Mission Beach

MISSION BEACH

LOCATION: 140 km south of Cairns

On the coast only 30m from Tully lies Mission Beach which was named after an Aboriginal mission

which was here in 1914. Its history is linked to the efforts of the Cutten family who found a tropical

plantation here at Bingal Bay in the 1880s. Using Aboriginal labour they cleared the rainforests that

grew here down to the shore and planted tea, coffee, mangoes and coconut palms and a host of other

crops. In 1918 disaster struck in the form of a severe cyclone and its accompanying tidal wave which

wiped out the settlement. Interestingly, it was the remenant tea bushes which provided the cuttings for

the Nerada tea plantation at the foothills of the Bellenden Ker Range. This cyclone also flattened the

Aboriginal mission which had been established just four years earlier near the mouth of the Hull River.

Today Mission beach has become a popular little town with rainforest growing down to the sea and with

holiday homes dotting the hillsides. The eight kilometre stretch of sand is also fringed with coconut

palms and a good variety of accomodation. A memorial to the ill-fated Edmund Kennedy Cape York

expedition stands here at Tam O'Shanter Point at the southern end of the beach. Day-trips operate from

Mission Beach to Dunk Island and there are a number of campsites and caravan parks along the

beach. Perry Harvey, a local tour operator, is running a 'man versus starfish' battle and to help in this

he is prepared to take up to four people out to the reef, free of charge, to gather starfish which are

destroying the beautiful reef. You can find him at Clump Point on Mission Beach.

Clump Point (Ferries to Dunk Island)

Tam O'Shanter Point

Camping Grounds

Beautiful Scenic Beaches

Camping Grounds/Caravan Parks

Bush Walks

Lookouts

Hull River

Scenic Tours

AREA POST CODE: 4854

AREA PHONE CODE: 07

International 61 7 ....

SHOPPING FACILITIES

Local Shops, Service Station & Post Office Available

Youth Hostel 07 40435 557

BANKING & EXCHANGE

ANZ, National Australia Bank

EMERGENCY SERVICES

Hospital (Tully) 07 4068 1144

Police 000 or (Tully) 07 4068 1200