Hamilton Island by golf cart - April 23, 2025

SUMMARY Every Aussie who heard we were going to Hamilton Island raved about it and we quickly found out why. It’s SO beautiful, the accommodations are excellent and there are lots of great restaurants. The fabulous weather, many free range wallabies and cockatoos didn’t hurt either. After a lazy morning we took off in our golf cart (buggy to the locals) for an island tour. It’s a small place and it didn’t take us long to cover all of it. Along the way we stop for a 2.4 mile round trip hike part way up to the highest point on the island. After lunch at the marina and a rest in our room we had an excellent at local favorite, Coca Chu. - Karen

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DETAIL We enjoy a good night’s sleep and don’t get up until our phones chirp around 7:30. Outside the sun is already blazing and the sky is nothing but blue. We continue our lazy start to the day by just hanging around the room, admiring the view and all of the energetic boaters, swimmers and paddle boarders.

Eventually we get cleaned up and get picked up in the electric golf cart Don rented. Karen and I face backwards, wearing seatbelts, but it still feels like we may slip off onto the road on steeper hills. These things are fun! We can see how there are so many of them zipping around the island.

Our first stop is to go hiking up a trail for some exercise. We are going to a spot with a good view of the bay and our beach. We pass quite a few younger people running up and down the same trail we’re on, and others vacationers just out strolling for the fun of it. The view is good but we’re happy to eventually be back in the golf cart, letting its batteries do all the work.   

Don drives us pretty much around the whole island. There’s not a lot to it, but in our little golf cart it takes a while. We get lots of beautiful views and see a bunch of expensive houses. Taking in the whole island confirms that where we’re staying is very convenient since we’re close to the beach and it’s a short walk (or free bus ride) over to where most of the businesses are.

Having exhausted what there is to see, we head back into town for an early lunch in preparation for an early dinner reservation. We spend the afternoon chilling in the room (and escape out to the balcony when housekeeping finally comes). Later we marvel at a cockatoo who lands on our balcony railing. Pretty birds. Back home we call them exotic but around here they’re the norm.

Eventually, Karen and I head out to walk the beach, with it's very fine, fluffy sand. The tide was in earlier, with lot's of boats and paddle boarders zipping around. Now it's way out, and people are taking advantage of it. They are able to walking on sand maybe 50 yards out, where early it was under eight feet of water. It's fun to watch it do it's twice daily tide dance with the moon.

We walk by a wedding going on actually on the beach and see a wallaby looking for food in the sand. We don’t think that’s good while food place but what do we know? Hiking back, up by the landscaping of the hotels, we see lots small wallabies munching on the grass. So cute.

The four of us do dinner at the Coca Chu restaurant (recommended to us). Our table isn't one of the ones with a great view but the restaurant interior is striking and we're just happy to have gotten a reservation. Our drinks (old fashioneds, Negroni, pink wine) are excellent. The cocktails have those very big spherical ice cube balls that take up lots of the glass. These have a betel leaf and a slice of orange frozen into them. They look striking! We may have to steal that idea.

Waiting for our food we check which cities are similarly close to the equator as where we are. Below the equator we’re at a similar latitude to Namibia, Mauritius, and São Paulo, Brazil. Mapped to the northern hemisphere we’re at a latitude similar to Hawaii, Cuba, and Veracruz, Mexico. Flora and climate-wise, this makes sense.

The food is excellent, again small plates to be shared. After dinner, we retreat to Tricia and Don‘s beach-side hotel room. We sit outside in the dark, looking at the stars, palm trees, and view. On the lawn in front of us we periodically visited by various birds, looking for something to eat and a small wallaby, nibbling on the grass. We agree it was a good first full day on the island.

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Photos

In the morning as we laze around the room the tide is high and there are boats and paddle boarders zipping around just off-shore. There are lots of swimmers in the water, too.

For us it's riding on the back of the golf cart Don rented. Off the see the island!

First stop is a golf cart parking lot by the trail head of a nearby hiking trail. Nothing but golf carts on the island for visitors. A regular "car" is something you (almost) never see.

On our hike. It's warm so we appreciate the shade.

The view was pretty nice. We needed the exercise but appreciated getting a different perspective of where we're staying.

On the way back down Karen stops and puts another rock on the cairn (stack of rocks) by the trail. We wonder if Karen will find cairns in Cairns (our next stop on our Australia adventure).

Done with the hike, bact to golf carting. Not all of the trail was pretty.

On top of One Tree Hill, the unofficial spot for watching sunsets. At this time of day it's just some nice views. We promise ourselves we'll come back.

We do find another nice view of our beach and hotel.

Back at the room to chill we notice the tide is really out and people are walking way out where the boats were sailing earlier!

Mid-chill we're visited by a cockatoo.

We saw a lot of these cracker stealers. They squawk but they're pretty to look at.

Walking on the beach late in the day. The tide is still out.

We pass what appears to be a wedding. Well, it's a public beach, we guess.

Dinner at Coca Chu's. It's really pretty and has great views. Alas, we'll have to come back (and make our reservation further in advance) if we want a table by the windows.

Good cocktails and good food. We loved the ice balls with and orange slice and betel leaf frozen into them.

Chilling in the dark at Tricia and Dons. There's a young wallaby in the shadows, munching on the grass.

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