Adventure & Sports
Dive, surf, sail, climb and sandboard
Dive the Great Barrier Reef or Ningaloo, surf Bells Beach or the Gold Coast points, sail the Whitsundays, cage-dive with great whites off Port Lincoln, climb the Sydney Harbour Bridge, mountain-bike Tasmania's Blue Derby, or sandboard the Stockton dunes at Port Stephens. Australia also has a short but real snow season in the Victorian and NSW Alps from June to September.
Mirrors Tourism Australia's own theme Adventure and sports.
The states and territories this theme is strongest in — tap through to the full state guide.
Queensland
The Great Barrier Reef, rainforest and endless beaches
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Great Barrier Reef The world's largest coral reef system — 2,300 km of it, and the only living structure visible from space. -
The Whitsundays 74 islands scattered inside the reef, sailed from Airlie Beach and Hamilton Island. -
K'gari (Fraser Island) The world's largest sand island — rainforest growing on dunes, perched freshwater lakes and a 75-mile beach highway. - Gold Coast Beaches 57 km of surf beach from Surfers Paradise to Coolangatta, with theme parks and rainforest behind.
New South Wales
Sydney Harbour, surf coast, vineyards and the Blue Mountains
Victoria
Melbourne laneways, the Great Ocean Road and cool-climate wine
Western Australia
Ningaloo, the Kimberley and a third of a continent
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Ningaloo Reef A World Heritage fringing reef you can snorkel straight off the beach — and swim with whale sharks Mar–Aug. -
Margaret River World-class Cabernet, big surf breaks and limestone caves, three hours south of Perth. -
Karijini National Park Iron-red gorges cut two billion years deep, with swimming holes at the bottom.
South Australia
Wine regions, wildlife islands and the Flinders Ranges
Northern Territory
Uluṟu, Kakadu and the world's oldest living culture
Australian Capital Territory
The national capital — museums, galleries and cool-climate wine
External Territories
Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) and Norfolk Island
Best bases for this
Gateway hubs that put the most of this theme within reach.
- Cairns and surrounds The reef-and-rainforest base — Great Barrier Reef boats out the front, the Daintree and Kuranda behind.
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Gold Coast and surrounds 57 km of surf beach and theme parks, with Gondwana rainforest in the Scenic Rim hinterland. -
Whitsundays and surrounds Airlie Beach and Hamilton Island — the sailing capital of the reef, and the way to Whitehaven Beach.
Other ways to travel
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Aboriginal Australia The world's oldest continuing culture, shared on Country - Beaches & Islands More than 10,000 beaches and 8,000 islands
- Nature & National Parks Reef, rainforest, gorge country and the Outback
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Wildlife Animals you will not see anywhere else -
Food & Drink 65 wine regions, world-class coffee and native ingredients -
Road Trips & Drives The Great Ocean Road, the Gibb River Road and everything between -
Walks & Hikes Great Walks, coastal tracks and city-edge escapes -
Arts & Culture Galleries, laneways, festivals and convict history -
Luxury Wilderness lodges, private islands and long-distance trains -
Health & Wellness Hot springs, retreats and slow coastal days -
Family Travel Wildlife parks, theme parks and safe swimming -
Eco-friendly Travel Low-impact islands, eco-lodges and travel that gives back
Photography
Images on this page are sourced from Wikimedia Commons under free licences (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA) and are photographs of the places named. Author, licence and source for each:
- Margaret River — BigMacka · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Great Barrier Reef — Ank Kumar · CC BY-SA 4.0
- The Whitsundays — Isderion · CC BY-SA 3.0 de
- K'gari (Fraser Island) — UrbanDruid · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Sydney Harbour — Bernard Gagnon · CC BY-SA 3.0
- Bells Beach — Alex Proimos from Sydney, Australia · CC BY 2.0
- Victoria's High Country — Matt from Melbourne, Australia · CC BY 2.0
- Ningaloo Reef — W. Bulach · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Karijini National Park — Iktoh · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Eyre Peninsula — Murray Foubister · CC BY-SA 2.0
- Clare Valley — Marionlad · CC BY-SA 3.0
- Nitmiluk (Katherine Gorge) — Ovico · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Lake Burley Griffin — Alex Proimos from Sydney, Australia · CC BY 2.0
- Christmas Island — ChrisBrayPhotography · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Cocos (Keeling) Islands — paullymac · CC BY-SA 2.0
- Gold Coast — Bob T · CC BY-SA 4.0
- The Whitsundays — Cherrie Hughes · CC BY-SA 4.0