Tangalooma Resort - Moreton Island - Australia - TravBuddy

Moreton Island is a large sand island on the eastern side of Moreton Bay, this beautiful island lies 58 kilometres northeast of Brisbane. The Combie Trader II ferry departs from Thurecht Parade, Scarborough Harbour and lands at Bulwer on Moreton Island, it is a 1 hour journey from Brisbane.

It's years since I have been to Moreton Island, well, ten years give or take a few days but I remember it so clearly as a beautiful Island, I plan to go back in 2008 and hope that it is as beautiful as it was back in 97 - Most tourists head to Broome to feed the wild dolphins so in a way Moreton Island's Tangalooma resort was a well hidden secret, whilst other folk flocked to WA it felt that those who took the ferry to Moreton Island had the place to themselves and it was amazing.

About Moreton Island
Moreton Island is a unique sand island wilderness with sparkling clear water and white sandy beaches. The Island is home to Mt Tempest, the highest coastal sandhill in the world at the height of 280 metres.

The main resort on the island is at Tangalooma on the western coast, on arrival you are greeted by the resident Pelicans and Cormorants, buckets of fish are available for you to feed the birds as you step off the ferry & it is here in Tangalooma that you can interact with the wild dolphins, each evening the Tangalooma Dolphins eagerly swim up to the beach and await excited guests who are ready to hand feed them their favourite fresh fish. It truly is a unique experience. I went towards the end of the season and because there were very few guests I was able to feed the dolphins every night of my stay at the resort.

OK, it's not just about feeding the Dolphins, there is Dolphinecare program on the Island where monitoring and research is carried out, here, every effort is made to ensure the Dolphins are safe and you can talk to the team throughout the day, I have included information provided by the program as I believe it is important to understand fully that the Dolphins are not being tamed, they are wild dolphins.

The Tangalooma Dolphin Care and Research Program started in 1992 in conjunction with the University of Queensland to research dolphins in the wild. The dolphins that continue to visit Tangalooma are totally wild. They choose to come into the shallows to interact with us however; they do vary their numbers and occasionally do not attend. Many scientists from all over the world come to Tangalooma to study the dolphin’s natural behaviour. It is important that these dolphins retain their natural instincts and remain wild. Tangalooma is only one of two places in the world that you can come to hand feed Bottlenose dolphins on a regular basis.

The dolphins that visit us do not depend on us and we discourage them from becoming too tame we have set procedures put in place to enforce this. One of them is making sure that the dolphins are provisioned only 10% to 25% of their daily food requirement. This means that the dolphins must still hunt for themselves in order to meet their food requirement. We feed the dolphins a varying diet of fish, although we mostly provision the dolphins on herring.

Scientific researchers often come and stay at Tangalooma Resort and make use of the resort’s unique location on the Moreton Island National Park and surrounding Marine Park of Moreton Bay. Many researchers are also financially supported through the Tangalooma Research Foundation. Data is also collected nightly at the dolphin-feeding program where we can obtain information about the behaviour, biology and ecology of bottlenose dolphins in Moreton Bay. For updated information on what research is currently been conducted visit: http://www.tangalooma.com/dolphinweb/research.asp.

TANGALOOM WRECKS
Also of interest are the Tangalooma Wrecks – 15 ships scuttled to provide a safe anchorage from westerly winds. The Wrecks, only 50m offshore, provide habitat for numerous marine species, including corals, reef fish and sharks.

ACCOMMODATION
I stayed in a Villa on the Island, it was great value. (ten years ago) Because it was so long ago, I won't go into detail about it as things must have changed since then. I have included a section about accommodation that I found on the website:

Tangalooma Wild Dolphin Resort offers 134 modern style units including Deluxe Resort Units and Suites, 56 two storey family villas, 96 hotel rooms and our latest development Deep Blue 4 star absolute beachfront luxury apartments.
With over 298 rooms available, Tangalooma Wild Dolphin Resort offers a wide range of accommodation options to suit every budget and style.

ACTIVITIES
Dolphin Feeding
Sand Tobogganing 150-foot high sand hills
ATV Quad Bike Tours
Jet Ski Tours
Dugong Cruise
Whale Watch Cruise (June to October)
Helicopter Joy flights
Parasailing
Snorkeling the Wrecks
Scuba Diving
Kayaking Tours
4WD Whale watch safari
Pelican Feeding
Fishing charters
Bush Tucker Walk
Dolphin education
Trivia Nights
Animal Tracks activities
Dugong Education
Tangalooma Wrecks walk
Eco Kids: Microscopic Sea
Marine Beach walks
Dinghy hire
Team building activities
Catamaran hire
Board games
Disco Nights
4WD Car Hire
Northern Lighthouse 4WD tour
Blue Lagoon Tour
Massage & Pamper huts
Sightseeing tour of the Wrecks
Banana boat rides
Underwater scooter snorkel trip
Surf skiing
Beach Cricket
Historical Whaling Station tour
Beach Fishing
Back of house Tours
Movie nights
Treasure Hunts
Beach Volleyball competitions
Karaoke Nights
Geomorphology guided walks
Marine Scavenger Hunt
Conservation of Whales
Marine magnet making
Tennis
Wrecks Dive
Eco Kids Environment Activity
Basketball
Surf Ski Hire
Eco Kids Interactive Learning
Stargazing
Seaplane Transfers
Boule
Table Tennis
Archery
Golf putting
Bird spotting walks
Squash
Swimming in the beach
Bike riding along the beach
Coastal beach guided Walks
5-day open water dive course
Eco Kids: Marine Mask Making
Hire a kayak
Kookaburra Feeding
Wastewater Treatment Plant Tour
Aqua Aerobics
Visit the Marine Education & Research Centre
Croquet
Badminton
Bingo nights
2 resort pools to swim in
Tangalooma horse racing extravaganza nights
Fish Feeding
Treasure Hunts


~ All activities & tours are subject to availability & tide/weather conditions ~