The Moreton Bay islands compared: Moreton, Straddie and Bribie

The Moreton Bay islands are the sand and bay islands that sit between Brisbane and the open Pacific. The island manager describes Moreton Island, with North Stradbroke and South Stradbroke islands, as the eastern boundary of Moreton Bay, a large, shallow, biologically diverse expanse of water.⁶ Bribie Island closes the bay to the north, and Redland City's group of small islands lies in its southern reaches, closer to the mainland shore.

Visit Redlands Coast covers nearby Coochiemudlo Island together with the southern bay group of Macleay, Lamb, Karragarra, Russell and Peel Islands.⁴ Those are the names behind the question of which islands make up the southern group, and they are small bay islands rather than ocean sand islands. The big ones, Moreton and Stradbroke, face the open ocean on one side and the shallow bay on the other.

How big is Moreton Bay? Tangalooma's account of the marine park, which protects the bay's habitats, gives 125 km of coastline from the Gold Coast to Caloundra and 3400 square kilometres.⁷ The island manager adds that the Moreton Bay Marine Park was declared in 1993 and surrounds Moreton Island.⁵ Treat those as park figures rather than a survey of the open water, and expect other sources to quote different totals for the bay itself. For planning a day, the island sizes and the crossing times matter more than the bay's area.

North Stradbroke Island, known as Straddie or Minjerribah, is located 30 km southeast of Brisbane and is the world's second largest sand island, about 38 km long and 11 km wide.² It covers an area of 275.2 km2.²⁶ Its own tourism site says Straddie has the closest surf to Brisbane City, and it calls Point Lookout popular for surf beaches, land-based whale watching from the headland and the North Gorge walk.^19,20

Getting there differs from Moreton. All water taxis, passenger ferries and vehicle ferries to the island leave from Cleveland.⁸ Cleveland is 30 km from the Brisbane CBD via Old Cleveland Road, an estimated 50 minutes of driving, and 78 km from the Gold Coast via the Pacific Motorway, an estimated 1 hour and 20 minutes.^25,27 Sealed roads connect the 3 townships of Dunwich, Amity and Point Lookout, so roads link the townships, in contrast to the sand tracks of Moreton Island.²⁸

Wildlife is part of the draw. The waters around Straddie contain 6 of the world's 7 species of marine turtles, and Moreton Bay Marine Park supports the southernmost population of dugong in Australia.^29,30 A guided Straddie wildlife day from Brisbane is listed at 10 hours, limited to 11 participants, with 994 reviews and a rating of 4.8. It sits in a different corner of the bay from the wrecks, to the south, and would be a separate trip from a Moreton day. Check the group size and the pickup point on the booking page.

Redlands Coast describes its bay islands as places for peaceful escapes shaped by island life, with sheltered swimming, secluded beaches and golden sunsets.²⁴ The islands are Macleay, Lamb, Karragarra, Russell and Peel, and nearby Coochiemudlo Island.⁴ They suit a quiet afternoon more than a day of wrecks, dunes and boats. Anyone searching for the southern Moreton Bay islands is usually looking for exactly that slower pace, close to the mainland shore.

The sources used here give names and character for these islands, not timetables, so this page makes no promises about ferries or tours to them. If the southern islands are your target, check the Redlands Coast site for the current services. The comparison table further down fixes sizes and crossings only for the three large islands, and leaves the southern group as a line to follow up.

Where the large islands face the ocean, the southern ones face the bay. That is the practical difference between the groups: a bay island is calmer, smaller and quieter, and you reach it with a different ferry from a different port. For a visitor to Brisbane with a single day, the large islands offer more set-piece sights, and the southern islands offer a gentler pace. Pick by temperament as much as by distance, and let the quiz and the table narrow the choice.