Walking or riding along the Strand Townsville is one of the best things to do in Townsville in 2021.
The Strand beachside promenade with it’s joint bike and walkway runs from the Breakwater Marina at the River End of the Strand, to the Rock Pool at the Kissing Point end, a return distance of 4.4 km.
Breakwater Marina Townsville with Casino in the background marks the end of the Strand Walk
You’ll often hear Townsville locals talking about “doing the Strand” and judging by the amount of camper-vans parked there daily travellers agree.
It’s best to walk the Strand before 10 am or after 4 pm to beat the mid-day heat. For people who work in Townsville CBD it’s the perfect before and after work walk. Riding is great any time of day.
Mothers with strollers rule the Strand pathways in the morning, before the work crowd return for lunch away from the office. There is a time of day for everyone to enjoy the Strand.
What You Will Find in This Post
The Strand Townsville Walkway
We live near Riverway in Kirwan, which has a beautiful riverside walking/cycling circuit, but in Summer when it’s hot and humid we head for cooling sea breezes of the Strand.
Strand Water Park Townsville
Seaview Hotel Townsville
The Seaview Hotel is fairly quiet on week days but springs to life on the week-end with life music in the beer garden of the Seaview Hotel. The only hotel on the Strand, the Seaview is popular for counter-meals in the newly renovated garden bar and is home to a popular Steak Restaurant.
Seaview by name and seaview by nature. The beer garden and restaurant both have ocean views. The white building in the photo behind the hotel is the old Townsville Hospital now redeveloped as residential apartments also with great ocean and island views.
In 2021 the Beer Garden was renovated and has become a classy venue indeed. It is still casual of course, but with different levels, booths and tables. It still has the same great view. Unfortunately it is not dog friendly.
The Seaview Hotel on the Strand with Castle Hill – showing the old colours and Beer Garden
Green Turtles the Strand Townsville
Every year a lone green turtle returns to Townsville Strand to lay her eggs. She lays them in the same position high on the beach where natural ground-covers help disguise the nest. An orange safety net enclosure is erected around the nest site.
You will find a green turtle sculpture and info board on the Strand and visitors to Reef HQ can see green turtles being nursed back to health in the Turtle Hospital.
Green Turtle nesting site The Strand Townsville with Townsville Port in background
Cafes on the Strand Townsville
C Bar The Strand
Directly on the water, the C Bar has uninterrupted views of Magnetic Island and is a great place for an after walk drink.
C Bar on the Strand looks across the bay to Magnetic Island
Longboard Bar and Grill Townsville
Back to back with the C Bar is The Longboard bar and cafe, with standing room only on week-ends. The Longboard looks across the water toward the Port and Casino.
Cheap places to eat on the Strand
Across from C Bar and Longboard and opposite the Seaview Hotel is a dining hub with budget places to eat Townsville style.
Walking up Gregory Street toward Castle Hill reveals a plethora of cheap eating options including Souvlaki, Burgers, Thai, Indian and Vietnamese to name a few.
Juliette’s on the Strand
Juliette’s on the Strand is second from the corner of Gregory Street, next to Harold’s Seafood. Juliette’s is famous for it’s ice-creams and fantastic outdoor area beneath the Strand rain-trees. It is dog-friendly and also does coffee, cake and cheap breakfasts like Avo on Toast. It’s a popular place for a late night after dinner ice-cream.
Meet you at Juliette’s?
Coffee Club the Strand Townsville
Next door to Juliette’s is the Coffee Club, another popular place to dine because of the fabulous rain trees. You need to be lucky to find a spare table here for breakfast on the Strand Townsville week-ends.
But let’s face it, beside breakfasts it’s also popular for morning teas and afternoon drinks.
Fish and Chips the Strand Townsville
Collecting a parcel of fish and chips from Harold’s Seafood on the Strand to eat on the grassy foreshore is very much a Townsville Tradition. Although the El Fresco eating area on-site at Harold’s is practical, the lure of the foreshore and seating terraces across the street on Gregory Street Headland are often too tempting.
You can also pick up fish and chips from the Kiosk at Strand Jetty.
Buskers entertain on week-ends when the area buzzes with life.
Townsville Restaurants on the Strand
Our favourite Townsville restaurant on the Strand is Shorehouse, at 118 The Strand, opposite the Stinger Enclosure at the Rockpool end of the Strand.
