WHERE IS BLUE ON BLUE

+ click here to view map of Magnetic Island

Magnetic Island is located 8 kilometres from Townsville, covers 5,184 hectares and rises to 497 metres at Mount Cook.

It is 11 kilometres at its widest point and there is approximately 40 kilometres of coastline. Magnetic Island is mountainous and thickly wooded covering 149 square kilometres, it has 23 bays and beaches, over 300 days of sunshine a year and 24 kilometres of walking tracks.

Just 27 nautical miles from the Great Barrier Reef, Magnetic Island is the only freehold Island on the Reef.

The eastern side of the island has four small settlements at Horseshoe Bay, Arcadia, Nelly Bay and Picnic Bay.

Some 2,533 hectares of the central area and western side of the island are now National Park. The island was first discovered by Captain Cook who called it “Magnetical Island” because he believed that the ores (boulders) on the island had affected his compass.