LIST: Queensland’s once-glamorous island resorts left in decay
While Queensland is famed for its stunning beachfront accommodations, fine dining, and world-class facilities, many once-glamorous resorts are now being left to rot. SEE THE FULL LIST
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The Sunshine State is known for stunning accommodation overlooking the nation’s most picturesque beaches, dolphins swimming in crystal blue waters, fine dining and other world-class facilities.
However, many glamorous resorts have surpassed their heyday and are now overgrown, covered in moss and have been left derelict, with some of them left in this condition for more than two decades with no hopes of refurbishments.
They have been left to fall into rack and ruin due to cyclones, financial collapse or lack of investment from foreign owners.
Pajinka Wilderness Lodge, Cape York
The remnants of a once beautiful, wilderness resort has stood deserted in Cape York for more than 20 years.
Originally opened in 1986 by Bush Pilot Airways, The Cape York Wilderness Lodge went through several owners before being taken over by Injinoo Aboriginal Co-operation in 1992, who changed the name to the ‘Pajinka Wilderness Lodge’.
The resort was damaged by a large fire in 2002 and was closed for renovations but is yet to be renovated and reopened.
Laguna Quays near Airlie Beach
Laguna Quays, located near Airlie Beach, debuted in 1992 with great excitement as it boasted a Greg Norman-designed golf course and luxurious villas nestled in landscaped gardens.
However, it closed just three years later due to bankruptcy before a Hong Kong-based company acquired the property a decade ago.
The resort has been left abandoned with no care or renovations since.
Capricorn Resort near Yeppoon
In the 1980s, when tourism in Queensland was still in its infancy, a wealthy family from Japan, the Iwasaki family, launched one of Australia’s first integrated resorts on the Capricorn Coast, ‘Capricorn Resort’.
The resort featured hundreds of suites, the largest pools in the southern hemisphere, and two golf courses, attracting a significant number of international guests.
Over the years, it was managed by Rydges and later by Accor-Mercure.
By 2016, visitor complaints about outdated and poorly maintained facilities led Mercure to shut its doors that remain closed today.
Great Keppel Island Resort
Off the coast of Yeppoon, Great Keppel Island Resort had the slogan “get wrecked” for its prominent party scene in the 1980s.
The Global Financial Crisis in 2008 marked the start of the demise of the best place to stay, among 17 sandy beaches and inviting clear water.
Since its closure three resort has been left to rot with a handful of prospective buyers throughout the years but any reopening announcements are yet to be made.
Brampton Island Resort
The abandoned Brampton Island Resort, once a jewel, making for a picture-perfect postcard and tourism brochure in Queensland’s tourism crown, has become a longstanding frustration for the Mackay region, compounded by over a decade of unfulfilled promises.
Purchased in 2010 for $5.9 million, the resort was shut down in 2011, with plans for a luxury seven-star redevelopment that never materialised.
The resort has since fallen into disrepair, marked by graffiti-covered structures, a corroded tramway that once drew tourists, an oceanside pool now filled with sand, debris, and broken bricks, and overgrown walking tracks originally constructed by Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service.
Dunk Island
Located just 4 km off the picturesque Cassowary Coast near Mission Beach, the Dunk Island resort was devastated by Cyclone Yasi in 2011 and has remained in a state of disrepair ever since.
Initially purchased in 2012 by mining and energy executive Peter Bond, the property changed hands in 2022 when Annie Cannon-Brookes, wife of Atlassian co-founder Mike Cannon-Brookes, acquired it.
Plans for an exclusive redevelopment now offer renewed hope for the island’s future.
South Molle Island Resort
South Molle Island Resort, a Whitsunday paradise since the 1950s, thrived as a popular resort destination for decades.
However, Cyclone Debbie in 2017 left the resort nearly unrecognisable.
Cabins were torn open, the once-pristine golf course and tennis courts are now being reclaimed by nature, and the jetty lies twisted and broken in the water.
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Originally published as LIST: Queensland’s once-glamorous island resorts left in decay
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