BIG BITE: Inskip Peninsula campers Jack Red and his grandfather Darryl cautiously check out the sinkhole. Picture: Glenn Barnes Source: The Courier-Mail
NOW you see it, now you don't.
That was the case at Inskip beach, north of Tin Can Bay, yesterday as a 100m-wide section of beach was swallowed by a sinkhole.
The hole opened up on the popular stretch of beach about 10.30am and by mid-afternoon it looked like a giant bite had been taken out of the coastline.
Campers on Inskip Peninsula watched in awe as chunks of sand were sucked out to sea, followed by trees and signs.
Visitor Rhonda Harris said it was a "phenomenon".
"When we first came up about 11am the water was actually bubbling like it was boiling," she said.
"We saw the 'no camping' sign get washed out."
Camper Shane Hillhouse said four-wheel-drives had been travelling along the popular stretch of sand, near Inskip Peninsula, shortly before the hole appeared.
"This has the potential to take the tip of Inskip Point with it. This is huge and on a scale I've never seen before," Mr Hillhouse said.
No one was believed to have been injured.
Gympie police district duty officer Sergeant Vic Tipman said sinkholes - which can swallow portions of beach as big as houses - were common at Inskip.
"You've got to be careful driving up there," he said.
"It could be hundreds of metres wide. Big areas get washed out.
"What's going to happen one day is Inskip Point is not going to be there anymore."
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