The Ultimate Guide to the Great Barrier Reef

Everything you ever needed to know about Australia’s greatest natural wonder, but were too overcome by its sheer size and scope to ask. By Fiona Harper

 
Welcome to the Ultimate Guide to the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, an extraordinary ecosystem comprising more than 3000 individual reefs, as well as 900 coral cays and continental islands. Some, like Morris Island in the far north, are little more than a strip of finely crushed coral sand, grimly bound together by the roots of a solitary palm tree. Others, like vast Hinchinbrook Island, a lofty 1100m above the mangroves, could easily be mistaken for the mist-draped southern Tasmanian wilderness – were it not for the shimmering tropical heat.

Stretching 2300 splendid kilometres from Bundaberg in the south to Torres Strait in the north, and spanning up to 250km at its widest point, we’ve broken this Ultimate Guide up into three regions – the Southern, Whitsundays and Northern Regions – to make it easy for you to navigate through the Marine Park.

We’ve identified Bundaberg as the southernmost mainland town, even though it’s not strictly in the Marine Park, simply because it’s the jumping off point for Lady Elliot and Lady Musgrave Islands. The Southern Region then stretches north to mainland Yeppoon, offshore to Prudhoe Island east of Mackay, with all the islands and reef in between. The Whitsundays region includes mainland towns from Mackay in the south through to Bowen in the north, incorporating the islands and beyond, to outer Hook, Line and Hardy Reefs. And the Northern Region starts at mainland Townsville, continuing northwards beyond Cape York into Torres Strait, including the offshore islands and reefs between Magnetic and Poruma Islands. And so we begin our journey . . .

1. The View From Above: GBR Marine Park Overview
 

2. Southern GBR Marine Park

• Mainland Towns of Bundaberg, Agnes Water, 1770, Gladstone & Yeppoon
• The Bunker Group, including Lady Elliot, Lady Musgrave, Northwest & Masthead Islands & Fitzroy Reef
• The Capricorn Group, including Heron & Wilson Islands
• The Keppel Islands
• Curtis Island
• Percy Islands, Duke Islands & Swain Reef 

3. The Whitsundays

• Mainland Towns of Mackay, Laguna, Airlie Beach, Shute Harbour & Bowen
• Long Island
• Molle Group, including South Molle & Daydream Islands
• Dent & Hamilton Islands
• Brampton, Keswick & Carlisle Islands
• Lindeman Island
• Whitsundays Outer Reef
• Whitsundays Island 
• Hook Island
• Hayman Island 
• Cape Gloucester 
   

4. Northern GBR Marine Park

• Mainland towns of Townsville, Cardwell, Mission Beach, Cairns, Palm Cove, Port Douglas & Cooktown
• Palm Islands, including Orpheus Island
• Magnetic Island
• Hinchinbrook Island 
• Bedarra Island
• Outer Barrier Reef
• Green Island
• Family Group including Dunk Island
• Fitzroy Island, the Frankland Group 
• Double Island
• Lizard Island
• Flinders Group
• Haggerstone & Poruma Islands
   

5. Which part of the Marine Park is best for you?