The menu is Modern Asian with a choice of Tapas style dishes or a set price Feed Us Option. Open air deck dining promotes a casual North Queensland dining experience. It is a great place to relax tropical style after a busy day exploring the Strand.
Magnetic Island Views from the Strand Townsville
Magnetic Island is visible from one end of the Strand to the other and is a permanent backdrop for photos taken on the Strand.
Free exercise stations are spread along Strand promenade, offering a host of different workouts and Strand Fitness Northward offers classes on the Strand. You will find several boot camps working out with a Magnetic Island view too.
Strand Accommodation is a mix of new and older refurbished motels. Hotels on the Strand Townsville are all low rise apart from Aquarius On The Strand, shown in the photo below. It is the only high rise building on the Strand and offers quite cheap accommodation Townsville with fantastic views.
CLICK HERE TO VIEW AND BOOK STRAND ACCOMMODATION.
Strand Park the home of Strand Night Markets
On the land side of Strand Jetty and Townsville Picnic Bay Surf Club stinger enclosure is Strand Park.
The park is a welcome haven of green and a favourite place for a casual game of football, kite flying or frisbee throwing.
Once a month on a Friday evening it transforms into the Strand Night markets. This is a great place to buy locally made gifts, buy tropical fruits and plants or dine from the food vans.
During the Christmas School holiday period Strand Park transforms into the Stable on the Strand which celebrates it’s 18th Birthday in 2019 18th – 22nd December. The event which turns the park into the town of Bethlehem, celebrates the story of the birth of Jesus and is free to enter.
Strand Jetty Sculpture from Museum of Underwater Art with Wulgurukaba muse.
Strand Jetty offers the opportunity of looking back at the land with views of Castle Hill and the Rock Pool and of course Magnetic Island. It’s a favourite haunt of fishermen who are prepared to while the hours away while having a chat and landing the occasional keeper.
Ocean Siren Sculpture Townsville
Strand Jetty is one of the best things to see on Townsville Strand
December 2019 saw the installation of a sculpture on a pylon close to the jetty of a slim human figure standing tall on a pylon and glowing by night.
The sculpture’s muse is a girl from the Wulgurukaba, traditional landowners in this area. The Wulgurukaba creation story involves a snake coming out of the Herbert River on the coast near Ingham. On it’s way down to Palm Island and Magnetic Island it created the Hinchinbrook Channel.
There are more sculptures planned underwater at John Brewer Reef and Magnetic Island. This video shares the exciting news.
Explore MOUA Underwater Site at John Brewer Reef and the Central Section of the Great Barrier Reef from Townsville/Magnetic Island.
Rock Pool Townsville
At the Kissing Point end of the Strand is this delightful seawater pool.
The Fish Inn restaurant overlooks the rock pool and across the street is another favourite of ours “Odyssey On The Strand”.
Townsville Rock Pool marks the end of the Strand Townsville Walk
When you visit next, make sure to walk the Strand – it’s right up there on the list of budget friendly things to do in Townsville Australia.
Scooter Hire Townsville Strand
Walking not your style? Why not hire the orange or purple E Scooters parked in various places along the Strand. Scooter hire per ride is 38 cents per minute with an additional $1 to unlock the E Scooter.
It’s as easy as downloading an app.
- Scooters are available 24 hours a day.
- Audio lets riders know if they are going too fast or in a restricted area.
- Minimum age of unsupervised riding is 16 y.o. and 12+y.o. supervised.
Orange escooters are owned by Neuron.
Purple escooters are owned by Ride Beam.
This map shows operating and restricted areas.
This work is licensed under a Creative
Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License
Topkapi Palace Views in Istanbul
What a beautiful walk to do every day though there seem to be quite a few detours you could make! Stopping at the exercise stations is a good idea….or maybe not!!
Hi Jenny, I admit to being hard to motivate to walk, although once I get out the door I love it. I look forward to our walks along the Strand though. Sometimes it is demoralizing when others overtake so easily. But then we do overtake a lot as well! There are quite a few distractions as far as coffee shops and bars go. I had lunch with a friend from out of town the other day at the C Bar. It is easy to feel like a millionaire sitting on their deck and looking across at Magnetic Island, sipping a Sav. Blanc. Cheers!
Wow, we were there a couple of years ago, and walked exactly where your photos are! and swam in a lagoony thing up one end, if I remember right. Very nice!
Wonderful! The lagoony thing is called the Rock Pool. It has been there so long it is a Townsville institution. We used to love sitting on the grass eating fish and chips after our swim.
Jan