Rainbow Beach is named after the colourful sand dunes that dominate the southern half of the 24km long beach. The road from Gympie arrives at the middle of the beach where the town of Rainbow Beach is located. The town offers accommodation, a small shopping area and the Rainbow Beach Surf Life Saving Club, which was founded in 1965. The club house is located on a wide, bluff-top foreshore reserve overlooking the beach. There is a ramp from the club to the beach, with additional vehicle access, parking and amenities below the bluffs immediately north of the surf club. Just south of the surf club are Eight Mile Rocks; brown 'coffeerock' outcropping on the beach. The rocks are part of the Pleistocene sand dunes that provide the coloured sands.The main beach (1529) extends from Inskip Point in the north, running due south for 12km to Eight Mile Rocks. Wave height, which averages nearly 1.5m in the north, decreases to about 1m by the town. As the waves decrease, so too the bars change from a rip-dominated double bar in the north, to a single, though still rip dominated, bar by the surf club.