• Menu
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Before Header

  • About
  • World Map
  • Work With Us
  • Disclosure/Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact Us

Budget Travel Talk

Road Trips Caravan Camping Australia

  • Home
  • Our Blog
  • Destinations
    • Australia Travel Blog
      • New South Wales
      • Queensland
        • Cairns
        • Sunshine Coast
        • Townsville
      • Tasmania
    • Asia
      • Cambodia
      • Japan
      • Laos
      • Singapore
      • Thailand
      • Vietnam
    • Americas
      • Canada
      • U.S.A.
    • Europe
      • Bosnia and Hercegovina
      • Croatia
      • Italy
      • Montenegro
      • Portugal
      • Slovenia
      • Spain
      • Turkey
        • Istanbul
    • Africa
      • Morocco
    • New Zealand / Pacific
  • Journey
    • Road Trips
    • Trains
    • Boat Trips
  • Travel Tips
    • Reviews
    • Destination Guides
    • Itineraries
    • Self Guided Walking Tours
    • Travel Resources
    • Budget Tips
    • Buying Guides
    • Interviews
  • Accommodation
    • Airbnb
    • Caravan Parks
    • Free Camping
    • Hotels
    • Housesitting
  • Experience
    • Food to Love
    • Festivals
    • Markets
    • Palaces and Castles
    • Ruins
    • Short Walks
    • Street Art
    • Bike Rides
  • Search
  • Home
  • Our Blog
  • Destinations
    • Australia Travel Blog
      • New South Wales
      • Queensland
        • Cairns
        • Sunshine Coast
        • Townsville
      • Tasmania
    • Asia
      • Cambodia
      • Japan
      • Laos
      • Singapore
      • Thailand
      • Vietnam
    • Americas
      • Canada
      • U.S.A.
    • Europe
      • Bosnia and Hercegovina
      • Croatia
      • Italy
      • Montenegro
      • Portugal
      • Slovenia
      • Spain
      • Turkey
        • Istanbul
    • Africa
      • Morocco
    • New Zealand / Pacific
  • Journey
    • Road Trips
    • Trains
    • Boat Trips
  • Travel Tips
    • Reviews
    • Destination Guides
    • Itineraries
    • Self Guided Walking Tours
    • Travel Resources
    • Budget Tips
    • Buying Guides
    • Interviews
  • Accommodation
    • Airbnb
    • Caravan Parks
    • Free Camping
    • Hotels
    • Housesitting
  • Experience
    • Food to Love
    • Festivals
    • Markets
    • Palaces and Castles
    • Ruins
    • Short Walks
    • Street Art
    • Bike Rides
  • Search
Yanks Jetty Pontoon

Pelorus Island and Orpheus Island Fishing Snorkelling Information

January 17, 2021 By Jan Robinson 25 Comments

This post may contain compensated links. We may earn a small percentage if you book through a compensated link, but it won’t cost you any more by doing so. You can read our full disclaimer here.


The weather was perfect for snorkelling and fishing at Pelorus Island, just half an hour from the fishing town of Lucinda near Ingham in North Queensland.

What You Will Find in This Post

  • Where is Lucinda?
  • Where to stay in Lucinda
  • Getting Ready to Fish for Coral Trout
    • Where to Buy Bait and Ice
  • Where to launch your boat near Lucinda
  • Where is Pelorus Island North Queensland
  • Pelorus Island Camping
  • Snorkelling at Pelorus Island and Orpheus Island
    • An account of our day snorkelling and fishing at Pelorus and Orpheus
    • FA18 Fighter Jets Bombing Rattlesnake Island
  • Where is Orpheus Island?
  • Yanks Jetty Orpheus Island
    • Yanks Jetty Exclusion Zone.
  • Fishing in the Marine Park and Zoning Plans
    • Fishing in the Yellow Zone
  • Know before you go to Pelorus Island and Orpheus Island.
    • More from my site

Where is Lucinda?

Lucinda is the perfect distance from Townsville.  The road trip, towing our 4.75 aluminium runabout, is long enough to give a going on holiday feel and short enough at 1.5 hours.

I don’t have an underwater camera so there are no beautiful underwater coral shots to show you, just one or two taken from the boat…

 

Where to stay in Lucinda

Or stay in cabins at Wanderer’s Caravan Park Lucinda. The caravan park is very friendly and the cabins small but quite modern and comfortable.

