More about hotels in Fitzroy Island
Fitzroy Island sits right on the edge of the Great Barrier Reef, a 45 minute ferry ride from Cairns. Its Nudey Beach was named the best beach in the country in the 2017 101 Best Beaches survey by researcher Brad Farmer and Tourism Australia, and it made the World's 50 Best Beaches list again in 2025. That is a big reputation for an island you can walk around in an afternoon.
Because it is small, so is the accommodation scene. There is one hotel actually on the island, a basic council campground next to the jetty, and a lot of visitors who simply stay in Cairns and take the ferry over for the day. All three are genuine, workable ways to see Fitzroy Island. Here is how they actually compare.
What is Fitzroy Island known for?
Nudey Beach is the headline. It's a 1.2 kilometre return walk from the resort through rainforest and coastal woodland, and it opens onto a curve of pebbly white sand backed by granite boulders, with the reef visible just offshore. The whole island is a national park, a granite outcrop draped in rainforest rather than a low coral cay, and four marked walking tracks cover it: the Secret Garden Track (700 metres return, an easy loop with interpretive signs), the Nudey Beach Track, the Lighthouse Road Track (3.6 kilometres return, a steep climb to the island's working lighthouse with coastline views), and the Summit Track (4 kilometres return, climbing to the highest point on the island at 269 metres).
Snorkelling is the other big draw. Fitzroy sits directly on the fringing reef, so you can wade in from the beach near the resort and be over coral within minutes, no boat required, though a guided snorkel tour reaches sites further round the island with fewer people. The Cairns Turtle Rehabilitation Centre is also based here, a volunteer-run hospital for sick and injured sea turtles. It runs a daily educational tour (most days at 1pm, capped numbers, book ahead through the resort) that walks visitors past the recovery tanks and explains what brought each turtle in and how close it is to release.
Where to stay on Fitzroy Island
- Fitzroy Island Resort is the only hotel on the island itself, and it sits right on the beach with the rainforest at its back. Rooms range from simple garden-view units to beachfront rooms looking straight over the water, and the pool has a swim-up bar for when the reef and the walking tracks have worn you out. It is also the closest possible base for Nudey Beach and the turtle centre: both are a short walk from the front door, not a return ferry trip.
- The council-run campground near the jetty is the no-frills option: around 20 grassy tent sites with cold-water showers, a five minute walk from where the ferry docks. It isn't bookable through Traveloka, but it's worth knowing about if you're travelling on a tight budget and don't mind roughing it.
- Plenty of travellers skip staying on the island altogether and base themselves in Cairns instead, treating Fitzroy Island as a day trip. It's a reasonable call if you'd rather have Cairns' wider choice of restaurants and hotels each night and just want the reef and the beach during the day.
Getting to Fitzroy Island
The island sits about 29 kilometres southeast of Cairns. Ferries run from the Reef Fleet Terminal at Marlin Marina and take around 45 minutes each way, with a couple of sailings most days in each direction. There's no need for a car once you arrive. The resort, the jetty, the campground and all four walking tracks are within easy walking distance of each other, and nothing on the island is set up for vehicles.
Good to know before you go
Day trippers are welcome even without a resort booking. Foxy's Bar & Grill and a small general store near the jetty sell food and drinks, coin lockers are available if you don't want to carry gear on the walking tracks, and a limited number of day passes to the resort pool are sold on the day. Marine stingers are present in the water from around November to May, so a stinger suit (sold and hired on the island) is worth using if you're swimming or snorkelling in that window. May to October, the dry season, brings lower humidity and calmer conditions and is generally the more comfortable stretch to visit.
Whichever way you choose to see it, book your stay through Traveloka and lock in Fitzroy Island Resort or a Cairns base with a Price Alert running, so you know if a better rate turns up before you travel.
