CYCLONE ravaged resorts abandoned by their billionaire owners are plaguing Australia’s paradise coast as the tropical rainforrest reclaims the wreckage.
Many holiday retreats built on the pristine islands off Australia’s north east coast are now just eerie piles of destroyed glass and steel.
Some have been abandoned for a decade with once beautiful hotels left to rot after being hit by cyclones.
South Molle Island, situated in the Whitsunday Passage, once boasted a 188 room resort with multiple swimming pools and a golf course.
The tiny isle was hit by Cyclone Debbie in 2017, severely damaging the multimillion dollar tourist hot-spot.
Now, its creepy rain-filled swimming pool is littered in detritus and dead frogs, with weeds growing through the surrounding brick deck.
The pool-side cabanas have all but fallen over, while skeletal remains of long-forgotten umbrellas and jungle vines have started to creep up the walls.
The hotel was smashed by the storm with broken rafters and glass pile ups in the middle of an old ballroom.
South Molle’s fate remained unknown for years until owner China Capital Investment Group (CCIG) finally decided it was “not in a position” to fix the wreckage.
Richard Vanhoff, Private Islands Online Australia’s island and resort specialist, took on the marketing of South Molle Island last week.
He told The Sun the original “ancient” South Molle resort was never built to withstand powerful “nasty” weather events.
“South Molle was one of the earliest resorts built here in Queensland on an island so it was never built for the current specs for cyclone ratings,” he said.
Richard is hoping someone with deep pockets and a love of the Australian sunshine will give the crumbling island getaway a chance at a new beginning.
And on the market for £15.7million, it’s a bargain for an island hunter.
“A lot of Queensland’s islands have sat in limbo and will continue to do so until things change and investment starts to head towards tourism again,” Richard said.
“The rest comes naturally – we have the sunshine, we have the beaches, we have the palm trees, we’ve got the suntan oil, we have the bars, we’re known for our drinking culture.
“Paradise is waiting.”
Double Island was once a celebrity hideaway for the likes of actors Jennifer Aniston, Brad Pitt, Keanu Reeves, Matt Damon and Drew Barrymore.
In an unprecedented move, the state government reclaimed the derelict island through the courts, stripping a Hong Kong-based developer of their lease following years of decay and public access disputes.
The current government is now preparing to sell the 19-hectare island to someone who will revive the neglected slice of paradise.
The Queensland Government is also supporting lessees redeveloping the Hook Island Resort in the Whitsundays.
Hook Island Lodge fell into disrepair in 2013 after Cyclone Anthony significantly destroyed its buildings.
It sat dormant and decaying until a consortium led by Epochal Hotels and its chief executive officer Glenn Piper purchased a 25-year lease in 2022 for more than £5.2million.
Only about 18 miles south, Lindeman Island also sat dormant for years – dilapidated and dusty.
But work is underway to bring the cyclone-damaged resort back to its former glory, a government spokesperson said.
A world-class eco-lodge will host guests back to the once-popular isle by 2027.
Lindeman Island first opened to visitors in the roaring 1920s before Club Med took over in the 80s and became a go-to spot for luxury international travellers.
Cyclone Yasi ravaged the island in 2011 and the island sat in sordid dilapidation for the following 12 years.
More abandoned islands
Brampton Island before the cyclone
Off the coast of Mackay, Brampton Island heyday came and went decades ago.
It was first built by former WW2 army engineer Tom McLean, who purchased the island to develop under his family business in 1962.
It was then sold in 1985 to Trans-Australia Airlines, which ceased trading in 2009 before United Petroleum snatched it up for $5.9 million in 2010.
The island was hit by a cyclone in 2011, destroying a lot of the original 1960s resort.
In July last year, developers asked for a five-year extension to develop a “boutique-style” resort featuring villas, a rock pool and yoga studio.
Today, its oceanfront pool lies unused, filled with sand.
Australian billionaire Annie Cannon-Brookes has been snapping up property on Dunk Island, which was trashed since cyclones swept through years ago.
She has just bought her fourth development to add to her island portfolio.
Cannon-Brookes has splashed at least £17.3million so far and even signed a 30-year lease with the Cassowary Coast Regional Council for the public access area at Dunk Island Spit.
Her vision is to bring the island back to life, telling realestate.com: “Our goal is to be good custodians of the island, and we are pleased to be making progress”.
Keswick Island, just off Mackay, has faced stalled development and restricted public access for years.
Developer Oasis Forest Ltd purchased the head lease in 2019 but residents were left fuming after the island was put back on the market.
The 517 hectare island features 117 hectares of land lease and 25 hectares of marine lease, along with ownership of the island’s ferry and barge.
It’s on the market as a pre-approved development site.
The 1980s party paradise, Great Keppel (Woppa) Island, off the central Queensland coast, is currently battling a feral goat problem.
The resort closed in 2008 – 15 years later the state government rescinded the leases from former Great Keppel Island Resort owners, Tower Holdings for non-payment of fees.
In 2025, a tender was awarded to a demolition company to clean up abandoned buildings on Great Keppel Island.
Stone Island, a 227-acre private isle, will be the “latest and greatest” of Queensland’s paradises, recently hitting the market for £12million along with pre-approval for a brand new resort.
For more than 30 years, Stone Island was a private and exclusive sanctuary without any tourist facilities, but it’s now positioned to become the Whitsundays’ first new resort since Hamilton Island in the mid-1980s.
Richard predicts Stone Island will be the beginning of a new generation of island resorts in Queensland.
It comes with approved plans to build a new resort in the Whitsundays. This would be the first new resort built there since the 1980s.
It even has a proposal to host Australia’s first gondola from Bowen mainland onto the island paradise.
