In contrast to the exposed eastern shore of the island, the west facing bay shore is protected from both the ocean waves and dominant easterly winds. Consequently it consists of low energy sand beaches, backed by the vegetated dunes that originated in the east and fronted by sand flats and, in places, tidal channels. The three small island settlements are all located on this side, at Kooringal in the south, the central Tangalooma and northern Bulwer. The ferry 'Moreton Venture' discharges vehicles near Kooringal and at Tangalooma. The 36 km of bay shoreline contain six, near continuous beaches, totalling 27 km in length, with a 9 km section of mangroves between Kooringal and Kounungai Beaches. Kounungai beach (MOR9) runs from the northern end of the bare Little Sandhills for 3.7 km to an inflection in the shore. It faces west-south-west and is a relatively remote part of the island, owing to the absence of backing tracks and the difficulty in driving the narrow beach. The rear of the 80 m high Big Sandhills backs the central portion of the beach. read more

Beach Length: 3km