Fitzroy Island

Today I went to Fitzroy Island!
This time I wasn’t part of any group, which meant I could finally enjoy the day without noise-cancelling headphones and just listen to the sounds of nature. Ah, what bliss.
Fitzroy Island is a 45-minute ferry ride from Cairns. About 8,000 years ago, it was actually part of the mainland — before rising sea levels flooded the coastal plains after the last Ice Age and turned it into an island.
What a tropical paradise Fitzroy is. I loved it!
Everyone rushed off the ferry to go snorkelling, but I went for a hike first. Fewer people hike before snorkelling, you know. 😄
I hiked up to the lighthouse and back (so very steep!) — it took me about an hour, and by the end of it I was soaked. Absolutely drenched. My shirt felt like it had been dipped in water. It’s just so humid and hot…
After that, I continued on to Nudey Beach — which, incidentally, was voted Australia’s best beach in 2018. 🏝️
What it didn’t have, however, was sand. The entire beach is made of dead coral rubble washed ashore. Do not walk there without shoes. 😅
Once I’d taken plenty of photos, I locked my camera away and grabbed my action cam for some snorkelling fun!
By the time I got into the water, most people were already out, so I basically had a tiny beach to myself. Bliss again.
I saw so many colourful fish! Every time I snorkelled back and forth, new species appeared — it was amazing. My only issue was my snorkel mouthpiece. For some reason water kept leaking in and I kept accidentally inhaling it. Not fun! 😅
But I had an absolute ball. I loved the fish and the corals.
(Fitzroy is part of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, which makes it a much cheaper reef experience than the big commercial boat tours. 🌊)
After nearly two hours of snorkelling (it’s surprisingly exhausting!), I returned my stinger suit — it’s stinger season because of box jellyfish and Irukandji jellyfish — and treated myself to a meat pie. Not kangaroo this time, but pepper steak. Yum.
And then it was time to board the ferry back to Cairns.
All in all, I absolutely recommend Fitzroy Island! 🐠Read more