 

Getting Ready to Fish for Coral Trout

Where to Buy Bait and Ice

First stop was the Morley’s Iceworks in Lucinda for the Pilchard bait that coral trout just love. Morleys sell other kinds of bait too and Ice plus a range of locally caught fish and prawns to eat – yum.

Lucinda Island Trip Open

 

Where to launch your boat near Lucinda

Arriving from Halifax, turn left at the Port of Call (Lucinda Pub) and follow the road a short distance to Dungeness. The four lane boat ramp with floating pontoon makes launching easy.

The deep drop off at the end of the ramp is marked with a yellow line on the floating pontoon. There are a lot of parks but on popular days they do get full and people then park their trailers on the roadside.

Sailboats should be aware of overhead power lines at the ramp/car park.

Turn right when leaving Dungeness Creek, following buoys through the narrow channel and follow the long jetty out toward Pelorus. The big Island across from the creek mouth is Hinchinbrook Island.

 

This seabird sang as we left the boat ramp at Dungeness.

Seabird at Dungeness N.Q.

 

Approaching Pelorus Island on the left and Orpheus on the right.

Lucinda Island Trip Pelorus and Orpheus

Lucinda Island Trip Ocean near Pelorus

Lucinda Island Trip Pelorus

 

Where is Pelorus Island North Queensland

Pelorus Island Australia lies 800m north of Orpheus Island and is surrounded by fringing reefs.  Coral Princess Cruises have a long term private lease on a patch on the southern land side of the island which their Great Barrier Reef cruises use for picnics.

Pelorus Island is also known as North Palm Island and as Yanooa Island by the aboriginal community. As we circumnavigated the island I noticed a white rotating turbine on a hilltop which I later found to be a navigation structure built by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority, together with a service helipad.

Pelorus Island goats roam the island although an eradication program has culled the numbers.

 

Pelorus Island Camping

Free Camping (without facilities) is allowed in the designated campsite on the mainland side of the island behind the sandy beach.

Wood Fires Allowed.

Bring everything with you and leave nothing behind.

It’s camping on a deserted island!

Snorkelling at Pelorus Island and Orpheus Island

Pack a lycra stinger suit or lightweight 1 mm wetsuit.

Apply water resistant Sunscreen on any exposed areas.

Have a fresh water supply onboard.

An account of our day snorkelling and fishing at Pelorus and Orpheus

After an unsuccessful half hour fishing for trout, the coral bommie off the back of the boat looked too inviting.

The word Bommie comes from the Aboriginal word Bombora meaning Mountain of Reef and is a stand alone reef structure of any size.

Lines were retrieved and snorkelling gear unpacked.

Marty’s black and blue 1 m wetsuit looks the part while my faded blue and yellow old stinger suit does anything but. The fish don’t care about attire though and the bumble bee that kept trying to land on me obviously thought I was a flower.

Lucinda Island Trip Stinger Suit

Lucinda Island Trip Marty Wetsuit

 

Blue and yellow fusiliers escorted us over a fair crop of coral but nothing too flash, and no clams or coral trout. It was fantastic to be snorkelling on a reef again – it had been far too long. The scrape marks on the solid brown coral were most likely from the buck teeth of parrot fish as they chew coral algae.

We had forgotten the removable boat ladder, but all those Gym classes and Arc yoga classes paid off and I had no trouble clambering over the back of the boat using the motor leg to boost myself.

I’m fairly certain Marty was relieved he didn’t have to haul me in!

Palm Island Group

Next was another Pelorus Island snorkelling spot, marked with two white float moorings, our reasoning being that the moorings indicated the presence of good coral.

With a pounding heart, I swam straight into a wall of white flower shaped corals, looking strangely like a fancy art installation with other surrounding corals in the yellow range. Just Beautiful.

The shy fusilier fish didn’t come out to play, choosing to hide in the dark cave recesses instead.

The Coral could be seen from the boat.

Lucinda Island Trip Coral

Coral from the boat

 

Our next spot was on the Pelorus side of the channel that separates the two islands and was the best spot of the day.

I loitered inside a small sheer drop amphitheatre of hard yellow corals surrounded by gently swaying soft corals, smooth hard brain corals and a lonely fragile fern coral that leant into a 30cm gap between bommies.

In between the clumps of colour sadly, were open spaces filled with dead branch coral. The sun chose this time to disappear and the colours became correspondingly subdued. Still there were a good array of dusky pinks, bright purples and yellows including the only clam sighting of the day.

