Picnic Island
A Tasmanian island for ten guests, with a Cape Cod house and cold clear water.
Picnic Island sits in Great Oyster Bay off Coles Bay in Tasmania, a few minutes by boat, with the pink granite peaks of the Hazards on the mainland behind it. The island is small — a few acres of granite and scrub — and is let to one party at a time. Fur seals and sea eagles use it; nobody else does.
A single timber house designed in a Cape Cod idiom sleeps up to ten guests, with a kitchen the party uses itself or with a chef arranged separately. The water is cold and clear rather than tropical, and the point of the island is Tasmania — Freycinet National Park, the oysters and the wine of the east coast — with a private rock to return to.
Cold-water private island. Almost every entry in this register is tropical. Tasmania offers the same exclusivity at eleven degrees, and the difference is the whole appeal.
Ten guests, one house, no staff living in. The island empties completely when the party is out, which very few staffed islands can offer.
Who it is not for
Picnic Island is wrong for guests expecting warmth and swimming — the water is cold year-round. It is wrong for travellers wanting hotel service, since the house is self-catering by default. And it is wrong for parties larger than ten. And it is wrong for guests who expect staff on site through the night, since the island empties. Those wanting warm-water exclusivity in Australia should look at Pelorus on the Great Barrier Reef, or Haggerstone further north.
Sources
- picnicisland.com.au — single house, up to ten guests, Great Oyster Bay, Tasmania
- Guest maximum, catering arrangements and island area unverified. Confirm before publication.
Booking
Private Island Resorts arranges each stay on request, quoting the rates available for the island and dates. No benefit should be assumed unless it is confirmed in writing for the individual reservation.
Request a proposal