Australia is packed with awesome attractions but some harbour serious dangers. From encounters with fearsome wildlife (think snakes, stingers, salties and sharks) and inhospitable terrain to extreme heat and treacherous surf, numerous perils face visitors to many tourist hotspots. We’ve rounded up some of the most appealing but dangerous places in Oz. Follow the safety advice, rules and regulations, however, and they can also be enjoyed safely.
Set just off the coast of southeast Queensland, UNESCO World Heritage Site K'gari, or Fraser Island, is like nowhere else on Earth. The largest sand island in the world and the sixth largest island in Oz, it dazzles with its vast stretches of sand lapped by cerulean water. Its lush interior is sprinkled with sparkling perch lakes (fed by rainwater) and swathed in rainforest, which is rich with rare endemic flora and fauna. However, where there is boundless beauty there is also untold danger.
Not one but two species of highly venomous marine stingers (the box jellyfish and Irukandji) can be found in Fraser Island’s waters. As can sharks (including the world’s top two deadliest species – the great white and tiger) and the occasional saltwater crocodile. Dangerous riptides are another good reason not to swim off its unpatrolled beaches. If that’s not enough fear factor, the Fraser Island funnel-web spider can inflict toxic bites and dingoes roam freely. The protected wild dogs (pictured) have attacked people, with children most at danger. Tragically in 2001, a small pack killed a nine-year-old child. Bushfires and sand slips also pose a danger to hikers.
On a sticky tropical Queensland day, a dive into a cool, forest-clad waterhole is seriously tempting. Babinda Boulders in the small township of Babinda, an hour south of Cairns, is an enticing swimming hole. A popular, Instagrammable spot, the secluded waterway can be accessed by following the Babinda Creek through the rainforest where cascading streams merge and flow around smooth granite boulders, creating beguiling wash pools and waterfalls. The picturesque site is a story place for the traditional custodians of the land, the Yidinji people.
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It might look tranquil, but it's treacherous. Twenty one people have drowned here since 1916, according to the Cairns Regional Council, including three since 2021. Now a restricted area, the sections known as Devil’s Pool, the Washing Machine and the Chute are especially lethal due to deep and fast-flowing water, undertows, narrow chasms and slippery boulders. Some thrill-seekers still disregard the dangers and swim and take photographs here, with reports blaming social media. The beauty spot is particularly dangerous in the wet season when the area experiences the highest average rainfall in Australia (at 313 inches/795cm).
Unfathomably vast and packed with raw rugged beauty, Kakadu National Park is one of the Top End’s top spots for wilderness expeditions. Along with hikes to crashing waterfalls and escarpments etched with age-old rock art, it's also rich terrain for witnessing wildlife. Spotting crocs is top of most people's wish-lists and few visitors leave disappointed. The park is home to around 10,000 saltwater crocodiles (not including hatchlings). That’s 10% of all the crocs in the Northern Territory. Freshwater crocs also lurk in its wildlife-rich wetlands but these usually timid reptiles are not the ones you need to worry about...
One of the best places to spy the world’s largest reptile is at Cahills Crossing, a notorious causeway across the East Alligator River leading to Arnhem Land. Crocs arrive here en masse to feed on mullet and barramundi when the high spring tides surge from July to November. A new viewing platform, which opened in 2022, now allows visitors to admire these fascinating apex predators at a safe distance, after five fatalities occurred on the croc-infested crossing. People have also been killed or severely injured by salties elsewhere in Kakadu, which also lists sharks, venomous spiders and snakes among its residents.
An obligatory stop on a dusty road trip through the Red Centre, Alice Springs is an oasis surrounded by central Australia’s unrelenting desert landscape. Home to around 29,000 people, the remote regional town is famed for its classic Aussie pubs (now mixed with a sprinkling of hip bars and cafés) and Aboriginal culture, with top attractions including the Alice Springs Desert Park, Araluen Galleries and the School of the Air. Hikes into the gorges and waterholes of the MacDonnell Ranges also lure people here, while every August one of Australia’s most eccentric events, the waterless Henley-on-Todd Regatta, brings in the crowds.
