Getting to Moreton Island is easy with two vehicle ferry options available both located on the south side of the Brisbane River.
The MICAT ferry is located just a short 20minutes from the Brisbane CBD at The Port of Brisbane and approximately 1hr 15minutes later you will be met with a breathtaking view on arrival next to Moreton Islands famous Tangalooma ship wrecks for departure right onto the sand. The Amity Trader vehicle barge leaves from Victoria Point in the Redland City and arrives at Reeders Point at the small island town of Kooringal at the southern end of the island where you can sit back and enjoy a well made burger and a cold one at the Gutter bar.
While Moreton Island is home to over 420km of unsealed trails much of Moreton Islands beach driving is limited by the tides, If you want to make the most of seeing the sights ensure that you are prepared to head out as soon as the tides permit. We recommend 2 hours either side of low tide.
While there is minimal inland tracks to get your around at high tide to see the main sights the tracks themselves were a sight to be seen. Beautiful wild flowers grow in abundance and tracks cut through hills of coloured sands.
Ensure that you let your tyres down and have recovery gear at the ready before heading inland, the tracks become very soft in many places and cutting across the tracks to allowing passing vehicles and tour busses can become very difficult.
There is a total of 366 national park camping areas located across Moreton Island spread out between The Wrecks, Ben-Ewa, Comboyuro Point, North Point, Blue Lagoon, North-West, North-East, South-West, South-East and Yellow Patch camping zones.
If camping isn’t your thing there is plenty of other accommodation options available on Moreton Island including Glamping, Tangalooma Resort, Holiday houses and self contained units to name a few.
Tangalooma Resort offers lots of guided tours and activities even if you’re not staying in the resort. Head to reception and grab yourself a visitors pass and from there you can book into their tours. Some of the tours available include quad biking through the sand dunes, Dolphin feeding, Whale watching. We opted to take the illuminated glass bottom boat night tour around the wrecks. On our way along the sand bar to the wrecks we spotted a large green sea turtle who only briefly made an appearance. We were then spoilt by an amazing orange and red sunset over the water before the underwater lights were turned on and the fish feeding began... a big hit with the kids! We cruised around and over the wrecks before heading back in time to make the dolphin feeding.
If you’re after a more relaxing non tour guided kind of getaway there is plenty to see around the Island. Snorkel or Dive the Tangalooma wrecks only a stone’s throw from the beach side.
Cape Moreton is one of the islands must sees, with parking half way up the headland we made the short steep walk up to the Islands lighthouse that was built in 1857. While now fully automatic the Cape Moreton Lighthouse still plays an important role to this day.
We sat down and cast our eyes out to the ocean in front of the lighthouse where we were able to spot many migrating Humpback whales playing as they passed by.
Rous battery on the Eastern beach is where you will find old WW2 bunkers and a 155mm Battery. Be aware that the entry to the turnaround area is an extremely soft sand hill making it difficult to access. The Rous Battery Walking Track is 10km if you want a hike to take in the sights and ruins that WW2 left behind.
While there are many more must see destinations on Moreton Island that are just waiting for you to discover them, always remember to use beach etiquette and obey the road rules while 4wding.
Written by Ashleigh Foley