Holidays

An Island Day Out from Brisbane

Coochie Day Out

With the start of the Easter school holidays now upon us, like me, you might well be thinking of ways to entertain your children for the next couple of weeks. I don’t know about you, but I love to visit places which are easy to get to & enjoyable for all the family. With this in mind I thought I’d tell you about a little island just off the coast which to me fits the bill perfectly for a day out from Brisbane.


There are of course a number of beautiful islands along the coast of Brisbane that are well documented in all the travel guides and are absolutely worth visiting. But if you’re looking for somewhere different for a day out, did you know about Coochiemudlo Island?

Coochiemudlo Island Qld

Coochie (as it’s known locally) is a lovely laid back island just off the tourist track, making it a great place for a relaxing day trip from Brisbane.

Coochiemudlo Island

The island is really very small – just 5 square kilometres. So much so that you can easily take a leisurely walk around the whole island in no time at all (depending, of course on how much you choose to stop along the way).

Coochiemudlo Island beaches

Much of the walk is along pretty little beaches, which become noticeably less populated on the north end of the island.

Little Blue Crabs

If you look carefully you might be lucky enough to spot an army of little blue crabs scampering across the beach along your walk.

On the other hand, if you are not feeling that energetic (or have small children or just too much to carry!) there’s also a perfectly reasonable beach right by the ferry terminal where you could quite happily while away the day.

Food & Drink

As I mentioned before, Coochie is a very laid back island and many people choose to bring their own food & drink. There is, however, a small cafe / shop close to the ferry terminal where you can buy a casual lunch or stock up on drinks – ideal for those of us who are more spur of the moment or don’t want to lug around heavy bags all day.

How to get there

The island is just a 10 minute ferry ride from the mainland. There is a great little passenger ferry which operates frequent services from Victoria Point Jetty. No need to book, simply turn up & hop on. At the time of writing tickets are purchased on board. How easy is that!

Alternatively, if you have access to a boat you could make your own way there.

Coochiemudlo Boat

Just be careful to check the tide times!

I hope this has inspired you to try visiting somewhere different for a day. Certainly if you’re looking for an easy, relaxed & relatively cheap family day out from Brisbane, you can’t beat whiling away a few hours on laid back Coochiemudlo Island.

What are you doing to entertain your family over the holidays? I’d love to know.

P.S. If you’re interested you can find more holiday inspiration here.