargara Rd. Turn left into Potters Rd with a brown sign shortly before it. Follow Potters Rd 2km to the end and turn right onto Grange Rd and follow straight for 1.8km with the entrance to Mon Repose Turtle Centre on the left.