Best island camping spots in Australia

From the Whitsundays to Tasmania, Natasha Dragun discovers Australia’s best island camping. Pitch your tent by the sand and enjoy these 6 islands you can camp on.

75 Mile Beach, Fraser Island

Queensland

It’s the world’s largest sand island, and the only place in the world where the rainforest grows directly from the sand. Fraser Island offers endless opportunities to pitch your tent by the water. For a little bit of luxury, however, book a stay at Beachcamp Eco Retreat. Island camping here consists of seven safari-style canvases just steps from 75 Mile Beach – a sand highway that runs the length of the island.

Lodgings are protected within a dingo fence, so you can sleep soundly while listening to the water lap the shore. Wake to tackle all manner of family-friendly activities, from fishing and stand-up paddleboarding to beach games and guided eco-tours.

Read: Family-friendly things to do on Fraser Island

Cylinder Beach, North Stradbroke Island

Minjerribah, QLD

Native tea trees and pandanus are all that separate you from the sand at Adder Rock Camping Ground. The island campground is tucked amid dunes that tumble down to Cylinder Beach on North Stradbroke’s (Minjerribah) northern coast.

The postcard-perfect cove offers some of the island’s safest swimming conditions. It is patrolled by lifeguards over the summer months and during school holidays. The campsite comes with plenty of bells and whistles, including barbecue facilities, showers, toilets and washing machines. Plus, there are shops and restaurants around the island, so you can pick up supplies and rent water sports equipment.

Pack your tent into your car and catch the ferry over from Toondah Harbour, a 30-kilometre drive from Brisbane. If you have a 4WD, you’ll be able to drive along some of the island’s beaches when you arrive. Or, pull on a mask and flippers and snorkel with mantas, then lace up hiking boots and explore the North Gorge walking trail. Known as one of the best land-based, whale-watching points on Australia’s eastern seaboard.

Keep reading:

• The 19 best beach campsites in Australia
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Dunk Island

Cassowary Coast, QLD

Camping experiences don’t get much more exclusive than those on Dunk Island, with space for just eight tents – and absolutely no other accommodation, or houses or shops (BYO food).

Set on either side of a sandy spit, Dunk Island campground offers all the essentials, including toilets, hot showers and drinking water. Otherwise, it’s just you, your family and Mother Nature – 1,000 hectares of nature, in fact, with three-quarters protected national parkland.

Arrive here in 10 minutes by water taxi from the mainland’s Mission Beach, then spend days hiking around the island (it only takes three hours); snorkelling through mangroves, on the lookout for turtles and dugong; or spotting birds and butterflies in the rainforest.

Vivonne Bay Beach, Kangaroo Island

South Australia

When categorising Australia’s prettiest stretches of sand, researchers at Sydney University declared Vivonne Bay among those at the top of the pile. We can see why: the water is gin-clear, the sand is powder-white and the harbour is one of the island’s safest for swimming.

Vivonne Bay Camp Ground is where the Harriet River meets the sea, and comes with powered and unpowered sites as well as bathrooms and picnic areas.

Once your canvas is up, head out for a day of surfing and wildlife spotting – the island is home to colonies of seals and sea lions – with a stop by the Vivonne Bay jetty to pick up crayfish fresh from the boat.

Read: A family holiday on Kangaroo Island

Darlington Bay Beach, Maria Island

Tasmania

An island off an island off an island, Maria Island camping is as ruggedly beautiful as it is remote.

Blissfully shop and car-free (save for the rangers), the slip of land can only be accessed by boat. On arrival, you’re met by sweeping bays, rugged cliffs and mountains, abundant wildlife and heritage ruins. Maria Island is home to a convict probation station, which is one of 11 historic places that together form the Australian Convict Sites World Heritage Property.

This Tasmanian campsite is located in a sheltered area on the east coast, tucked behind Darlington Bay Beach. Facilities include toilets, gas barbecues, fireplaces and hot showers – extremely welcome after a day exploring this remarkable part of the world.

Read more: Road tripping around Tasmania with kids

Whitehaven Beach, Whitsunday Island

Queensland

It’s regularly voted one of the world’s best beaches. Yet most people visit Whitehaven on a fleeting day tour, boating in for a couple of hours of fun on the blindingly white, pure silica sand. In the afternoon, crowds disperse and leave the strip of Whitsundays bliss to those who know about the intimate, eucalyptus-laced campground, just steps from warm, azure water.

There are no hotels, restaurants or shops on the island, and the setting is basic: there are toilets, but fires and generators are prohibited. And all drinking water must be brought in with you.

It’s a small price to pay for the setting, within easy reach of two top walking trails: Tongue Point track, taking you to a perch above the beach, and Sawmill Beach, offering impressive bay views.

Read: 33 family-friendly things to do in the Whitsundays

This article originally appeared in Caravan & Camping with Kids magazine. Subscribe to the latest issue here.

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