Snapper Island is a part of the Hope Islands National Park just off the Daintree some 20 kilometres (12 miles) north of Port Douglas. The island is a part of the traditional sea country of the Kuku Yalanji Aboriginal people. The Kuku Yalanji people hunt and fish around the island and traditionally manage the island’s culture.
In the early 1900s, Jerry Doyle used the island to operate a lime kiln. It was fired by wood from the Daintree and ferried over to the mainland.
Sea cucumbers processing & boiling may also have been undertaken here and the remains of the watercourse stonework that is believed to be an early Chinese market garden is still visible on the island today.
The island is covered in lush coastal vegetation, mangroves, as well as a closed vine and dense eucalypt forest that supports a huge variety of bird species, but it also offers remote beaches and a shallow fringing reef best for snorkelling and spearfishing.
Snapper Island is one of the very few islands that has a camping ground, so if you’re feeling pumped with adventure, book transfers there and back with Windswell crew and stay overnight. We’ll also organise your camping permit and throw in a couple of paddle boards & fishing rods so you can catch your dinner.