However, this desert town also has a reputation for danger. So much so that it was ranked Australia’s most dangerous city this year due to high crime rates. With a complex social makeup, the town has experienced escalating crime problems led by a wave of youth-led incidents (car theft and break-ins) and alcohol-related violence as well as anti-social behaviour. Alcohol-related assaults are up 63% over the past year with property damage up 56%. According to reports, concerns around crime are causing long-term residents to move out of town.
Thundering waterfalls, sweeping sandstone escarpments, hazy blue gum forests, deep canyons and ancient Aboriginal rock art: Blue Mountains National Park brims with wondrous sights. As it’s an easy drive from Sydney (around 90 minutes), the UNESCO World Heritage Site is a popular destination for year-round bushwalking and outdoor activities, from mountain biking and horse riding to canyoning and climbing. But all visitors are advised to heed a raft of safety warnings in this picturesque but unpredictable wilderness that covers 267,954 hectares.
According to NSW National Parks, around 130 bushwalkers get lost and require rescuing in the Blue Mountains each year. In some tragic cases, missing or injured people haven’t been discovered in time. Aside from the chance of getting lost in the vast park (just one of eight that form the Greater Blue Mountains Area World Heritage Property), other dangers to consider include extreme heat, bushfires, cliff edges, slippery terrain, landslides and encounters with wildlife (one of the region's most notorious nasties is the eastern brown snake). Pictured here is Hanging Rock, a particularly perilous climbing spot.
The Mornington Peninsula is Melbourne’s weekend playground, luring city dwellers with its bucolic vineyards and beautiful beaches. Some face onto the sheltered waters of Port Phillip Bay, while others front onto the forceful Southern Ocean. The rugged coastline of the peninsula has wild and windswept stretches that are surfer hotspots, like Gunnamatta Beach in Fingal. This is not a place for inexperienced surfers or swimmers out for a leisurely paddle. Although Gunnamatta is patrolled by lifeguards, its beguiling waters are unpredictable and fraught with danger.
Renowned for its ferocious swells and deadly riptides, the ocean beach recorded the most rescues in Victoria this summer season, according to Life Saving Victoria. There were 61 from mid-November 2022 to the end of January 2023, almost double the previous year, including a fatal drowning in January. The beach has a southwest position, leaving it exposed to high westerly winds and huge waves. Along with strong and interspersed rips there are also sandbars, plus reefs and rocks with permanent rips (low tide sees the most extreme). Neighbouring Portsea Beach is another hazardous bay, which was the second busiest beach for rescues this summer, with 36 people getting into trouble.
Remote and rugged with mystical red rocks, oasis-like swimming holes and rare endemic wildlife, Karijini National Park has everything you could want on an adventure in Australia’s wilderness. Part of the Pilbara region, it's famed for its gaping gorges where waterfalls, waterholes and narrow rocky passages make it a hub for canyoning enthusiasts as well as bushwalkers and campers. Must-dos include a refreshing shower under Fortescue Falls, the only spring-fed waterfall in the park, and a plunge into Fern Pools. As the park is so far inland, there is no fear of crocodiles here.
However, other cold-blooded predators can pose a danger. The lethal western brown snake has been known to strike hikers on Karijini’s trails with its highly venomous fangs. While antivenom is available, the park’s remote location makes it a scary place to get into bother. Some of the gorge trails involve scrambling, wading through water and ledge walking along slippery surfaces, so inevitably accidents have happened. Along with the dangers of swimming in deep waterholes, other perils are extreme heat, flash floods, dingoes (there was a recent attack at a campground) and dust from blue asbestos which is present in Yampire and Wittenoom Gorges.
Mount Augustus or Burringurrah is a startling sight in Western Australia’s parched Upper Gascoyne region. It might not have the same fame and aura as Uluru, but it is twice the size and considered the world’s largest rock. It also glows and shifts shades at different times of the day and is culturally significant to the Wajarri people. Gaze at its vibrant hues by driving along the 30-mile (49km) loop around it, stopping off to see rocky creeks and gorges etched with Aboriginal rock engravings and groves of red river gums. For those who like to climb, it’s possible to scale Mount Augustus, unlike Uluru where climbing is now forbidden.
