9 glorious island campgrounds to pitch a tent on
It doesn’t get more remote than camping on an island especially when the only way to get there is by boat, barge or ferry. For a nature-based getaway girt by sea, here are nine of the country’s best.
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Darlington Bay , Maria Island National Park, Tasmania
The only problem with writing a book called of Ultimate Campsites Australia is that it is really hard to name your top pick, but Darlington campground on Tassie’s Maria Island is up there. Pronounced like Mariah Carey, this is a car-less place, accessible only by ferry. The campground is 500m from the pier (trolleys available) right next to a dune overlooking Darlington Bay. It’s a big grassy space where wombats roam like sheep and pademelons hop around carefree. Facilities include a big and well-equipped dining shelter (tables, fireplace, sinks), toilets, coin-operated hot showers and firewood. On the island, there’s lots to do: explore a cluster of colonial-era buildings including an old penitentiary and a quirky museum, bike ride to the different beaches, walk to the stunning sandstone Painted Cliffs. Don’t miss the family of Tassie Devils living under the museum veranda.
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Fitzroy Island , Great Barrier Reef, Qld
Just under 30km southeast of Cairns, Fitzroy Island is a typical tropical island – all coconut trees, white beaches, mangroves and birdlife. It’s in the middle of the Great Barrier Reef, so when you’re not tripping over guy ropes you can be snorkelling with turtles over coral bombies. The campground is a simple council-owned place with 20 small campsites set amid shady trees on grassy groundcover with cracking tidal views, a toilet and shower block and a barbeque. It’s operated by nearby Fitzroy Island Resort, so campers also get associated perks such as equipment hire, walking maps and access to tours, Foxy’s beach bar and stylish Zephyr restaurant (but not the pool). Hire camp kits or lug your gear over on the 45-minute Fitzroy Flyer from Cairns, which docks at the jetty near the campground.
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Cockatoo Island , Sydney Harbour, NSW
Cockatoo Island, a UNESCO World Heritage site, is the largest island on Sydney Harbour and – high-fives for novelty factor, it can be accessed via the lovable Sydney Ferries from Circular Quay. In-situ tents are set out in military rows facing the water and come with camp beds, linen and deck chairs. Alternatively, pitch your own tent in a less uniform way on the lawn next door. In both cases you’ll need to BYO pillows, sleeping bag, torch, marshmallows. The island has gone from a history of incarcerated convicts to a day-tripper destination with cheerful rangers, culture vulture walking trails, and cafes selling share plates and chilled wine (darling). Glampers will appreciate pre-order meat packs to slap on the free barbies, a communal fire pit, film nights and acoustic sunset sessions during summer (discounted entry for campers).
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Crayfish Beach , Whitsunday islands National Park, Qld
Scamper boat service drops campers off at islands around Whitsunday Islands National Park and there’s nothing so invigoratingly isolating as seeing the boat disappear around the headland leaving just you, the elements and Kurt the Swedish backpacker. Crayfish Beach campground is in Mackeral Bay South on Hook Island. Its three campsites sit on the sandy beach amid shells, washed-up coconut husks and a scarcity of trees including a pandanus or two. Facilities include basic drop toilets, picnic tables and a handmade swing at one end near a little creek. Most campers hire equipment such as gas stoves and tents from Scamper. The coral has taken a battering but there’s still marine-life aplenty, including harmless whitetip reefsharks and stingrays.
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Dirk Hartog Island , Dirk Hartog Island National Park, WA
Camping on an ‘ark’ for endangered wildlife is one of life’s little privileges saved for lucky adventurers to Dirk Hartog Island. Accessed via boat charter, 4WD barge or small plane, this remote natural wilderness, in the Indian Ocean at the very western tip of West Australia, has nine national park campgrounds dotted along its shores, and private camping run by Dirk Hartog Island Lodge. In the national park sites, you’ll need to BYO everything – all the better to have the epic sunsets, windswept beaches and untouched coral reefs all to yourself. For a little more comfort, the lodge has a mix of sites with facilities including a camp kitchen, flushing toilets, hot showers, gas barbeques and tables and chairs. When you’re not toasting marshmallows tick-off the island’s natural wonders including blowholes, a pink lake and passing whales.
Beautiful views from the tent deck at Broughton Island, NSW. Pic John Spencer/DPIE.
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Broughton Island , Myall Lakes National Park, NSW
Broughton Island, north of Port Stephens, is a 114-hectare nature-scape of rocky headlands, sandy beaches, heath-covered dunes and quiet coves that any self-respecting pirate would fancy. Protected Esmeralda Cove, accessed only by boat (and often kayak), is home to a gaggle of weather-beaten beach huts and a campground with five unpowered campsites. Here, tents can be pitched either on wooden platforms or grassy knolls facing blissful sapphire water, bobbing boats and a yellow sandy beach. Facilities are limited to two pit toilets and a picnic table, so hardy campers will need to BYO everything. This is the largest island along the NSW coast, boasting nesting zones for wedge-tailed shearwaters and muttonbirds, a colony of little penguins, walking tracks and a known dive site.
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Whitehaven Beach , Whitsunday Islands National Park, Qld
Slip on the sunnies, seven-kilometre-long Whitehaven Beach, on Whitsunday Island, is composed of 98 per cent pure silica which makes the sand glaringly white and the water turquoise-blue beautiful. That you can camp on this place that has graced hundreds of magazine covers is one of those gifts Australia likes to doll out to travellers. Seven campsites (for 20 lucky people) are tucked into the sand and backed by bush at the southern end of the beach. The new toilet facilities and picnic shelter are part of a recent $3.9 million upgrade that includes great walking trails.
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Chance Bay , Whitsunday Islands National Park, Qld
From Whitehaven, there’s a 3.5km walk to Chance Bay, another idyllic smaller campground for a maximum 12 people on an elevated area overlooking a similarly stunning slip of sand with excellent coral. Access both campgrounds via Scamper boat service.
Cylinder Beach, Minjerribah, is a surfers dream. Pic courtesy Tourism Queensland.
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Cylinder Beach , Minjerribah (North Stradbroke Island), Qld
Minjerribah, or ‘Straddie’ as North Stradbroke Island has been colloquially known, is the world’s second largest sand island (pipped only by Fraser Island, 400km north, which also has island camping), and a prime spot for families who want to surf, scuba, snorkel and whale-watch in the glistening waters of Moreton Bay Marine Park. Landlubbers will appreciate that half the park is protected, which translates as walks through pristine landscapes where native animals thrive. The campground is north of the island in a sheltered bay near Point Lookout. It’s a biggie, with 60 unpowered sites (15 of them jostling for water views) and amenities that could keep you here a while – hot showers (with a three-minute timer), a coin-operated laundry, wi-fi and a playground. During busy times, vans selling coffee, pizza, ice-creams, milk and bread make life easy. Access is by ferry.
Penny Watson is the author of Ultimate Campsites Australia and Slow Travel , both published by Hardie Grant.