Whale Bay Cafe

Whale Bay Cafe is a small bakery focused cafe at 19b Main Street in Pialba, the shopping heart of Hervey Bay. It started life as a home based baking and coffee venture before the owners took the leap to a Main Street storefront, a move that even earned a nod from the Fraser Coast mayor. Today it runs from 6am each morning, covering the breakfast crowd through to mid afternoon with coffee, homemade cakes and a rotating lunch menu.

The dog setup

The cafe is new and does not publish a formal dog policy, so if you are planning a visit with your dog, message their Facebook page first to confirm where dogs can settle. Main Street footpaths make an easy tie-up-and-takeaway option in the meantime: the loaded cookies and brownies travel well, and the morning coffee window suits a walk schedule.

The vibe

This is a sweets first cafe. The cabinet rotates homemade cakes, fudge brownies and loaded cookies, and custom celebration cakes are made to order. On the savoury side there are gourmet breakfast and brunch plates, a kids menu, and weekday and Saturday lunch specials that have included fish and chips, loaded steak sandwiches, chicken pot pies and slow cooked brisket with mash. Early reviewers have taken to the bakery case, with the cafe holding close to a perfect rating from its first wave of visitors.

Getting there and parking

Main Street Pialba is the main commercial strip, a couple of blocks back from the Hervey Bay Esplanade, and street parking runs along the strip. The cafe opens from 6am to 3pm most days; trading days have shifted a little since opening, so check their Facebook page for the current week. Everything on the Esplanade, including the dog beaches, is within a few minutes of the car.

Close by with the dogs

Two off leash stretches sit nearby: the Pialba Foreshore Off-Leash Beach on the Esplanade, which runs off leash outside the summer patrol hours, and the 24/7 Off-leash Dog Beach further down the bay. Urangan Public dog park covers the fenced option. For a confirmed dog friendly coffee nearby, The Hungry Pelican Cafe welcomes dogs on its shaded deck.

More breakfast options are on the Queensland cafes list, or browse Pialba for the rest of the strip.