Bribie Island
Postcode: 4507
Located 70 km north of Brisbane and 2 metres above sea-level, Bribie Island is an interesting combination of retirement centre, day-trippers’ paradise, family-holiday retreat and haven for anglers, sunlovers and sporting people (there’s an excellent golf course on the island). Separated from the mainland by Pumicestone Passage, the island is 34 km long and up to 8 km wide. It sits at the north-western edge of Moreton Bay and the population is around 15,000. Bribie is the only offshore island in Queensland to be joined to the mainland by bridge. Much of the island is national park, so it offers unspoiled bushland, plenty of sandy white beaches and ideal opportunities for bushwalks, picnics, boating, camping, fishing, swimming and birdwatching. It has 350 species of birds, as well as turtles, dugongs and dolphins. There is also a diversity of accommodation to choose from.
Bribie Island’s main area of settlement is the essentially continuous strip of suburban development that extends north from Bongaree, at the island’s south-western corner, through Bellara and Banksia Beach. All have safe beaches, on the calm waters of Pumicestone Passage (ideal for boating), backed by foreshore parkland with picnic, barbecue and play facilities and the occasional public toilet and telephone.
There is a jetty at Brennan Park (on Bongaree Beach) with two boat ramps a little further north along the beach, adjacent Welsby Parade. Bellara has a boat ramp off Marine Parade, and Banksia Beach has one off Solander Esplanade. There are also boat ramps on the proximate mainland – at Sandstone Point (opposite the bottom of the island), Toorbul (opposite White Patch), Donnybrook (opposite Poverty Creek) and another on Coochin Creek at Roys (roughly opposite Lighthouse Reach), with many others further north, in and around Caloundra.