Fat long brown sea cucumbers sat still on the sandy bottom and schools of fusiliers came out to play. So close, but yet just out of reach. Not the thick schools I remember at Low Isles (out from Port Douglas) years ago, but a delightful experience anyway.

Coral trout, parrot fish, Butterfly fish, Stripeys and a lot of small brightly coloured fish whose names elude me, darted here and there amongst the coral.  It was our last snorkel for the day and we lingered, soaking it all in as we criss-crossed the area, popping our heads up periodically to check on each other, the boat and to point out special sights.

Orpheus Island North Queensland

FA18 Fighter Jets Bombing Rattlesnake Island

Back onboard, a pair of FA18 fighter jets flew very loudly overhead.  No sooner had I unblocked my ears, than they crept up from behind, tipping wings vertical above us, before shooting off toward Palm Island. We felt very insignificant in our 4.75m boat as they roared overhead – awesome but scary.

Fighter Jets are a common periodically in Townsville and they were probably up this way practice bombing Rattlesnake Island (further south toward Townsville).

Where is Orpheus Island?

Orpheus Island is a National Park Island, 23km south-east of Lucinda.

It can be accessed by private or charter vessels.

The 12 km long and 1 km or less wide, island is home to the luxury Orpheus Island Resort and the James Cook University Orpheus Island research station (tours available call (07) 4777 7336). The resort can’t be visited by day trippers.

There are three areas for self sufficient campers on Orpheus Island (fees apply).

Orpheus Island Camping Spots:

  • Yanks Jetty
  • Pioneer Bay
  • South Beach

Heading down the seaward side of Orpheus Island.

Orpheus Island Boat Spray

 

Yanks Jetty Orpheus Island

Yanks Jetty Orpheus Island

Rounding the southern end of Orpheus we boated toward Yanks Jetty, so called because of it’s past as an American submarine repair station during WWII.  The old facilities have long gone but the name remains.

The pontoon is a popular stop with undercover picnic tables and resident fish to feed and swim with.

Yanks Jetty Exclusion Zone.

There is a 100m Exclusion Zone for fishing around Yanks Jetty.

Fish at Yanks Jetty

Yanks Jetty Pontoon Mooring

Palm Island Barge from Yanks Jetty

 

Orpheus Island National Park

Yanks Jetty Pontoon Island View

Fishing in the Marine Park and Zoning Plans

Always careful to abide by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority’s Zoning Plans.

We positioned ourselves in our favourite fishing spot in the Yellow Zone outside of the Green Zone on the southern tip of Orpheus Island.

Green Zones can not be fished at all.

Fishing in the Yellow Zone

These are my own experiences and true at the time of originally publishing in 2015. Please research the Marine Park Rules to ensure you comply.

One hook/One line/per person/No Spearfishing

Floating a pilchard out the back of the boat, I made a prawn sandwich for lunch and prattled on about what a gorgeous day it was and then… I landed a 10kg Mackerel.

Well to be fair it was a joint effort.  The fish swam around the anchor rope and Marty untangled it for me and swam it down the side of the boat so I could pull it in.  I’m claiming it.

The Zoning Plan does not control bag limits and fish size. That is controlled by Queensland Fisheries.

 

Know before you go to Pelorus Island and Orpheus Island.

The Islands can also be accessed from Taylors Beach 20 km to the west on the mainland. I personally find the sea entrance arriving back into Taylors more confusing than Lucinda.

First timbers should return to the mainland in daylight in either case.

Scuba Dives can be arranged via Remote Area Dives.

Fuel for our outboard motor cost $50 for the day.

At the end of the day we both asked ourselves why we don’t snorkel here more often.  It was agreed we will do so in the future – we are so lucky to call this part of the world home.

Do you have islands that are special to you?  Are they tropical islands or cold-weather islands?

If you do drive north from Ingham follow this guide to Cardwell’s Spa Pools.

More from my site

  • Townsville Tourist and Lifestyle Village – A Budget Travel ReviewTownsville Tourist and Lifestyle Village – A Budget Travel Review
  • Campo de Fiori Market Rome once was a Roman MeadowCampo de Fiori Market Rome once was a Roman Meadow
  • Things to do in Canakkale Turkey gateway to GallipoliThings to do in Canakkale Turkey gateway to Gallipoli
  • Puerto Lope Festival, SpainPuerto Lope Festival, Spain
  • Noosa National Park Walk from Sunshine BeachNoosa National Park Walk from Sunshine Beach
  • Irresistible Pho at Nguyen Bros. Vietnamese Restaurant MaroochydoreIrresistible Pho at Nguyen Bros. Vietnamese Restaurant Maroochydore

Filed Under: Boat Trips, Queensland, Wildlife

About Jan Robinson

Jan Robinson writes about travel on her Budget Travel Talk blog. A solo traveller in her teens, for the last 40 years Jan has travelled through Australia, Asia, Europe, Turkey and New Zealand with her husband. They specialise in road trips, caravanning and Independent travel without spending a fortune. Her favourite destination is Turkey and she is currently dreaming of Myanmar and Mexico.

