Dunk Island Travel Guide
Dunk Island accommodation, Dunk Island activities and attractions, Dunk Island maps, transportation to and around Dunk Island - the ALL NEW Jasons Dunk Island Destination Travel Guide is your complete visitor guide for Dunk Island.
Dunk Island is a dream-like tropical island enclosed by the Great Barrier Reef, opposite the town of Mission Beach, in Tropical North Queensland. Dunk Island, which is really just a range of hills running almost parallel with the main coastal range, was known by the local aborigines as Coonanglebah (sometimes spelt Gunanggulba) - some say the word meant 'Island of Peace and Plenty'.
The picturesque Dunk Island has a sizeable resort that is surrounded by the Family Islands National Park, which covers more than seventy percent of the island. The European name came from Captain Cook in 1770 after George Montague-Dunk, 2nd Earl of Halifax.
Visitors can spend their time oogling the stunning reef or hiking around the islands tracks, one which crosses a suspension bridge and continues past Edmund James Banfields grave, who was a famous Beachcomber who lived on Dunk from 1997 to his death in 1923. Banfields was an ex-journalist from England, and if visiting Dunk take the time to know his fascinating story. He recorded the life of the island in a series of books - the most famous of which was The Confession of a Beachcomber. A great admirer of Thoreau and a keen naturalist, Banfield did much to ensure that most of the island became a sanctuary for its wildlife.
During WW2 Dunk Island was home to secret radar equipment which played a significant role in the Battle of the Coral Sea. Today the southern section of Dunk Island is a National Park. In 1968 Dunk was used as the setting for the cinematic version of Norman Lindsay's The Age of Consent, which starred James Mason and Helen Mirren.
Dunk Island is a great place for a day trip, or there is accommodation on the island for visitors wanting a longer stay.
Geographic Location
Dunk Island is located 120 km south of
Cairns