Sea Kayak Townsville

The Garmin Etrex 20x is a lightweight and compact GPS unit designed and constructed to be waterproof to IPX7 standards and holds up to a bit of rough handling.  The unit is powered by two AA batteries, which provide sufficient power for 2 full days of kayaking.  Furthermore this unit has mapping capabilities, is highly customisable and has all the functionality a kayaker could want in a GPS unit. The unit has a 3.5 x 4.4 cm colour display which is clean and crisp and can be backlit to improve visibility.  There are five buttons placed along the vertical edges and a joystick style thumb button mounted on the front face for scrolling, inputting and selecting.  When I was choosing a GPS device for kayaking, I ruled out the touchscreen devices right away as touchscreens don’t work very well when wet and they also have a lower battery life. There are rubberized covers on all of the buttons along with sealable covers for the battery compartment and USB ...

Florence Bay is an idealic bay located on the eastern side of Magnetic Island approximately 16.35 km from the Strand launch site or 16.5 km from the Palleranda boat ramp, with the following GPS coordinates S19 07 18.6  E146 52 41.6 .  Google Maps Link The bay consists of a long sandy beach surrounded by rocky headlands on either side.  There is an extensive coral reef located on the northern side of the bay, approximately 60m from the beach and extending out to the tip of the northern headland.  This reef is great for snorkeling and as a result the bay is very popular with tourist and tour operators. The crystal clear water gives a great view of the coral below as you pass over it while making your approach to the shallow sandy beach area.  The gentle sloping beach means large sections of beach will be exposed or flooded in a short space of time and you will have to be mindful of where you position your kayak during large to medium tides if yo...