A teenage boy is set to face court after allegedly stabbing a young woman multiple times while she was sunbathing on a north Queensland beach.

The 23-year-old suffered wounds all over her body after being stabbed as she lay on Blacks Beach at Mackay about noon on Monday.

She told investigators her attacker was a stranger and that she was alone when he targeted her.

“She was approached by a male and stabbed multiple times to her head, neck, arms and legs,” Queensland Police Detective Inspector Tom Armitt told reporters.

“That male person has then … run away and she’s then sought help and come to a local construction site.”

Builders working at the site helped the woman. She was taken to hospital with serious injuries but is expected to recover.

A 16-year-old boy was taken into custody a short time later and charged with acts intended to cause grievous bodily harm.

The teenager was refused bail and to appear at Mackay Children’s Court on Tuesday.

-AAP