The Island
World-Heritage Abundant Treasure-Trove Fascinating Star Power
Above are some of the words used to describe Maria Island by people who have experienced it.
This spectacular island National Park is situated just off the east coast of Tasmania. It’s tranquility combined with its natural beauty, rare wildlife and fascinating history makes it a unique and special place. And on this award winning, 4 day gentle walk, you’ll experience all of it.
Maria Island’s pristine untouched beaches, the crystal clear waters of the surrounding Marine Reserve and scenery like the magnificent Mt Maria and Bishop and Clerk peaks will take your breath away. You’ll wander through forests of magnificent blue and white gums, some of them over 400 years old and unique to Maria Island. You’ll step back in time and walk where convicts and explorers have walked before you.
At the Fossils Cliffs you’ll see shellfish fossil beds unlike any other in the world. Maria Island is also famous for its abundance of wildlife being home to rare and endangered species like the Swift Parrot and Cape Barron Goose and of course, the Tasmanian Devil. It’s difficult to describe the beauty of Maria Island, you really have to see it to believe it.
The Wildlife
Maria Island has been described as Tasmania’s Noah’s Ark and not surprisingly.
The island has always been home to a variety of rare and unusual birds and animals and when a number of threatened species were released in the 1970s it became known as Tasmania’s Noah’s Ark.
Maria is now an island sanctuary and one of the best places in Australia to observe wombats, Tasmanian devils, Cape Barren geese and kangaroos and wallabies. The bird life is also an attraction with 125 species including all of Tasmania’s endemics including the endangered Forty-spotted pardalote and Swift parrot.
The exceptional wildlife is complemented by great interpretation by your expert guides.















The History
Maria Island has a history that makes it one of the richest heritage sites in Australia. Many cultures have once been to the island, including the Tyreddeme Aboriginals, Dutch, English, French and Italians.
Maria Island has also been home to explorers, whalers, sealers, convicts, fishermen, farmers and industrialists, and their influence on Maria Island is still very visible. The World Heritage listed Darlington settlement is beautifully preserved and is one of the best examples of Probation Convict Settlements in the world. The Darlington convict settlement pre-dates the more widely known Port Arthur.
The island was declared a National Park in 1972 and is now home to only two park rangers.
A short paragraph cannot capture the unique and fascinating history of Maria Island. The best way to learn is to visit with us- our guides will be delighted to bring the island’s captivating history to life for you.

Award Winning Island
The walk that keeps walking off with the awards, winner of multiple Ecotourism, Travel & Tourism, Business and Gourmet Traveller Awards, find out what makes this walk so special.
Gallery
Maria Island is blessed with an abundance of beautiful scenery, and the views are everchanging on The Maria Island Walk. You’ll be walking through tall, ancient forests, along pristine untouched beaches and possibly climbing one of the mountain peaks: Mt Maria or Bishop and Clerk. Along the way you’ll see the incredible Painted Cliffs, Fossil Cliffs and a wide variety of natural Tasmanian flora.
To try and put Maria’s beauty into words wouldn’t do it justice, so please enjoy these beautiful images.
The beauty of Maria Island speaks for itself.
The Maria Island Walk acknowledges the Aboriginal Communities and Traditional Custodians of country throughout Tasmania and we recognise their continued connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to Elders past, present, and emerging, as we seek to understand their history, and learn from their knowledge.