Queens Beach Tourist Village

Stay around Bowen and its beaches and peninsula for loads to do, including exploring those coral reefs (and their shipwrecks), skydiving high above with an optional landing on Queens Beach, taking one of the several hiking and cycling trails, or heading up to the lookout tower on Flagstaff Hill. A stunning one-hour walk takes hikers from the Horseshoe Bay lookout (five kilometres from the site) round to Rose Bay and up to the famed rock of Mother Beddock for views across to Gloucester Island and Flagstaff Hill. Playgrounds, a skate park, a cinema and a nine-hole seaside golf course are also in Bowen, along with squash courts, gyms and self-guided tours around the town's many murals. Four kilometres south of town on the Bruce Highway, the Bowen Visitor information Centre (aka the Big Mango centre) is also worth a visit – if only to snap a pic of the giant mango structure outside... Moving on from this part of the Queensland coast, Townsville is within two and a half hours' drive.