Previous Post: « Where to Stay in Marrakech Morocco
Next Post: Castle Hill Townsville – Castle Hill Walks and Castle Hill Drives »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Corinne

    March 28, 2015 at 7:03 pm

    Wow! Jan! I really need to get away. Seeing all those photos of crystal blue water, fresh and full of fish. I really want to go! Thanks for linking up with #wkendtravelinpiration!

    Reply
  2. Kathy Marris

    March 28, 2015 at 7:16 pm

    Vis and Hvar? You lucky girl. That will a be a great trip. I like the look of both Pelorus and Orpheus Islands. I really enjoy snorkeling and have done a quite a bit of it recently. We enjoyed snorkeling on the Ningaloo Reef but I have also spent time at The Whitsundays and enjoyed it there as well. There is nothing better than an encounter with beautiful marine life in crystal clear blue water that we have offshore on our wonderful coastlines in Australia!

    Reply
  3. Muza-chan

    March 28, 2015 at 8:49 pm

    Great photos 🙂

    Reply
  4. Ellen @ The Cynical Sailor

    March 28, 2015 at 9:21 pm

    Lovely pictures – makes me wish I was out on the water. We used to sail in New Zealand and I always loved exploring all of the islands in the Hauraki Gulf. Australia is a place we always wanted to get to on a boat – maybe someday we’ll manage it.

    Reply
  5. Paula McInerney

    March 29, 2015 at 8:39 am

    Amazing photos. Gordon lived in this neck of the woods for a while. Might have to take him back for a visit and for the diving

    Reply
  6. Lyn (aka) The Travelling Lindfields

    March 29, 2015 at 11:48 am

    I adore snorkelling. I’ve snorkelled off Lizard Island which is fabulous and Bedarra which has some small good spots and I have often wondered about Orpheus. Really interesting to read what you think of it – despite the lack of an underwater camera your photos are great.

    Reply
    • Jan

      March 29, 2015 at 11:55 am

      If I ever find myself looking for a luxurious holiday I would choose Lizard Island. My husband has dived there with his work, but I have not been there (yet). I’ve snorkelled at Dunk but not Bedarra. Did you stay on Lizard?

      Reply
  7. Rhonda Albom

    March 29, 2015 at 12:10 pm

    I can honestly say that being on a boat anywhere with water warm enough to dive into is really appealing right now. These islands look lovely. Thanks for linking up on Weekend Travel Inspiration.

    Reply
    • Jan

      March 29, 2015 at 1:08 pm

      It felt so wonderful, we both found it difficult to comprehend why we don’t do it more often.

      Reply
  8. Lisa Wood

    March 29, 2015 at 9:09 pm

    oh gosh that’s incredible Jan, the coral is stunning. I haven’t done any snorkelling in so very long, it looks like so much fun.
    Congrats on catching the fish, what a great day out at the sea 🙂
    Great pics Jan – you sure on in a beautiful part of Australia.

    Reply
    • Jan

      March 30, 2015 at 9:35 pm

      We’re going to snorkel more often from now on!

      Reply
  9. Krista

    March 30, 2015 at 5:12 pm

    What an amazing time you had! You seem so brave to me because, I confess, I’m rather scared of snorkeling. I have this fear of being gobbled by something behind me that I can’t see until it’s too late. 🙂

    Reply
    • Jan

      March 30, 2015 at 9:35 pm

      I’m like that sometimes Krista, especially if I have to snorkel across deep water, in which case I hold hands with Marty until we reach a shallower area. 🙂 It’s quite romantic, lol.

      Reply
  10. Michele {Malaysian Meanders}

    March 31, 2015 at 1:49 am

    A 10 kg Mackerel. I am impressed. You are so fortunate to have such lovely snorkeling so close to you. I got to do a little in the Bahamas last week, but it wasn’t as lovely as what you have near you. While we were on a little tropical beach last week, I realized how much I miss living on the island of Penang. Have a good trip to Sicily and Croatia. I’m sure that you’ll share tons of beautiful photos and fascinating tales with us about it.

