Holiday accommodation options for anglers at Hinchinbrook are as varied as you will find anywhere in Australia. From five star luxury units and houses, right down to backpacker accommodation and bungalow style rooms.

Being that Hinchinbrook is such a major fishing tourism destination, we thought we’d take the chance to check out a few of the accommodation options at Hinchinbrook that will cover a broad range of styles, costs and facilities.

Luxury holiday accommodation is set in natural tropical surrounds at Port Hinchinbrook Resort near Cardwell, with Hinchinbrook Island at its doorstep and the Cardwell mountains as a backdrop. Lush rainforests surround the resort and you are secluded in your own private sanctuary.

Only a 90 minute drive from Townsville or two hours south of Cairns, the Hinchinbrook area is fast becoming one of Australia's premier tourist destinations offering a tropical escape with access to the surrounding natural wonders the area has to offer.

With superb coastlines, untamed wilderness, deserted islands and access to some of Australia's best fishing locations Port Hinchinbrook is the latest hot spot for boating and fishing offering easy access to the Hinchinbrook Channel as well as snorkelling on the reef or sailing the Coral Seas.

On-site Manager Robyn, a local who has a good knowledge of the Hinchinbrook area, can organize any tours, charters or assist you with general information on local attractions the area has to offer. If you are looking for accommodation in Hinchinbrook, Inspiration has the choice of styles to suit your budget.

Inspiration Port Hinchinbrook offer you the choice with flexible accommodation allowing you to create the holiday you want and only pay for what you choose.

Twenty-six contemporary apartments including eight magnificent penthouses are fully self-contained with a modern European-style kitchen, together with furniture to match. This makes Inspirations a true delight to encounter.

Rates start from a low $155 per night for one night accommodation in a studio apartment during low season. Check out www.inspirationresort.com.au for more information on the operation and pricing for larger apartments.

If you have always wanted to experience what it’s like to live on a canal estate in a multi-million dollar house with all the mod cons, then Port Hinchinbrook is just what you’ve been looking for.

On our last trip up to Hinchinbrook we were lucky enough to stay in a four-bedroom house that backed onto the main access channel at Port Hinchinbrook with its own pontoon, pool and deck. And the vista from the second floor lounge room was spectacular with the sun rising over Hinchinbrook Island.

The group of houses and duplex apartments on offer all have one thing in common – they are spectacular inside and out. If it’s five star luxury you want, it’s five star luxury you will get. Our house, which is owned by Andrew Ettingshausen, was a duplex with mirror image apartments. The apartments shared the pontoon, but each side had its own pool, garage, outside eating area with BBQ and food preparation area, downstairs and upstairs master bedroom, two other bedrooms with two king-sized single beds, a kitchen any budding chef would love to operate in and a massive plasma TV with digital receiver. I can’t say enough how nice the accommodation was at ET’s house, as everything was supplied apart from food and drinks. Every bedroom had its own reverse cycle air conditioner and adjoining bathroom, making it an ideal location for a couple of family groups to stay for a week or two, or even for a group of keen anglers.

There are plenty of houses currently on the holiday rental list (and more being added every month!) and each one is something special and unique. Prices for the house we stayed in start at $500 per night, but if you book for a week you’ll only pay $2500. Divide that up per night between four blokes or two family groups and these luxury accommodation houses become an affordable option.

Call Robyn on (07) 4066 2250 for a full list of available houses and options, including price structures.

Kookaburra Holiday Park is one of those long standing iconic accommodation venues in Cardwell. Thousands of anglers and sightseers have used Kookaburra as a base for their Hinchinbrook adventure and the range of accommodation they offer means you will find just the right option for your adventure.

Set in tropical gardens, Kookaburra Holiday Park and Hinchinbrook Hostel offers a wide range of quality accommodation, sparkling swimming pool, three covered BBQ areas with free gas BBQs, full laundry and a well-stocked kiosk.

If you’re into a bit of luxury, then Kookaburra has well set up and air-conditioned self-contained units that sleep up to eight people. The units have everything you’ll need for a comfortable stay including TV and DVD player, kitchenette (including cutlery and crockery), full bedding, shower and toilet and of course those wonderful air conditioners. If you’re in a group of anglers or in a family group, then get in early to book one of the on-site cabins.

Other accommodation options offered include single, double and twin rooms, four bed dormitories, family cabins or motel accommodation, all with cooking facilities. And being that Kookaburra is a caravan park of sorts there is space to pitch a tent or park the van and stay in your own style.

Services offered at the Holiday Park include reservations and ticketing for island ferry, luggage storage, hire of camping gear and hiking gear for the many scenic walks around Hinchinbrook, a great kiosk catering to needs of bushwalkers by stocking gas cartridges, fuel (shellite and metho), torches, batteries, candles, matches and insect repellent, as well as all the usual necessary food items and cold ice creams, which are a personal favourite after a day on the water..

Check out the website at www.kookaburraholidaypark.com.au for the most up to date information or call the team at Kookaburra on (07) 4066 8648 for bookings or more information.

