Holiday houses in Lucinda

A tiny town between Townsville and Cairns on the north Queensland coast, Lucinda is best known for its sugar-loading jetty, which extends 5.6 kilometres into the bay. The long jetty may dominate the headland, but you’ll come to Lucinda for the easy access it offers to the tropical wonders of Hinchinbrook Island and the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area. The southern tip of Hinchinbrook, the Great Barrier Reef’s biggest island, is a short boat ride across the channel from the town.

Next to the sugar jetty and its bulk sugar storage depot, Lucinda Fishing Wharf is a popular spot for casting a line, with the bonus of the spectacular backdrop of Hinchinbrook’s forested mountain peaks. From beachside Borello Park, facing the sugar jetty, one long residential street lined with palm and shade trees stretches south down the coastline, while Dungeness Road leads away from the bay to a sheltered channel of mangroves and the town’s public boat ramp.

From mid-spring, around October, through the summer months and into mid-autumn, around April, Lucinda is hot and humid during the day and balmy at night. In the winter months of June to August you’ll experience warm days and mostly mild nights. The tropical rains hold off until November, with December to March by far the wettest months. Winter or early spring, when it’s dry and cool, are the best times to hike Hinchinbrook Island. You can dive and snorkel the reefs around Lucinda at any time of the year; the sea temperature only dips below 25 degrees Celsius from around mid-May to early October. For the rest of the year, taking a dip can feel like soaking in warm bathwater.

Hinchinbrook Island National Park

The mountains, beaches, and mangroves of Hinchinbrook Island National Park are a short boat ride from Lucinda. Take a short walk or tackle sections of the multiday Thorsborne Trail, which runs from George Point across the channel from Lucinda to Ramsay Bay on the northern end of this uninhabited island. You can also explore the shoreline by boat or kayak.

Fishing the sugar jetty

You’ll catch plenty of fish from the public jetty in town, from northern bluefin tuna, Spanish mackerel, and giant trevally. Or follow the lead of locals and take a boat out to the deeper water around the more distant pylons of the long jetty to haul in bigger specimens.

Orpheus island

There are plenty of beautiful little islands a short boat ride from Lucinda. Head to Orpheus Island, part of the larger Palm Island group to the east of town, to dive or snorkel its fringing reefs. Here you’ll find more than a thousand species of reef fish, as well as green turtles and manta rays.