    Reply
    • Jan

      March 31, 2015 at 11:30 am

      You were very lucky to live in Penang, and they were lucky too, as you have promoted them so well. I wonder if you will get transferred anywhere else exciting?

      Reply
  11. Rachael@safari254

    March 31, 2015 at 8:53 pm

    The water looks so inviting. The weather in Nairobi of late has not been the best, I’m jealous that you get to travel to an island. I’m looking forward to your posts on your upcoming trips.

    Reply
  12. Winederlusting

    April 2, 2015 at 1:04 am

    Your coral shots as taken from the boat are stunning. This looks like a fisherman’s paradise…will remember to keep on my list.
    Greig

    Reply
  13. Muza-chan

    April 2, 2015 at 11:03 pm

    Beautiful place…

    Reply
  14. Bob R

    April 6, 2015 at 2:31 pm

    Looks great. I really like that bird at the start. 🙂 I’m sure you’ll enjoy Vis and Hvar.

    Reply
    • Jan

      April 6, 2015 at 4:39 pm

      We saw lots of birds in the week we were there but I don’t actually know what type of bird this was. Hence “sea bird”.

      Reply
  15. Mary {The World Is A Book}

    April 6, 2015 at 2:56 pm

    You really are lucky to live in this part of the world. It’s just beautiful! I wish we had more time to experience the North Queensland islands last summer. What a great way to spend the day. I can’t get over how clearly you could see all the coral from your boat. I can just imagine what you would have captured underwater.

    Reply
    • Jan

      April 6, 2015 at 4:31 pm

      I was surprised we could see the coral from the boat too Mary. It was exceptionally good water visibility because the ocean was so flat that day.

      Reply
  16. noel

    April 7, 2015 at 4:08 am

    What a fun tour, thanks for taking us on these wonderful spots to snorkel. I’ve always wanted to see that it looks like outside of the Great Barrier in some of these magnificent waters.

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Ten Reasons to Escape Townsville and drive north to Lucinda says:
    November 6, 2015 at 8:41 am

    […] At Orpheus you can stay in luxury at The Orpheus Island Resort or for free as a Volunteer at the James Cook University Research Station. There are camping options too at Yanks Jetty on Orpheus Island and Pelorus Island – read more about them in our post on Snorkelling and fishing at Orpheus and Pelorus Islands. […]

    Reply
  2. November 2013 - 2104 Budget Travel Talk | Budget Travel Talk says:
    July 27, 2017 at 10:50 pm

    […] AUSTRALIA […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Follow Us

Categories

Budget Travel Talk's posts relating to Australia Budget Travel Talk's posts relating to Townsville Budget Travel Talk's posts relating to Bosnia Budget Travel Talk's posts relating to Cambodia Budget Travel Talk's posts relating to Canada Budget Travel Talk's posts relating to Croatia Budget Travel Talk's posts relating to Italy Budget Travel Talk's posts relating to Laos Budget Travel Talk's posts relating to Montenegro Budget Travel Talk's posts relating to Morocco Budget Travel Talk's posts relating to New Zealand Budget Travel Talk's posts relating to Slovenia Budget Travel Talk's posts relating to Spain Budget Travel Talk's posts relating to Turkey Budget Travel Talk's posts relating to the United States of America Budget Travel Talk's posts relating to Vietnam

Pinterest

Visit Budgettraveltalk's profile on Pinterest.

Top Australian and New Zealand Blogger for 2017

Im-a-Top-Australian-and-New-Zealand-Travel-Blogger-for-2017-Medium-Rectangle-300x250px (1)

Mature Bloggers Australia

Mature Bloggers Australia

Footer

Most Popular Posts

Whitsundays on a Budget – How to Get to Whitehaven Beach

Romantic Things for Couples to do in Rome including Valentines Day

Things to Do in Huskisson and Jervis Bay

Hobart to Bruny Island: Tours from Hobart or Self Drive Bruny Island?

Ferry to Eyup Istanbul for Pierre Loti views and Eyup Sultan Istanbul Mosque 2018

About Jan & Marty

We are Jan and Marty and we love travel.

The best thing about being in our 60’s is that our travel budget is flexible, allowing us to enjoy great experiences, good food and fun people. As with most things in life, it’s all about priorities.

Copyright © 2022 Budget Travel Talk - Journey. Destination. Experience.