Best family activities in TownsvilleUpdated

Townsville's family attractions combine the city's access to the Great Barrier Reef with the wildlife sanctuary, the museum, and the waterfront that make it a self-contained family destination even for visitors staying only a few days.

Reef HQ Aquarium — the largest living coral reef aquarium in the world at Reef HQ provides the predator exhibit (sharks, rays), the turtle hospital (treating live sea turtles), and the children's touch tank that deliver the Great Barrier Reef experience without needing the boat trip to the outer reef. Essential for families visiting Townsville.

Billabong Sanctuary — the wildlife park 17 kilometres south of the city provides the koala holds, the crocodile shows, the wombat feeding, and the extensive native wildlife collection that creates a comprehensive Australian wildlife encounter in the dry tropics setting that the sanctuary's 11 hectares support.

Museum of Tropical Queensland — the museum at Flinders Street East holds the Pandora shipwreck gallery (the ship that carried survivors of the Bounty mutiny), the dinosaur displays, and the Discovery Centre for young children that make it Townsville's best museum experience by a margin.

The Strand waterpark — the free waterpark on The Strand foreshore provides the water jets, the water cannons, and the splash zone that parents of young children universally nominate as Townsville's most frequently revisited family destination during the dry season months.

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