North Stradbroke Island

This is greater Brisbane’s latest short break hot spot for couples, families and friends.
This Moreton Bay sand island is close to the city and offers a range of holiday homes (post-war cottages to contemporary beach houses), family resorts, budget holiday park cabins, B & Bs, bungalows and caravan and camping grounds.
Book early if you want public holiday or school holiday beds. They go quickly as ‘Straddie’ is a repeat-visit favourite for many who travelled there as children and now bring their own families across the bay for some serious time out.
This is not a place for schedules, high heels or the spit and polish of five star foyers.
It’s a natural, unspoiled, uncontrived environment that doesn’t apologise for slowing you down and insists you kick off your shoes, your watch and adopt ‘island time’ while you visit.
Car ferries depart from Toondah Harbour which is just 30 minutes from Brisbane’s CBD. After the 40 minute ferry ride, you’ll be in another world.
For those without cars, water taxis regularly transport visitors in under 30 minutes and connect with the island bus service.
A weekend visit to Straddie can’t possibly include all that there is to be done. It’s an adventure hub, an activities playground, a cultural and heritage gem, a nature-lover’s paradise and the best place on earth to simply wind back and relax in extraordinary surrounds.
Come once and you’ll be hooked. Come twice and you’ll become a regular!

Adventure

Organised sand boarding, scuba diving, snorkelling and kayaking can be booked for groups of all sizes with additional holiday board-riding schools.
Link up with an outrigger canoe adventure or book seats on a speedy inflatable boat - the hottest ticket to bay adventure.
Much-loved dive sites include Manta Ray Bombie and Flat Rock where wobbegong shark and ray sightings are virtually guaranteed. There’s even a local surf shop that sells Stradbroke boards and you don’t have to dust the sand off your feet before walking in the front door. This is laid-back Straddie at its best.

Activities

Several 4WD tour operators take visitors to all the island’s special locations – to the freshwater lakes, along the pristine sand, panoramic lookouts and into the bush – and introduce visitors to the island’s wildlife.
The best way to see the island is with a local. There’s casual eating, refined dining, cooking classes, beach yoga, massage therapists and some of the most beautiful beaches you’ll ever experience.
There’s even an island wedding planner who puts the professional touch to an island ceremony and reception.
Try a game of bowls or book a fishing charter with a local who knows all the secret spots.
Foreshore beaches are popular fishing spots, as is the Amity Point jetty. Main Beach is ideal for bait, which can then be used to catch bream, tailor and whiting right from the beach. Cylinder Beach is a family favourite and several beaches are ideal for surfers.

Culture and heritage

Start at Dunwich on a self-guided historic walk (trail guides available at the Visitor Information Centre) and make sure you include the cemetery which is one of Queensland’s oldest. This place bears witness to the varied past of this island.
Buried there are 26 immigrants who died during a typhus plague on their ship in 1850 and over 8,000 inmates from a benevolent institution and quarantine station that were once at Dunwich. Many graves are crumbling but offer a fascinating insight to the rich past that existed in this part of the world.
Another must is the historical museum at Dunwich and tracing the history in the nearby Aboriginal museum of the indigenous tribes who’ve occupied the island (Minjerribah) for thousands of years.

Nature

If you sit for long enough at the glorious headland at Point Lookout, you’ll see dolphins ‘surfing’ the waves beneath you.
Turtles are commonly sighted along the famed Gorge Walk and during their annual migration; humpback whales can be seen in their dozens between the island and the horizon.
Birdlife is prolific, especially in the natural bushland interior of the island. However, as with all island wildlife residents and regular visitors vigorously defend this natural setting.
The island’s community is firmly committed to caring for the environment. Visitors are asked to respect this fragile and precious location.
Some ways you can help are by:
substituting plastic bags (that are a danger to marine life) with cloth or biodegradable alternatives

taking a pocket ashtray to dispose of cigarette butts
removing all rubbish
recycling where possible
never using detergents, soap or toothpaste in the waterways and
adopting a minimal impact approach on the entire island so future generations may enjoy what we all do today.