Moreton Island

Moreton access to the beach

Moreton island is the third largest sand island in the world, after Fraser island and Stradbroke island . Again we'd like to talk about a real paradise, located on the coast of South East Queensland, just 58 km from the capital Brisbane. Like Fraser Island, this is a popular destination for day trippers and in general for fishing and camping lovers. Its nearness to Brisbane make this place an amazing opportunity of relax  for those people living in Brisbane and suburbs, especially during  the  hot Australian summer.  

Moreton "highway"

The 95% of the island is considered national park and it is almost completely sand with no roads, so a 4WD is more than needed, especially if you are planning to go in the heart of Moreton Island. Sunscreen, hat, sunglasses and swimming gear are also more than welcome here and do not forget torch and a right amount of coolies in order to enjoy the spectacular starry night sky.

In our opinion this place and Fraser Island have a lot of things in common:

•  Firstly, the similar environment: in fact in both places there are sandy dunes, clear water lakes, shipwrecks, wild forest and huge beaches;

Tangalooma shipwreck

• Secondly, the stunning wildlife: in Fraser Island we saw dingos and whales while in Moreton we saw a couple of snakes, dugongs and even a shark. If you are a guest of the Tangalooma Resort you have also the opportunity to hand-feed wild dolphins in their natural environment;

A huge DEAD shark on the beach -
DO NOT SWIM IN THE OCEAN!

• Thirdly, the campsite experience on the sand. We strongly recommend a minimum stay of two days, in order to get the best from this experience,  and the campsite accommodation, so you can have the feeling of wild and nature surrounding the island.

Our camping site in Moreton

To explore Moreton Island we chose to do a two-day adventure with a 4WD and a local guide/driver. We did this tour on a weekend of July, the company came to pick us up around 8 am at our place in Brisbane, and after 1 hour drive and half an hour ferry, we arrived on the island.  The tour program followed the main important highlights:

Cape Moreton Lighthouse

• Snorkeling and/or kayaking at the Tangalooma shipwreck (snorkeling gear was provided by the tour)
• Visit at the Honeymoon Bay
• Swim at the Blue Lagoon, a beautiful clear water lake
• Climb the Mt Tempest, the highest point of Moreton island
• Explore the desert sand hills, trying the sand boarding
• Walk at the Cape Moreton Lighthouse,  the oldest lighthouse of all Queensland

The tour was really good and well organized, meals and accommodation were included in the price. If we have to choose which one prefer between this tour and the one we did in Fraser Island, we would probably suggest the Moreton island adventure, because it was more interesting thanks to the excellent work of the guide. Besides this, another important reason was the focus on the activities, in fact even if the tour highlights were exactly the same of Fraser Island, in Moreton there was also the opportunity to do snorkeling and sand tobogganing, well-known as sand boarding. The number of people covered by the tour were different, in Moreton island we were just 10 guys, while in Fraser we were a big group of  40 people.

Moreton at the sunset

So, if you are more interested in meeting new people and having fun with new mates, the choice you should do is Fraser, instead if you are looking for exploring and getting in touch with nature, Moreton is the place you should go to. If you like both things and you have spare time you can of course visit both islands!

Beautiful starfishes