MICAT is the barge that takes four-wheel drives, trailers and walk-on passengers from the Port of Brisbane to the beach beside the Tangalooma Wrecks in about 90 minutes. Its timetable swells and shrinks with Queensland's school holidays, and the ticket is only one of three things a driver has to book.
Timetable pattern as published by Moreton Island Adventures and read on 7 October 2026; sample week taken the same day from the operator's online schedule for 8–13 October 2026 Moreton Island Adventures – Micat Moreton Island Ferry · 2026-10-07
Queensland's long summer school holidays run from Saturday 12 December 2026 to Tuesday 26 January 2027, and on Moreton Island those six weeks decide everything. MICAT, the barge that carries four-wheel drives to the island, runs on what its operator calls a demand-based timetable: in busy periods up to five sailings a day, while in quiet weeks it usually skips Wednesdays entirely and sails once a day, twice on Fridays and Sundays. The operator advises booking about six months ahead for the September, Easter and Christmas school holidays, because the most popular departures sell out around five months before. For Easter 2027 that means planning now: the autumn school break runs from Friday 26 March to Sunday 11 April.
Outside the holidays the pressure is lower but not gone. For an ordinary weekend with a four-wheel drive, the operator suggests booking at least four weeks out; walk-on passengers can usually leave it to a week before, two in school holidays. The crossing takes about 90 minutes each way, and with loading the barge needs roughly four hours to get back to Brisbane, which is why the final sailing back to Brisbane can leave late at night.
Securing a ticket is only the first booking. Since the native title of the Quandamooka people over Mulgumpin was recognised in November 2019, the vehicle access permit and every camping permit on the island have been sold by Mulgumpin Camping, the Quandamooka corporation's service, not by the state's national parks booking system, which states that it does not handle them. If you are camping in a busy period, the operator itself suggests confirming the camp site first and the barge second.
The barge has no fare table. Its own FAQ says a vehicle's price depends on the date, the time of day, the length of the vehicle and any trailer, and how many people are inside, and it sends you to the booking site to get a quote. On 7 October 2026 that site carried a notice that a 5.15% fuel levy applies to all new bookings.
The two permits are bought separately, from Mulgumpin Camping, the booking service run by the Quandamooka Yoolooburrabee Aboriginal Corporation. Camping costs the same as in other Queensland parks; the vehicle access permit's price is shown only once you start a booking with them, and the permit cannot be refunded.
| Per person, per night | $ 7.75 |
Camping fee as published by Mulgumpin Camping and by the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service, read on 7 October 2026 (fees from 1 July 2026); no fixed MICAT fare or Moreton vehicle-permit fee is published outside the booking engines Mulgumpin Camping (QYAC) – Camping fees · 2026-10-07
MICAT's terminal sits in the port precinct south of the river mouth, and from there the barge crosses Moreton Bay to land on the beach just north of the resort at Tangalooma. Foot passengers bound for the resort itself use a different boat, the Tangalooma launch from Pinkenba on the north bank, and nobody from the resort meets the barge. Queensland's other permit islands work the same way in principle: a barge, then a vehicle access permit, as at Inskip Point for K'gari or on Minjerribah, reached from Cleveland.
The terminal is in the port precinct on the south side of the Brisbane River mouth, about 40 minutes from the city centre by the operator's reckoning. Inside the gate, crew direct utes to lane 1, anything towing to lane 2 and wagons to lane 3; drivers stay in their vehicles while check-in comes to them. Paid secure parking is available, but the pre-bookable spaces are few and often gone on weekends, and there is a drop-off zone just inside the gate.
The barge runs up onto the beach at the northern end of the Wrecks, the shipwrecks that give the spot its name. The Wrecks camping area, 21 walk-in sites without parking, is right beside the landing; Tangalooma Island Resort is close to half an hour's walk south along the sand.
Every road on the island is sand, the townships included. Both the parks service and Mulgumpin Camping warn against all-wheel drives and low-clearance vehicles; high clearance and low range are what the camping service recommends, together with recovery gear.
The operator's ferry page says the Brisbane gates open an hour before departure; its FAQ says to arrive 30 minutes before. Turn up an hour early and you satisfy both.
Foot passengers may bring three pieces, an esky and a chair counting as one each. Kayaks and surfboards travel as freight and need a call to the operator first.
Castaways at Bulwer sells petrol and diesel in 20-litre jerry cans you must hand back. Air for reinflating tyres is waiting at the Port of Brisbane terminal when you come home.
No barge goes direct from Brisbane to Kooringal. From the Wrecks it is about 45 minutes' drive via Middle Road and the eastern beach, which the operator says to drive only at mid tide or lower.
Three decks sit on the boat: vehicles below, a saloon deck with food and a licensed bar that opens at 9am, and an upper deck. Drivers may stay with their cars for the trip or go up to the lounge. The barge also sells ice, snacks and a few supplies, which matters more than it sounds: Tangalooma Island Resort, a short drive south of the landing, no longer serves anyone who is not its own guest, and that includes campers and four-wheel drivers. Everyone else buys meals, groceries and fuel at Castaways in Bulwer, or basics at the Gutter Bar in Kooringal.
Permits are policed. The state's parks service records number plates entering its recreation areas with automatic cameras and fines drivers who arrive without a valid permit; the permit has to be displayed on the vehicle and taken out in the driver's own name, even for a hire car. Rangers from both the parks service and the Quandamooka corporation now manage the island together, from fire and pest control to the campgrounds.
Not always. In quiet periods the operator usually runs no service on Wednesdays, one sailing on most other days and two on Fridays and Sundays; in busy periods it can run five a day. There was none, for example, on Wednesday 7 October 2026.
About six months, says the operator, for the September, Easter and Christmas Queensland school holidays; the most popular sailings book out roughly five months ahead. The 2026–27 summer break runs from 12 December 2026 to 26 January 2027.
No. The vehicle access permit is a separate purchase from Mulgumpin Camping, run by the Quandamooka Yoolooburrabee Aboriginal Corporation. It must be bought before you drive on the island and displayed on the vehicle.
No. Camping and vehicle permits for the Moreton Island Recreation Area are handled only by Mulgumpin Camping on (07) 3506 2371; the state's own booking service does not manage them.
From 1 July 2026, $7.75 per person per night, on top of the barge and the vehicle permit. Permits must be bought before arrival, as there is no self-registration on site.
Where the line of wrecks ends to the north, on the sand beside the Wrecks campground; Tangalooma Island Resort is about half an hour away on foot.
Yes, the barge takes foot passengers as well as vehicles, with a limit of three pieces of luggage each. Bookings are essential for walk-ons too.
It is not suitable. All roads on the island, including those in the townships, are sand, and parks staff warn that soft inland tracks bog even all-wheel drives.