Daydream Island (Queensland, Australia)

Daydream Island Reviews

Daydream Island Photos

Property Rentals in Queensland

Daydream Island Information

Overview

Things to do

Country Info (Australia)

Slideshow of Photos

Formerly called West Molle Island, it was renamed Daydream Island in 1933 when the original hotel (long since gone) was built on it. One of the smallest islands in the Whitsundays, it measures only ¾ ml by around 200 yds at its widest. It is continental (the top of a submerged mountain) but only reaches a maximum height of 167 ft. About half is covered by tropical forest where wallabies, lorikeets, kuloo birds and sizeable lizards live.

The hotel accommodation occupies the NE corner and it is only a short distance along a coastal boardwalk to the shops, second pool and resort areas, which occupy the whole of the S tip and where day-trippers can use the facilities.

Daydream Island is located just off the coast of Queensland in the Coral Sea (3 mls NE of Shute Harbour, nearest mainland access port, 11 mls NW of Hamilton Island and its airport, 710 mls NW of Brisbane, 410 mls SE of Cairns, both with international airports). It is part of the Whitsunday group of islands and is also a member of a smaller group called the Molle Islands.

Suggest a change to the Daydream Island Overview section (click to dropdown)

Daydream Island comprises three beaches, composed mainly of broken fragments of smoothed coral, giving the effect of a pebble beach; some small patches of fine, light coral sand. A northern water-sports beach and the smaller western Sunlovers Beach are both flanked by black volcanic rocks. Snorkelling and scuba diving over the coral reef off the beach.

A few shopping outlets exist at the S end of the resort offer souvenirs, general holiday requisites, child-care items, photographic supplies/developing, swimwear, hair and beauty services etc.

Activities on the island consist of: tennis, volleyball, crazy golf, gymnasium, windsurfing, sailing, snorkelling, fish feeding, table tennis, boules, paddle boats and organised entertainments are all included. Motorised water sports incurring a charge are jet-skis, parasailing, water-skiing, (inner) tube rides behind a speedboat, glass-bottomed boats and scuba diving. By night there is a full entertainments programme with live shows, bands etc. Australia's only outdoor cinema with a liquor licence shows recent releases.

Local excursions include trips to Whitehaven Beach, Airlie Beach, cruises to the Great Barrier Reef for scuba diving or snorkelling, cruise of Whitsunday Islands, game and deep-sea fishing, scenic helicopter flights.

Suggest a change to the Daydream Island Things to do section (click to dropdown)

Population: 20.090.400
Languages: English 79%, native and other languages
Currency: Australian dollar
Currency code: AUD
Local Times:
Australia - Australian Capital Territory - Canberra

Australia - New South Wales - Sydney

Australia - Tasmania - Hobart

Australia - Western Australia - Perth

Country Dialling Code: +61
Voltage: 240V 50Hz
Electrical plugs:
Flat prongs, inverted 'V' positioned with earth connector

Flat prongs, inverted 'V' positioned with earth connector

Australia, officially called the Commonweath of Australia, is a country in the southern hemisphere comprising the continental mainland (the smallest of the World\'s continents).

The continent of Australia, with the island state of Tasmania, is approximately equal in area to the United States (excluding Alaska and Hawaii). Mountain ranges run from north to south along the east coast, reaching their highest point in Mount Kosciusko (7,308 ft; 2,228 m). The western half of the continent is occupied by a desert plateau that rises into barren, rolling hills near the west coast. The Great Barrier Reef, extending about 1,245 mi (2,000 km), lies along the northeast coast. The island of Tasmania (26,178 sq mi; 67,800 sq km) is off the southeast coast.

It may be one of the world's most ancient lands with its mystical red centre and brooding rock formations, but Australia is also characterised by its youthful energy, its freshness and its \'no worries\' philosophy.

Most of the population lives within a few miles of the beach and with the working day beginning and ending early, it\'s not uncommon to see city slickers out of their suits and into the surf come 4.30pm.

In high summer many families will enjoy a simple backyard barbecue several times a week.

The 22-hour journey means most European people visit for at least a couple of weeks, allowing time for all that the country has to offer, including its chic cities, terracotta desert, lush bush and magical ocean reefs.

But the sheer size of Australia means that one visit is unlikely to be enough.

The most popular attractions are undoubtedly Uluru (Ayers Rock), the Great Barrier Reef and the iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge, but there are now more subtle incentives for a visit.

The wonderful fusion cuisine, the café society, the burgeoning art, culture and fashion scene, and the very real possibility of being the only person for miles around all conspire to make it a wholly alluring experience.

Australia is politically divided into six states and two territories, each one offering a different experience for the traveller. There is the drama of the remote \'Outback\', the colourful spectacle of the Great Barrier Reef and its coral islands, the excitement of the cosmopolitan cities, the sun and surf at some of the best beaches in the world, and the tropical rainforests of Western Australia. The list is endless in this diverse land of adventure, which boasts 2,000 national parks and 14 World Heritage-listed areas, along with more than 7,000 beaches.

Australia is a land of character too, with its melting pot of cultures. For more than 50,000 years the Aboriginal people lived and thrived in the continent\'s unique environment. It is believed the Aboriginals are the world\'s oldest civilisation, and in recent years there has been a resurgence of interest in keeping the Aboriginal culture alive and flourishing.

The vast continent at the bottom of the world was the last landmass to be discovered by European explorers. Captain James Cook arrived in Botany Bay in 1770 and sparked off generations of emigration to Australia, which for some time served as a penal colony. It was not until 1860 that two explorers - Robert Burke and William Wills - became the first Europeans to cross Australia from south to north. The country remains a magnet for modern explorers and adventurers and has a great deal to offer tourists and holidaymakers.