However, those attempting the challenging one-day Summit Trail would do well to heed the park’s safety warnings. The summit trail is closed from November until the end of February after a series of tragic deaths occurred on the rock – there have been seven since 2004, all between September and February. Hyperthermia due to exposure to sweltering temperatures has been blamed. The park’s website warns that temperatures often exceed 40°C (104°F) in the park and hikers on the treacherous trail experience radiant heat from the rocks, which can push the already high temperatures up by 5-10°C (41-50°F).
A 32-mile (52km) stretch of soft golden sand and frothing surf, Queensland’s fun-loving Gold Coast has some of the country’s best beaches and surf breaks. A 22-mile (36km) trail for walkers and cyclists, the Gold Coast Oceanway, follows along the coastline – allowing for unlimited beach and bar hopping. Skyscraper-backed Surfers Paradise is the best-known and busiest seaside resort, but there are plenty of peaceful spots for sinking into the sand and trying your hand at surfing.
However, this popular stretch of coastline is another of the country’s blackspots for drownings, with eight recorded in the summer of 2021 to 2022. Among the Gold Coast beaches to have recorded drownings in recent years are Surfers Paradise and Coolangatta (pictured), where a woman died in April 2023. Rough surf, strong rips and currents close to shore can all lead to hazardous conditions for swimmers. People are urged to swim on patrolled beaches only and always between the flags.
A large peninsula in the far north of Queensland, Cape York is as remote as they come with its tip being the northernmost point of Australia. This is a destination for truly off-the-beaten-track road trips, fishing expeditions, bush camping and cultural adventures. Unusually, two distinct Indigenous cultures – Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander – have long coexisted in this ancient and untouched landscape. It’s not ideal for swimming, however, with its coasts swarming with stingers and many of its inland waterways crawling with crocs hunting bountiful fish and crustaceans.
This is the heart of Queensland’s croc country. A total of 16 out of the 44 attacks (non-fatal and fatal) recorded in Queensland between 1 December 1985 and 21 March 2023 took place in this remote region. Tragically one more fatality has joined the list since, when a man fishing with friends in Lakefield National Park disappeared in April 2023, leaving only his sandals behind. It has since been confirmed that he was taken by a saltwater crocodile, the largest terrestrial predator on Earth.
All powdery white beaches, striking granite boulders and gin-clear waters, Western Australia’s southern coastline is ravishing. The isolated and laid-back coastal town of Esperance lures travellers with its proximity to some of the country’s top beaches – best seen on the Great Ocean Drive, a 25-mile (40km) circular loop. Wildlife spotting opportunities abound with dolphins, sea lions and Australian fur seals appearing year-round, while southern right and humpback whales pass astonishingly close to shore on their annual migrations. But they’re not the only giants of the deep that frequent these fertile waters.
Though impossibly pretty, Esperance’s beaches are a hotspot for great white shark attacks in Western Australia. There have been three fatal attacks here since 2017 including two in 2020, when one man was killed by a great white while diving near the town and another while surfing in Wylie Bay. Sightings of large great whites are common in the stunning Kelp Beds, a popular surfing area where a non-fatal attack also took place in 2022, when a female swimmer was bitten on the torso.
While sharks and crocs may dominate the headlines, heat is Australia’s deadliest danger, and people who have broken down in remote parts of the Outback have died from heat exposure and dehydration. Deep in the country’s arid interior, the Simpson Desert is one of the country’s most captivating and inhospitable landscapes. It’s notorious for its extreme temperatures and fierce winds that can cause dust storms. However, play it safe and the typically four-day crossing is one of the country’s most iconic road trips with towering dunes and fascinating, isolated townships.
To prevent unprepared drivers crossing the unforgiving terrain during the hottest part of the year, a three-and-a-half month ban was imposed in 2008. Now the 65,637-square-mile (170,000sq km) national park – Australia’s largest – is off-limits from 1 December until 15 March when temperatures can exceed 50ºC (122ºF). The dangers of remote driving are not limited to the Simpson Desert, though. Trips through Australia's isolated central regions see drivers in hot weather contending with rough terrain, collisions with wildlife and vast distances between rest stops and communication points.