The Australian beach that 'swallows' cars

There's a beach in Queensland that is reportedly 'swallowing' around 10 cars a year.

The drive from Rainbow Beach to Noosa is by all accounts a beautiful one - but you have to beware of getting sucked in.

Rainbow Beach is around a three-hour drive north of Brisbane, and offers the chance of driving all the way to Noosa (around 100km away) on the beach.

See also: Massive sinkhole swallows car and caravan at Rainbow Beach

See also: Oops! £120k car gets stuck on beach in Cornwall


Speaking to ABC News, Glenn Wiggins, a tour operator in the area who also acts as a 4WD taxi, said: "There's not too many places in Australia that you can drive a couple of hundred kilometres on an unpopulated beach."

But there's some danger zones, including Mudlo Rocks, a collection of boulders on the sand.

Greg said: "These are quite infamous; they're quite dangerous. Nobody has ever lost their lives, but there's been a few hurt quite badly in the hip pocket here."

He added that the sea can also creates holes in the sand, explaining: "The seas can also pick up sand and remove it from the beach, creating gaps in the terrain. When the waves come in they'll create a big hole right beside the rocks, some of which can be metres deep.

"It doesn't take much to be hooked up on one of them. And once you're stuck, the rescue vehicles won't come and get you on an incoming tide."

So what should you do if you undertake the drive? Driver nearer the water where the beach is "hardest" (but not in it), get to grips with the timing of the tides, and know the weather conditions.

Carolyn Elder from Rainbow Beach Towing company, told the Daily Mail that many of the cars that get stuck are a write off after sea water gets in.

Mudlo Rocks is close to Inskip Point, where a large sinkhole the size of a football pitch swallowed a caravan, car and camping trailer at the end of September.

The 150m by 50m sinkhole opened up at the Inskip Point camping area at around 11pm.

Police said it took just minutes to swallow the vehicles and tourists were forced to evacuate.

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