Townsville, Australia: North Queensland's Reef Gateway and Wreck Diving Capital

The SS Yongala sank in a cyclone in 1911 with 122 people on board, was not found until 1958, and has been undisturbed since then. A century of marine growth has turned the wreck into an artificial reef so dense with life that divers routinely rank it among the top ten dives anywhere on earth: grouper, trevally, sea snakes, eagle rays, bull sharks, and a permanent sea turtle population inhabit the superstructure. The site is 84 kilometers from Townsville and requires a day-trip boat; several operators run from the city. The dive is suitable for certified open-water divers; conditions can be strong depending on tidal cycles.

Magnetic Island is reached by a twenty-five minute high-speed ferry from the terminal adjacent to the cruise berth. The island has 23 beaches, roughly half of which require a short walk from the main roads, and the Forts Walking Track in the island's national park passes WWII military fortifications with radar stations and gun emplacements that were built to defend Townsville's harbor in 1942. The track takes about ninety minutes at a relaxed pace, passes through eucalyptus forest with koalas in the trees, and ends at a headland with views back to the mainland. Koala sightings are frequent in the middle section of the track, particularly in the morning.

The Museum of Tropical Queensland on Flinders Street displays the recovered artifacts of the HMS Pandora, the British frigate sent in 1791 to bring back the Bounty mutineers, which sank on the Great Barrier Reef on its return voyage. The collection includes navigational instruments, personal effects of the sailors, and the ship's carpenter's chest, all recovered in a long-running marine archaeology project. The reef ecology galleries adjacent to the Pandora collection are thorough and well-designed.

Castle Hill, a pink granite monolith that rises 286 meters directly behind the city center, can be climbed by road or trail in about forty-five minutes from downtown. The view from the summit takes in the Great Barrier Reef islands on a clear day — Magnetic, Palm, and on the best days the outer reef itself. The walk up Castle Hill Road is steep and exposed; the trail through the dry woodland on the northeast face is more shaded and technically more interesting.

The Strand, Townsville's five-kilometer foreshore park, runs along the beach between the central business district and the suburb of Belgian Gardens. The swimming enclosure at the northern end (netted against jellyfish and stingers, which are a real risk in north Queensland between October and May) is always open; the rockpool at the southern end is good for children. The foreshore's restaurants lean heavily toward Queensland seafood — coral trout, barramundi, tiger prawns — and several have views over Cleveland Bay to Magnetic Island.