Words hardly describe how far Hinchinbrook Marine Cove has come in the last 10 years. From small beginnings, Hinchinbrook Marine Cove has expanded its holdings and options at Lucinda to provide an attractive venue for anyone visiting the area.

Hinchinbrook Marine Cove Resort is located at the southern entrance of the pristine Hinchinbrook Channel at Lucinda and offers an unparalleled gateway to Hinchinbrook Island and the Great Barrier Reef. Offering a variety of accommodation on 10 hectares of landscaped gardens, the resort boasts two beautiful pools, licensed restaurant, cafe, BBQ facilities, children’s playground, fishing jetties and boat ramp.

For anglers, Hinchinbrook Marine Cove places you right at the doorstep of the renowned Sugar Loading Jetty, it is also the closest point to the outer reef in the region and you have direct access to the fantastic Herbert River that is loaded with jacks.

Accommodation options range upwards from one-bedroom apartments through to townhouses, cabins and motel units. Best of all is that accommodation rates start from as low as $95 per night per person and all rooms are air conditioned.

Private pontoons are available to houseguests for $15 per day – perfect for fishing and accessing watercraft. Tinnies are available to hire for $70 per day. A $100 refundable bond and proof of boat licence is necessary where required. New additions to the hire fleet include the 4.1m Polycraft boats that are also available at $150 per a day. The poly-boats comfortably accommodate four people. A number of houseboats are also available through Lazy Croc Houseboats for trips over four nights. More information is obtainable from Hinchinbrook Marine Cove Reception.

So check out Hinchinbrook Marine Cove’s website at www.hinchinbrookmarinecove.com.au for more information or call them on (07) 4777 8377.

A Hinchinbrook Rent A Yacht vessel allows you the freedom to explore and to choose what you want to do. You can experience the solitude and serenity of the myriad mangrove fringed waterways and sandy beaches of magnificent Hinchinbrook Island, the largest National Park island in the world. Alternatively, you can dive on the coral reef-fringing picturesque tropical islands. For the more sociably minded, a cruise to Dunk Island and join in the fun is essential.

On the North Queensland coast, between Mission Beach and the Palm Island Group lie 30 tropical islands. They are unspoiled and virtually as untouched as they were when Captain Cook first sighted them on his voyage of discovery in 1770. They are overwhelmingly beautiful and enticing. Located on the same latitude as Fiji, they provide vistas of rainforest-clad mountains, miles of deserted, golden beaches, fascinating mangrove habitats, fringing coral reefs covered by warm clear water and 1000sq miles of sheltered cruising grounds fanned by the predictable SE Trade Winds.

You appreciate the freedom and privacy that a boating holiday can provide as you cruise this serenely attractive part of the world. The vessel of your choice becomes your self-contained apartment on the water, with changing views daily.

It is your environmentally harmonious vehicle for discovery, fantastic fishing, adventure or just relaxing aboard in the company of good friends. Hinchinbrook Boating Holidays has an appeal to everyone with a sense of adventure, a love of nature and the desire to drop out of the rat race for a few days, a week or as long as you like!

Check out the Hinchinbrook Rent A Yacht website for tariffs and more information on www.hinchinbrookrentayacht.com.au.

There are plenty of mothershipping operations that take anglers to exotic fishing locations, but few do it in a way that can really have you pampered completely while doing your own thing entirely.

Reef Safari is a company that has been offering clients a range of on water cruising and sightseeing activities for several years and they have just entered into mothershipping for anglers – but it’s mothershipping with a difference.

The main point of difference is that you bring along your own boat. That’s right; Reef Safari will provide you with a fully catered mothership from which to launch your own boat from on daily forays out on the reef, or somewhere down Hinchinbrook Channel. It’s a great option for those anglers who are comfortable in their own fishing rigs, yet don’t want to deal with the long distances out to the reef every day, or even the long distances getting from the southern or northern ends of Hinchinbrook Channel to the productive creeks and rivers in the middle reaches.

The boat Reef Safari is a magnificently appointed, custom built power sail boat that can accommodate eight people plus crew. And the crew do everything for you on a charter too. They’ll cook all your meals, make sure everything is first class for your return from fishing, leaving you the hard task of having to catch a fish or two for dinner.

But unlike so many other mothership charters, the crew at Reef Safari offer the client the option of no fixed term chartering. That means you can charter the boat for one night through to 10 nights. And the locations you can travel to include the outer reef, the many islands and coral cays along the way and the entire Hinchinbrook Channel, including the waters north to Dunk Island.

The only restriction is that they cannot tow your tenders out to the reef. If that’s the trip you plan, your boat will need to able to handle the trip out and back.

If this sounds like the perfect way to fish the reef or the Channel, give Reef Safari a call on (07) 4068 5115 to find out more and to start planning your designer mothership trip.

If you are planning on fishing around Hinchinbrook, the accommodation options are as diverse as they are endless. There really is no reason why you can’t go and do your own thing or allow some of the accommodation places mentioned above do it all for you.