Moreton Island Day Trip from Brisbane: The Ultimate Guide

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Moreton Island is my favourite day trip from Brisbane! This stunning sand island is the third-largest in the world, and is an adventure-lovers paradise! A whopping 95% of it is a designated National Park!

At just 75-minutes away from Brisbane by boat, it’s super quick and easy to get to Moreton Island and feel like you’re a million miles away from the city. But what is there to do on Moreton Island? How do you get to Moreton Island from Brisbane? And is Moreton Island really worth visiting?

Today I’m going to share everything you need to know to plan and take the perfect day trip from Brisbane to Moreton Island. 

How to Get to Moreton Island from Brisbane

The only way to get to Moreton Island from Brisbane is via ferry, which departs from Holt Street Wharf in Pinkenba, Brisbane and arrives at Tangalooma Jetty on Moreton Island. The journey takes 75-minutes each way. 

However, unless you have a very robust 4-by-4 to be able to navigate Moreton Island’s sand roads by yourself, you’ll need to join a Moreton Island day tour.

There are a few operators, but I opted to go on this wonderful tour and I have nothing but great things to say about it! The tour lasts for the full day and includes pick-up in either central Brisbane or Gold Coast, your ferry tickets, Tangalooma Wrecks snorkelling and kayaking, lunch, and sandboarding on the island!

I’ll cover what I did on my Moreton Island day tour later in this post, but if you’re short on time and just want to find a tour that’s worth your money, I highly recommend this one.

Here is why I chose this tour over all of the competitors:

• Booking via Get Your Guide means you have extra protection. Their cancellation policy means you can cancel up to 24 hours before the tour for a full refund. This was ideal for me as my plans were very loose.
• The tour is eco-certified by Get Your Guide. This means that it has been reviewed and confirmed to carry out sustainable practices.
• Snorkelling, kayaking and sand boarding gear is included in the price.
• It has a load of outstanding reviews (over 300!) so I knew I was going to have an amazing time.

Click here to book your place!

So, Why Should I Visit Moreton Island?

Compared to the more famous and larger sand islands, Fraser Island and North Stradbroke Island, you don’t hear a whole lot of hype around Moreton Island. Don’t be fooled, though – Moreton Island is fabulous, and the lack of hype only means that it’s not super crowded yet.

During the planning stages of my trip I asked a colleague of mine, who had lived in Brisbane for a year, where I should visit on a day trip from Brisbane. She recommended taking an overnight trip to North Stradbroke island, but I only had one day to spare, so that wasn’t possible.

A quick google turned up another, smaller island: Moreton. After scrolling through a few forums weighing up Moreton vs Stradbroke, and being the contrarian that I am, I booked a day trip to Moreton Island instead.

Moreton Island is perfect if you want to go on a day trip from Brisbane, because it’s the closest of the sand islands. It’s also perfect if you want a day in paradise away from the city, want to get out into the gorgeous nature of Australia, and fancy exploring the Tangalooma Shipwreck by snorkel and kayak.

Things to Do on a Moreton Island Day Trip

Tangalooma Shipwreck

The first activity on the Moreton Island tour I took was kayaking around the famous Tangalooma Wrecks. 

The Tangalooma shipwreck actually consists of numerous boats deliberately sunk in 1963 to enable small boats to dock on Moreton Island. It felt reassuring to know that we weren’t kayaking around the site of a tragic shipwreck, which would have definitely given me the creeps!

Kayaking around the wrecks was incredible! We were led around the wrecks by our guide, who had a wealth of knowledge and information to share with us. She even gave us bread to feed the fish so that we could take a closer look at them (I’m not sure about the nutritional value of bread for fish, but…).

Nowadays, the wrecks are huge hunks of rusty metal and tetanus waiting to happen, and, to be honest… quite an eyesore. However, looking at them under the water is a different story altogether.

Snorkelling

On getting our snorkel equipment on we headed out via jet ski to the wrecks and got free time to explore.Full length wetsuits with gloves were mandatory for safety, but that’s far better than the alternative of getting hurt by the rusty metal of the wrecks, or burnt to a crisp by the sun!

The reef that has developed on the wrecks is incredible, and it was so exciting to swim down to peep through the window areas of the ships and spot really cool fish, like angelfish! 

Lifejackets were available for snorkelling, but I didn’t use one. This was totally the right decision as I could dive down to see things the others couldn’t.

Sandboarding on Moreton Island

After a quick sandwich lunch on the beach we hopped in the 4-wheel-drive bus. Navigating the bumpy dirt roads was definitely an experience – hold on tight! On pulling up to “the Desert” I was absolutely baking and desperate to jump straight back in the sea!

Instead, we each took a sandboard and trekked up one of the dunes. The dune was a lot higher than I expected and I did not fancy sliding down it head first! I don’t have a fear of heights per se, but I wasn’t loving the idea of hurtling down the dune as we approached the top!

We waxed up our boards and, after a quick demo from the guides, queued up to give it a go. I really felt like bailing, but my determination to make the most of my trip meant I gave it a go. And a second one! Getting sand stuck all over my body was less than pleasant, but soooo worth it. I felt like a little kid going sledding in the snow – it was so much fun!

Read More: 15 Awesome Day Trips from Brisbane, Australia

Other Things to Do on Moreton Island

If you’re on a self-guided day trip to Moreton Island there are plenty of other things you could do on the island, such as visiting the Cape Moreton Lighthouse, swimming in the Blue Lagoon lake, or climbing Mount Tempest.

It all depends on what you want from your day trip! For more ideas, this list of 33 things to do on Moreton Island is very helpful.

Fraser Island vs Moreton Island

I was lucky enough to visit two of the three largest sand islands on this trip – Fraser Island (the biggest) and Moreton Island. I visited Moreton Island first, and this was absolutely the right thing to do if you’re planning to visit them both. You’ll get the most out of Moreton if you visit it first. 

Moreton Island was great, but if I visited it after my trip to Fraser it wouldn’t have compared. Fraser Island is, hands down, the best place I visited in Australia.

On the Moreton tour I was jealous of those who opted to book an overnight tour there. Now, having been to Fraser as well, if I had to choose between visiting Moreton Island or Fraser Island, I would definitely choose Fraser Island.

Obviously, though, the great thing about Moreton Island is its proximity to Brisbane, making it ideal to visit if you’re looking for an easy day trip.

Is Moreton Island Worth Visiting?

Yes! Moreton Island is definitely worth visiting, and I loved my day tour here! There are plenty of things to do to keep you occupied for the day, it’s easy and quick to get to from Brisbane, and it’s absolutely stunning!

So, if you’re looking to lounge on clean white sand beaches, splash in crystal clear water and explore a cool shipwreck there’s no better place to be than Moreton Island.

Have you visited Moreton Island yet? 

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