Stunning Hook Island site ready for new eco resort, luxe glamping

Previously the location of the popular holiday resort Hook Island Lodge, which was devastated by cyclones in 2011 and 2017, its owner, Queensland businessman Glenn Dickson, has now cleared away what was left on the site, leaving a completely blank canvas. It’s now ready for a fresh start – and for sale for $10 million to $15 million.

The 9.3-hectare area, with more than one kilometre of water frontage and two private beaches, is on the south-eastern side of the uninhabited 58-square-kilometre island.

“The owner, Glenn Dickson, is a private high-net-worth individual with lots of experience of works around the Great Barrier Reef,” said Tom Gibson of CBRE, who is taking the site to market. “His venture was always to acquire the site, then clean it up and get approvals for the area, and then exit.

“Now he has all those planning approvals and feels it’s time for someone else to develop a luxury lodge there, private suites and maybe even glamping accommodation as part of an eco-resort on the island. It will be a fabulous asset for the Whitsundays.”

The earlier resort on the island was owned by entrepreneur David Marriner until its rooms and its renowned underwater observatory sustained serious cyclone damage and were closed in 2013. Mr Dickson bought the site in 2015, two years before it was further hammered by Cyclone Debbie.

With help from the $25 million Great Barrier Reef Island Resorts Rejuvenation Program, however, he undertook a major clear-up operation. Now the Whitsunday Regional Council has unanimously approved plans to build a 50-room nature-based eco-resort and the sale is being made via an expressions-of-interest campaign, closing on May 19.

“We think it’s a great plan,” says Whitsunday acting mayor Mike Brunker. “Quite a few of our islands were damaged by cyclones and have never had their resorts rebuilt, like South Molle and the Club Med on Lindeman Island.

“So we had a lot more resorts 20 years ago than we have now. As a result, we’re really welcoming a new eco-resort on Hook Island as a lot of people are now looking for eco-experiences. Some people like staying in a high rise on Hamilton Island; others like the six-star resort of Hayman Island. But this gives another alternative – and an even stronger reason to come to the Whitsundays instead of going to Bali or Fiji.”

The plan is now for a luxury eco-lodge to be built on Hook Island. “It could be something high-end, like qualia on Hamilton Island further south, or the Wolgan Valley Resort in the Blue Mountains,” Mr Gibson said. “It’s hard to find sites these days for luxury lodges but this is ideal for one.

“Hook Island is so beautiful; an exclusive lodge could rival some of the best ones around the world. There’s also scope for glamping tents too, or suites, and we’ve had massive interest already in the first week of the campaign.”

Australia’s revived travel industry, together with fresh interest in regional areas, is encouraging buyers to come forward. It’s also only 40 minutes by boat from the airport on Hamilton Island, which makes it an attractive destination, too. The island further offers good snorkelling and diving sites, as well as freshwater rock pools and waterfalls.

An area by Nara Inlet has evidence of the oldest Aboriginal occupation in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.

Tourism Whitsundays chief executive Rick Hamilton also welcomed the building of a new eco resort on the island. “It’s really going to ignite the Whitsundays and Queensland in general having Hook Island coming back online after the sale,” he said. “It’s a great island in a perfect location.

“As well as being accessible from Hamilton Island, it’s also just 35 minutes from Airlie Beach or Shute Harbour and it will be another asset from an eco perspective. We do have other eco retreats on the islands, like Elysian Eco Retreat on Long Island, and it’s a great way to reduce your visible footprint.”