Maria Island National Park

The East Coast


With its chequered history, car-free Maria Island has some interesting World Heritage–listed convict and industrial ruins among exquisite natural features: forests, mountains, fossil-studded limestone cliffs, vividly patterned sandstone cliffs, and empty beaches. Maria is popular with bushwalkers, mountain bikers and birdwatchers, and snorkellers and divers are in for a treat. Island info is available at the visitor reception area in the old Commissariat Store near the pier. Getting here is part of the adventure: catch the ferry from Triabunna.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby The East Coast attractions

1. Painted Cliffs

3.47 MILES

From Darlington it’s a one-hour return walk to the Painted Cliffs, at the southern end of Hopground Beach. From the beach you can clamber along the…

2. Wildlife Watching

3.93 MILES

Lucky twitchers might spot the endangered forty-spotted pardalote on Maria, or perhaps the aptly named swift parrot. You’ll certainly see Cape Barren…

3. Darlington

3.95 MILES

The township of Darlington (officially the World Heritage–listed Darlington Probation Station) is where you’ll start your time on the island. Close to the…

4. Commissariat Store

4.14 MILES

Built in 1825, the stately Commissariat Store now houses the national park visitor centre.

5. Darlington Vineyard

12.38 MILES

In the Orford back-blocks up the hill opposite the service station, Darlington Vineyard is the most southerly of the east-coast wineries, producing…

6. Pirates Bay Lookout

26.12 MILES

As you approach Eaglehawk Neck from the north, turn east onto Pirates Bay Dr for eye-popping views across Pirates Bay, the Neck and the jagged coastline…

7. Nonesuch Distillery

26.64 MILES

About 11km south of Sorell at Forcett, Nonesuch is yet another of Tasmania's new breed of hooch-makers, bottling up dry gin, sloe gin and sloe malt whisky…

8. Tessellated Pavement

26.9 MILES

At the northern end of Pirates Bay, a 10-minute trail leads to a rocky coastal terrace that has curiously eroded into what looks like tiled paving – it's…