Soft white sand, sun bleached coral pieces, coconut palms and crystal clear water – deserted tropical islands in the Great Barrier Reef like you have never seen before – but you can now visit! Just offshore from Mission Beach are 20+ stunning and oh so romantic tropical islands … Bowden Island is one of them – spend a couple of hours on the island with a picnic lunch and you will never be the same again!
Take the Google Street View Virtual Tour of Bowden Island including beach walk and climb up onto the rocks.
Click on arrows to ‘walk’ through scenes, click/hold/drag around and up/down to move around each individual scene. Click the 4 arrows button at very top right of virtual tour image to enlarge to full screen.
Photographed by Google Street View Pro Photographer, Paul Toogood.
The second farthest island southwards in the Family Islands group is Bowden Island which is located approximately 20 km East of Mission Beach. The Aboriginal name for this island is Budg-Joo.
Like Hudson Island, Bowden is an absolutely beautiful tropical island – spend a day here with a picnic lunch and it will more than likely change your life. A couple of coconut trees, a mix of soft sand and coral beach areas, plenty of shade to the rear of the main beach area with large rocks bordering either side of the beach. The island is covered with all but impenetrable rainforest.
It has a larger main beach area approx 100m in length.
How to get here: around 20km offshore from Mission Beach. Private boat and anchor off the beach, commercial charter operators from Mission Beach including:
- Mission Beach Dunk Island Water Taxi
- Mission Reef Express
- Hooked Up Fishing Adventures
- Fishin Mission
- Mission Beach Charters
Features: private boat-based access or commercial charter vessel from Mission Beach .
Location: 20km East of Mission Beach.
Access: boat (only).
Number of sites: no camping allowed.
Facilities: none.
Open fires: prohibited. Fuel stoves are recommended.
Generators: not allowed.
Essentials to bring: sufficient food and drinking water, fuel stove, cooking utensils and equipment, rubbish bags, tide chart, basic first aid kit, insect repellent, mosquito nets and sunscreen.
Mobile phone coverage: generally available.
http://www.nprsr.qld.gov.au/parks/family-islands/pdf/family-islands-map.pdf
