Magnetic Island
A Granite Island A Short Ferry Ride From Townsville, More Than Half Of It National Park, With Wild Koalas In The Eucalypt Forest, Rock Wallabies Around Horseshoe Bay And A Ring Of Bays Linked By Walking Tracks And A Single Coastal Road · Picnic Bay, Queensland
Magnetic Island sits a short ferry ride off Townsville in north Queensland, close enough to feel like a quick escape rather than a real expedition, yet more than half the island is national park and it carries one of the largest wild koala populations left on the Australian mainland coastline. The island's granite hills roll down to a string of bays - Horseshoe, Alma, Radical, Picnic and Nelly chief among them - linked by a single coastal road and a network of walking tracks rather than any wider road system. Rock wallabies gather at Hawkings Point near Horseshoe Bay most evenings, and koalas are genuinely findable in the eucalypts along several of the forest tracks without needing a wildlife park. The island has no real high season crowding by mainland standards, and most visitors get around by hire moke, scooter or the local bus rather than a car. Forts Walk, leading to abandoned World War II gun emplacements with a wide island view, is the best known of the hiking tracks. Marine stinger season runs through the warmer months, and swimming advice changes with it.
A short ferry ride from Townsville, in the Coral Sea off the north Queensland coast, Picnic Bay, Queensland, Australia
The island itself has no gate and is open at all hours, though most cafes, the dive shop and tour operators keep standard daytime hours that thin out in the evening, especially outside Horseshoe Bay. The Townsville to Magnetic Island ferry runs a frequent daily timetable that reduces late at night and should be checked ahead rather than assumed, since missing the last sailing means staying over. Stinger-resistant swimming enclosures, where present, are maintained seasonally through the warmer months when marine stingers are most active, and some close for maintenance or repair without much notice. National park walking tracks including Forts Walk are open during daylight hours only and some close temporarily after storm damage - confirm current track status with the visitor information centre before setting out.