Central Queensland

Central Queensland is an imprecisely defined geographical division of Queensland that centres on the eastern coast, around the Tropic of Capricorn. Its major regional centre is Rockhampton.

Photo: Jjtkk, CC BY-SA 3.0.

Essential Destinations

Top destinations include Townsville and K’gari.

Townsville

Photo: Wikimedia, CC0.

Townsville is a laid-back coastal city of over 173,724 people in North Central Queensland. Townsville is on the coast and enjoys an average of 320 days of sunshine a year.

K’gari

Photo: GregTheBusker, CC BY 2.0.

K'gari is a large sand island 122 km long situated off the southern coast of the Australian state of Queensland, some 300 km north of the state capital Brisbane.

Mackay

Photo: Bilious, CC BY-SA 3.0.

Mackay is a tropical city on the eastern coast of the Australian state of Queensland, some 900 km north of the state capital Brisbane.

Destinations to Discover

Explore places such as Whitsunday Islands and Rockhampton.

The Whitsunday Islands are a group of 74 islands that lie off the coast of Queensland, Australia and form part of the Great Barrier Reef. The islands are one of the most popular Australian tourist destinations.

Rockhampton

Photo: Wikimedia, Public domain.

Australia's beef capital – Rockhampton – is a city that lies on the tropic of Capricorn near the Central Queensland coast, south of Mackay and north of Bundaberg.

Bundaberg

Photo: Wikimedia, CC BY 3.0.

Bundaberg, colloquially known as Bundy, is a city of 71,000 people in Queensland, south of Rockhampton and north of Hervey Bay.

Maryborough

Photo: Mattinbgn, CC BY-SA 3.0.

Maryborough is a city in the Fraser Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. In the 2021 census, the suburb of Maryborough had a population of 15,287 people.

Gladstone

Photo: Ginge1420, Public domain.

Gladstone is a coastal city in the Gladstone Region, Queensland, Australia. In the 2021 census, the Gladstone urban area had a population of 45,185 people.

Hervey Bay

Photo: Albinfo, CC0.

Hervey Bay is a string of beachside towns located in south east Queensland, around 3 1/2 hours drive north of Brisbane. Hervey Bay is home to many retired people. Its main attraction is an 868 meter long pier that extends into the ocean.

Charters Towers

Photo: Rob and Stephanie Levy, CC BY 2.0.

Charters Towers is a hinterland town in Central Queensland, that has a unique and colourful history, and is often referred to as the historic golden city.

Magnetic Island

Photo: Leonhard Fortier, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Magnetic Island is an island directly off the coast of Townsville in Central Queensland. Over half the land area of the island is a National Park. Magnetic Island is roughly 7 km by 5 km, with 25 km of walking tracks and several beaches and little bays.

Proserpine

Photo: Greditdesu, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Proserpine is a town in the Central region of Queensland. It is the administrative/service centre and gateway to the Whitsunday Region by road, rail and air. In 2016, Proserpine had a population of 3,600.

Kingaroy

Photo: Wikimedia, CC BY 2.0.

Kingaroy is a rural town and locality in the South Burnett Region, Queensland, Australia. The town is situated on the junction of the D'Aguilar and the Bunya Highways, 218 kilometres north-west of the state capital Brisbane and 141 kilometres south west of Gympie.

Bowen

Photo: Rabs003, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Bowen is a town on the coast in Queensland. Situated right on the Great Barrier Reef, and surrounded by some of the best beaches in Queensland, Bowen is widely regarded as one of the best kept secrets of the region.

Thuringowa

Photo: ROxBo, Public domain.

The City of Thuringowa was a city and local government area in North Queensland, Australia covering the northern and western parts of what is now Townsville.

Heron Island

Photo: Sirrob01, CC BY-SA 3.0.

Heron Island is a small attractive island resort among the Southern Reef Islands, located about 72 km off the coast of Queensland, Australia. Alongside a small scale tourist resort, the island is also home to a research station maintained by the University of Queensland studying coral reef ecology.

Great Sandy National Park

Photo: Proto353, CC BY-SA 4.0.

The Great Sandy National Park is a 2,195.55 km2 national park on the southern coast and wetlands of Central Queensland. It contains two sections:…

Ayr

Photo: Wikimedia, CC BY 2.0.

Ayr is a rural town and locality in the Shire of Burdekin, Queensland, Australia. It is the centre of a sugarcane-growing region and the administrative centre for the Burdekin Shire Council.

Airlie Beach

Photo: Damien Dempsey, CC BY 2.0.

Airlie Beach is a town in Queensland, Australia and is the closest port from which to access the Whitsunday islands on the Great Barrier Reef. With around 25,000 residents, it is developed to cater for almost every kind of tourist and backpacker, and is the major hub for trips out to the Whitsunday islands and Outer Great Barrier Reef.