Travel Guide Townsville

Townsville is the most populous city in North Queensland, with 200,000 inhabitants. However, it doesn't have the tourist buzz of Cairns or Airlie Beach. And yet it's a very pleasant place to live, with its ochre-colored Castle Hill overlooking the city. The city has its own nickel, zinc and copper refineries. As the regional capital, Townsville plays an important administrative role, with a university, a military base and the headquarters of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Authority. A pleasant 2.5 km promenade, The Strand, features a swimming pool, cafés, restaurants and parks. Flinders Street is home to old buildings and a host of restaurants, clubs and bars. Finally, nearby Magnetic Island also attracts its fair share of tourists. From here, you can escape on a cruise to the Great Barrier Reef, where you can try your hand at snorkeling and diving.The outer rim, Bowl Reef, offers a wealth of gorgonians, caves, cliffs and night dive sites.Chicken Reef boasts 35-metre-deep drop-offs and superb sea fans and starfish.The overhang of Coil Reef is a real beauty, with canyons, giant oysters and huge coral masses.95 km from Townsville, Yongala is an excellent dive site on a 110-metre wreck, covered in hard and soft corals and attracting green turtles, giant groupers, barracuda colonies and sea snakes.