Frankland Islands

Frankland Islands are a small group of islands off the North Queensland coast.   This group of islands includes Russell Island, Normanby Island, Mabel Island and Round Island. This group is the traditional home of the Mandingalby Yidinji and the Gungandi Aboriginal people. This island group is 45 kilometres south of Cairns and 1353 northwest of Brisbane.  This island group is within the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. A maximum of 100 people are permitted to visit this group at any time. This island group forms the Frankland  Island Group National Park.   On the islands, you will find patches of lush rainforest, mangrove swamps, and coastal plants. A large amount of birdlife habitat on the island includes white-breasted woodswallows, fruit doves and numerous seabirds.  On Russell Island, there are breeding sea eagles and ospreys. Fringing reef with soft and hard corals offers homes to a diversity of marine life. Visitors from the Frankland Island Group often see green Sea Turtles. There are also rock pools to explore while visiting the islands.

Day Visitors

There is a one-kilometre walking track on Normanby Island that takes around 20 minutes to complete.  Along the walk, you will find rocky outcrops and a variety of plants and birdlife. Day visitors can snorkel, scuba dive or do a glass-bottom boat tour.  Find out more 

Camping

With a permit, people may camp on High and Russel Islands, part of the Frankland Islands group.  Campers will need to be self-sufficient as there are no shops.  Please see the Queensland Parks website for more information.