Hinchinbrook Island

Hinchinbrook Island is an island just off the coast of Cardwell 6 km out. It reaches down to Lucinda in a ‘Y’ shape, and it has a length of 52km, and a width of 10 km. One of the many characteristics of this island is its temperature, December to March are the hottest months to visit. There are 660 species of plants, the most common animal species are land animals but there are also sea animals too. There is a lot of wet tropical forests.

The average climate temperatures have been between 9 degrees and 32 degrees Celsius. The latitude is 60° 24' 45'' N, 146° 32' 58'' W, and the longitude is 18.3495° S, 146.3005° E. Protected since 1932, Hinchinbrook is one of Australia's largest island national parks. The most common wildlife includes Southern Cassowaries, Sugar Gliders, Dugongs, Dolphins, Sea turtles and Humpback Whales. Tourists come to Hinchinbrook Island for kayaking, hiking along the walking tracks or the beaches, and camping at Mulligan Bay or George point. 

Hinchinbrook Island features broad and abundant rainforests, a mangrove trench in the west with bays and rocky headlands along the east coast. It’s basically two large islands joined by a long sand peninsula which has evolved over time creating a restricted sandy beach. There are a few sizeable sand dunes and expansive mangroves cut by curving channels. When you visit Hinchinbrook Island, you can choose to camp or book hotel accommodation, hike the walking tracks to observe the expansive wildlife, enjoy the many picnics and day-use areas or choose to go boating or fishing. One element that makes Hinchinbrook Island a unique place is that it has one of Australia’s largest national parks with some of the most welcoming beaches. Hinchinbrook Island also has Tombolos. Tombolos are a narrow fragment of land made of sediment like sand/gravel that attaches an island to the mainland or to another island. Hinchinbrook Island was formed by the older sand dunes being partially drowned during an early Holocene marine transgression with later generations of dunes forming within the last 900 years.

Hinchinbrook Island was sighted and named in June 1770 by Captain James Cook who did not realise it was an island. Captain Cooks own words were “The West point, I named Hinchinbrook, as it had much the appearance of an Island, but the Compass did not traverse well when near it.” Hinchinbrook Island was named by Captain Cook, after the family seat of his patron, George Montague Dunk. In 1815, Lieutenant Jeffrey, sailing the HMS Kangaroo, made contact with the Biyaygiri people. In 1819 Captain Phillip Parker King explored the area and identified it as an island. Hinchinbrook has been a protected island since 1932 but known since 1770. The Bandjin tribe were the main owners of Hinchinbrook Island but overall, there are about ten traditional owning tribes, the Bandjin, Djiru, Girramay, Gulnay, Gugu, Badhun, Nywaigi, Warrgamay, Biyaygiri and Warungu tribes. Hinchinbrook Island is part of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park and is protected within the Hinchinbrook Island National Park. It’s the largest continental island on the Great Barrier Reef with mangrove habitats of significant extent and diversity in the northern wet tropics.