Experience Searys Creek Magnificent Underwater World With A Snorkel

Rainbow Beach is a small idyllic coastal getaway town surrounded by the incredible Great Sandy National Park. With the Fraser Island section of the national park a stone’s throw away to the north and the Cooloola section stretching from the township to Noosa, you are spoilt for choice when it comes to incredible nature.

Searys Creek

The most easily accessible of all the natural wonders this area offers is Searys Creek on the only road in and out of the town, aptly named Rainbow Beach Road. But don’t think that just because its car park is just off the road and only a short walk to get to that this place isn’t spectacular. Ah, quite the contrary.

At the end of a 100m easily accessible, wheelchair-friendly boardwalk you’re met with a small but stunning crystalline yellow waterway. (Don’t worry, I’m pretty sure it’s naturally a vivid yellow. Geez, I bloody hope so. Eek!)

This beautiful, narrow waterway is a popular place to cool off on a hot summers day, and though you might think it wouldn’t take much for the sun to warm it up. NOPE! Thing is frigidly cold!

You’re either the take-it-slow icy water enterer, or you’re the full immersion type. Whether you take 10 seconds or 10 minutes to complete head-to-toe getting wet initiation, you can then either splash around and observe from above and maybe do some underwater cartwheels, but for the full Searys Creek experience, you’re going to want to take a snorkel.

Underwater Immersion

If you thought Searys Creek looks beautiful, serene and picturesque from above, “you ain’t seen nothing yet”, sing it with me, “You ain’t seen nothing yet. Mhm.” Time to pop those goggles over your eyeballs and the snorkel in your mouth and let the current take down the creek in a zero effort exploration of this spectacular river system.

It’s a living, breathing ecosystem that barely resembles the topside. What you’ll discover is an utterly magnificent underwater world brimming with intriguing geographical features such as tree roots, fallen logs and rugged rock formations.

Marine animals you might see are small fish, crayfish and even the friendly neighbourhood eels. (I saw two eels, though they were both seen at the end of the boardwalk, so you don’t need to get into the water to see them.)

The shallowness and narrowness of the river system creates a very surreal “fish lens” like experience, and allowing the current to guide you downstream makes it even more exciting. You’re just going with the flow and feel very much like a fish.

It’s such an unreal and empowering sensory experience that is utterly unforgettable. It was a personal highlight of my time in an already impressive visit to Rainbow Beach, and I can’t wait to go back and explore more of Searys Creek with a snorkel.