Australia's 13 Most Beautiful Islands
AlamyHeron Island, Queensland
Palm trees and sand beach host a single luxury resort and research station on Heron Island, at the southern end of the Great Barrier Reef. While tourists head north to the developed vacation playground of the Whitsunday Islands, locals seeking a more rarified experience book a stay on Heron. From October to March, hundreds of Green and Loggerhead turtles return to breed here and the resort teaches its guests how to responsibly turtle-watch.
AlamyLord Howe Island, New South Wales
This tiny but tropical island far out from the coast of New South Wales only allows 400 tourists at any one time. The airstrip and tiny passenger terminal bring in travelers eager to experience the world’s southernmost barrier coral reef, diverse and rare flora and fauna, and the scenery punctuated by the imposing Mount Gower. The entire island is an UNESCO World Heritage site, with 70 percent of the land protected park preserve and the surrounding waters a marine preserve.
AlamyLady Elliot Island, Queensland
Located on the southernmost coral cay of the Great Barrier Reef, Lady Elliot Island's 110 acres are home to one small eco-resort and a wealth of natural treasures. Aside from some of the best reefs for snorkeling and diving (not to mention spectacular water clarity), the island's surrounding waters are a habitat for sea turtles, breeding grounds for humpback whales, and the island itself has the highest seabird diversity of any island within the Great Barrier Reef.
AlamyMagnetic Island, Queensland
Just off the coast of Townsville, Queensland and yet seemingly a world way on the Great Barrier Reef, Magnetic Island has a reputation as an island that enjoys nature during the day, and parties through the night. Some 800 koalas call the island home, neighbors to rock wallaby and over 180 species of birds. Divers flock to Magnetic Island for the wreck of the *SS Yongala,*a passenger ship that sank in 1911 in only 100 feet of water.
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AlamyBruny Island, Tasmania
Bruny Island, off Tasmania’s southeastern coast, is actually a pairing of two islands—North and South Bruny—joined by the narrow isthmus named “The Neck.” Although “The Neck” is the top tourist site, Bruny Island also delights with a massive national park, a historic lighthouse, a vineyard, an oyster farm, and coastline cruises focusing on the diverse and abundant ecology of the region.
AlamyChristmas Island, Indian Ocean
Most famous for the annual red crab migration, where millions of the island’s resident crabs cover the streets and beaches to spawn in the ocean, Christmas Island is an Indian Ocean oasis of rare and endemic species, both above and below the waters. Although it’s located near Indonesia and a territory of Australia, the majority of the population is Chinese. Settlements are small and tourism is low, as much of the island remains wild to support the biological diversity.
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AlamyStradbroke Island, Queensland
The duo of North and South Stradbroke Islands are an easy day trip for travelers to Brisbane and Queensland's Gold Coast. Since Stradbroke is a sand island, like its neighbor Fraser Island though not nearly as large, the favorite activities are focused on the beaches and the relaxed village life of the island's three little townships.
AlamyRottnest Island, Western Australia
Visitors to Perth and Fremantle on Australia's western coast aren't without a tropical island day trip option, thanks to the existence of Rottnest Island, only a two-hour ferry ride away. The unappealing name is due to the island's population of quokkas, friendly and harmless little marsupials not found anywhere else in the world, who were mistaken for large rats by Dutch sailors in the 17th century. Visitors rent bikes to reach lighthouses, inland lakes, and the ocean beaches with renowned snorkeling.
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AlamyFraser Island, Queensland
Originally named "K'gari," meaning "paradise," by the Butchulla people, Fraser Island's claim to fame is twofold: the whole place ranks as the largest sand island in the world, and 75-Mile Beach is both a beach and an airstrip, the runway for the small aircraft bringing visitors over from Queensland's Sunshine Coast. From August through October, the humpback whale migration is the main event.
AlamyMoreton Island, Queensland
This easily accessible sand island, only a 75-minute ferry ride from Brisbane, is impressively 95 percent national park. Visitors hang out at the beaches, visit the five lighthouses, let loose on sand trails in four-wheel-drive vehicles, go sand tobogganing, camp, whale watch, and lunch on the regional specialty: Moreton Bay Bugs (also known as slipper lobsters). Snorkelers and divers travel to Moreton Island from around the world for the Tangalooma Wrecks, a grouping of purposefully sunken ships designed to serve as a breakwater.
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AlamyKangaroo Island, South Australia
It’s not just kangaroo who call Kangaroo Island, in South Australia, home. This sizable island—the third-largest in Australia—is also a sanctuary for sea lion, fur seal, sand goanna lizard, bandicoot, wallaby, echidna, the endemic "dunnart" marsupial, koala, platypus, and a small penguin population. Ferries from Port Adelaide make Kangaroo Island easy to reach, but all the sites across the island make this a weekend, versus a day trip, destination.
AlamyCocos Keeling Islands, Indian Ocean
This picturesque archipelago of atolls and coral islands is about as far from anything as you can easily get in the Indian Ocean. The total population is around 600 people, who are hugely outnumbered by the coconut palms that cover the land. Kite surfers, scuba divers, and fans of remote and pristine beaches are main types of tourists to venture all the way to the Cocos, which are only reachable by commercial flights from Perth, West Australia.
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AlamyShark Island, New South Wales
It’s pretty, as a garden island covered in palm trees, fresh-cut grass, wild tropical blooms would be, but it’s Shark Island’s location and serenity that truly makes this patch of only 3.7 acres something special in Sydney. Shark Island sits in Sydney Harbor, with a clear view to the Harbour Bridge and the sailboats at anchor in Rose Bay. A special island-hopping harbor ferry or a private kayak are the only ways out here, where the most popular pastime is picnicking. Don't be scared of sharks; the island is so named for its shape.