Brook Islands

Hinchinbrook Island - Sunset Beach to the Brook Islands

The paddle over to the Brook Islands was great fun.  Once we were out of the lee of Cape Sandwich, we had 1.5 to 2 meters of easterly swell being pushed along by a 20+knot SErly.  The waves were wrapping around both sides of the reef and islands and paddling onto the reef platform reminded me of our 2010 Cap Cays paddle as you come out of deep blue water and start getting a change of colour and bommies appearing under you.  The tide was running out so we took a tack to get in the lee of the Southern most Brook Island before turning onto the reef platform where the swell was breaking in places, but still with plenty of water over the reef.

The Brook Islands sit out to the north of Hinchinbrook Island.  The area is a green zone and apparently good for snorkeling and diving.  Given the swell and wind, the visibility unfortunately wasn't great so we got to appreciate the beauty of the place from the beach and from paddling around.

The middle islands are linked to the north island by coral/sand bridges at low tide with the southern island remaining separate.  The reef platform surrounding the islands is exposed at low tide so you can only get across the platform from half-tide.  It looks like the reef would be an interesting place to view from the water with the right conditions.

We took off for Coombe Island once we had enough water over the reef platform (around 2 hours into the run in tide).  The north west corner of the North Island would be better for all tide access.

Phone Reception: Yes
Fresh Water Available: No
Best Campsite:  None - Green Zone
Toilet: No
Table: No
Green Ants: No
Sand Fly's:  No
Mosquitoes: No
Reef: Yes

Coombe Island

Brook Islands to Coombe Island

We had a fun run into Coombe Island, catching runners and enjoying being on the ocean.  The conditions were friendly with a nice tailwind helping us to keep a good paddling average.  There was some coral spawn in the water as we came down the western side of Coombe Island which didn't bode well for the water visibility.

The campsite on Coombe is on the northern side of the island.  There is all tide access to a sand/coral bank. A reef platform surrounds the island and we found the eastern side more sheltered for a snorkel, though the visibility wasn't great.

If you came at the right time of year, there is a grove of Paw Paw trees on the island that were bearing some good looking fruit.

I don't often play with night photography but it was a cloudless night and I had some time on my hands.

Wheeler Island is the first island you see on the left, hiding Bedarra Island with Dunk Island on the right

We had a lazy morning waiting for the tide to turn for our paddle into Dunk Island.  The wind had dropped and we ended up taking off an hour or so before the turn of the tide - which turned out to be a good move as we were in time for a cold beers and hot food on Dunk!

Phone Reception: Yes
Fresh Water Available: No
Best Campsite:  North Western Corner (seemed to be a nice beach on Hudson Island as well)
Toilet: No
Table: Yes
Green Ants: Yes
Sand Fly's:  Yes
Mosquitoes: Yes
Reef: Yes
Fish: No
Crayfish: Yes