Description
Magnetic Island, just offshore from the city of Townsville, in Cleveland Bay is a 52 km² mountainous island which has effectively become a suburb of Townsville.
Named for its suspected interference to the ship’s compass by Captain Cook in 1770, it’s a tropical island where you visit a community not just a resort. Visitors have been coming since the 1800s and it was a strategic military post during World War 2, the ruins now a popular tourist walk.
The island’s rich and diverse history also included rock and coral mining for mainland constructions and as a pineapple growing area. Magnetic Island has over 22 bays with some accessed only by boat or walking track. Over half of the Island is National Park, with huge boulders tumbling like giant marbles into the corner of every bay and a green mountainous backdrop that is home for a variety of wildlife.
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