Murray Bay is a quieter neighbour to Horseshoe Bay, about 900 m to the south, and the North Queensland Underwater Explorers Club describes it as 'a stunning little hidden gem' on a high tide in calm conditions. The effort to reach it – a coastal walk or a 250 m gear carry from a small car park – keeps crowds away. The dive centres on the eastern point and Solitary Rock, a rock outcrop about 100 m north of the point.

The water between them is about 5 m deep, and the rock and point are cut by large cracks and gutters. Blue-tipped staghorn coral and plate corals cover parts of the reef, and sea whips add to the scenery. Fish life includes diamond fish, juvenile jacks, sweetlips, margined coralfish, fusiliers, damselfish, drummer and bicolour angelfish, and the club notes nudibranchs and tiger cowries for macro divers.

Olive sea snakes – large ones – are regularly seen; they are curious and may approach divers but are not aggressive if left alone. Evidence of fishing – tackle and anchors – is common around the rock, a reminder to carry a cutting tool. Visibility is typical of Bowen, 2–8 m.

The club advises a high tide for easier navigation between the point and the rock. Murray Bay's former motel is closed (as of 2018), and there are no facilities at the bay. After Cyclone Debbie in 2017, coral here and elsewhere around Bowen may have changed from earlier descriptions.

On a calm, clear high tide it is one of the more rewarding shore dives between Townsville and the Whitsundays.

Bowen is on the Bruce Highway about 2.5 hours' drive south-east of Townsville and about 1 hour north of Airlie Beach/Proserpine. The town's northern beaches – Queens Beach, Horseshoe Bay, Murray Bay, Rose Bay and Grays Bay – lie on the headland north-east of the town centre, reached via the Lower Don Road/Soldiers Road and signposted beach turn-offs near the Bowen aerodrome. Murray Bay is about 900 m south of Horseshoe Bay.

Either walk the coastal track from Horseshoe Bay, or drive via 'the Pocket' in Queens Bay to the small car park near the defunct motel (closed as of 2018). From the car park, carry gear about 250 m down the track beside a disused red-brick building to the beach. Enter from the sand and swim towards the eastern point and Solitary Rock.

Bowen's bays sit on the northern side of a headland, which shelters them from the prevailing south-east trades, but strong south-westerlies and northerlies make them choppy. Visibility is typically 2–8 m – down to 2 m after high wind, 7–8 m in ideal calm conditions – and it deteriorates after coral spawning (late November–December) and wet-season rain when the Don River discolours the water. Dive in the morning before the sea breeze, on a calm day at high-tide slack.

Marine stinger season (box jellyfish and Irukandji) runs roughly November to May – wear a full-length stinger suit or wetsuit with hood and gloves, carry vinegar. Cyclone season November–April; tropical lows and cyclones can close sites and damage coral (TC Yasi 2011, TC Debbie 2017). Cyclone Debbie (2017) crossed near Bowen and damaged delicate coral in the bays.

NQUEC recommends diving on a high tide for easier navigation.

Swim out to the eastern point and across to Solitary Rock (100 m north of the point) at about 5 m, exploring the large cracks and gutters, then return along the point over staghorn and plate corals.

No dedicated dive shop in Bowen at time of research – divers dive independently or with NQUEC club trips; nearest dive centres and air fills are in Airlie Beach (e.g. Whitsunday Dive Adventures).