A three-hour afternoon loop of Magnetic Island from the Nelly Bay ferry terminal, ideal on the day you arrive: lookouts, Picnic Bay, the rock wallabies at Geoffrey Bay and free time at Horseshoe Bay, with the choice to stay on for sunset.
Days
- About 3 hours
Group size
- Small group
Start / finish
- Nelly Bay ferry terminal / Horseshoe Bay / Nelly Bay
- Nelly Bay ferry terminal, by about 6pm
Return
- Nelly Bay ferry terminal, by about 6pm
Transport
- Air-conditioned minibus
Meals
- No meals are listed as included
Route
Included experiences
- Rocky Bay — coastal lookout
- Picnic Bay — stories of the early settlers
- Arcadia — views across Cleveland Bay to the mainland
- Geoffrey Bay — rock wallabies on the boulders
- Horseshoe Bay — free time, or stay for sunset
Pictures / Videos
Reviews
4.9
Based on 14 reviews
Verified from
Real reviews from travellers who've done this tour, gathered from around the web and paraphrased.
AI summary of 14 reviews
Travellers consistently praise the guides' local knowledge, friendly and relaxed demeanour, and ability to share entertaining information about the island and its history. The tour stands out most for offering a good introduction to Magnetic Island's highlights with multiple stops at scenic locations, opportunities to see wildlife including wallabies and butterflies, and notably, visits to a koala hospital where travellers can observe koalas up close and learn about conservation efforts. The most common caveat is that koala sightings cannot be guaranteed, with some travellers reporting they did not see many koalas despite the guides' best efforts to locate them.
How we collect and publish reviews
Where they come from. Our reviews are gathered from independent review sites and from guests who share feedback with us directly after their trip. They come from people who have actually travelled on the tour. Some longer trips are made up of shorter tours we also sell, run back to back — where a review was written about one of those legs, the review says so.
Why some are edited. Many of our guests travel in their second or third language. Where a review is hard to read, we lightly edit spelling, grammar and punctuation, or paraphrase a sentence for clarity. We never change the rating, the meaning or the sentiment, and we never write a review on a guest's behalf.
Reading the originals. Reviews sourced from public review sites appear there in their original form, and can be read in full at their original source at any time.
We did the highlights tour and it was great. Just the right length with two little kids, who loved the wildlife, especially the beautiful butterflies. A lovely afternoon for our first visit to the island.
“Perfect Island tour”
My daughter and I had a lovely afternoon with Neil showing us around. He was knowledgeable and clearly loves showing off the island; ideal if you haven't been before.
“Good little highlights tour to get you orientated and…”
A super little tour with a relaxed, friendly guide, useful bits of information and not too touristy.
“Good familiarisation of Magnetic Island”
An informal but thoughtful look at the island. Neil was easy to relate to and we enjoyed his local knowledge and humour.
“Satisfied and happy”
Well worth it. We learned a lot, had the van to just me and my friends, and saw places and animals my friends had never seen in real life.
“Magnetic Island with a local”
A stress-free way to see the highlights in one day, or a good start to a longer stay. We spent the morning in Townsville then took the ferry over; Neil gave us options, never rushed us, and we saw butterflies, wallabies, curlews and even a koala.
