When I say remote, I mean there are no amenities there at all. No food, no toilets, just sand, trees, birds, and other wildlife. The idea is to take everything - food, drinking water, tents, snorkelling gear, etc), and get dropped off for 1-3 weeks by a sort of fishing trawler, and picked up again at the end. Most of my remote holidays have been on Masthead Island.
Masthead Island is the second largest of the nine coral cays in the Capricorn Group of islands and reefs at the southern end of the Great Barrier Reef. (A well known island in the group is Herron Island, a full resort with all amenities, and the complete opposite of Masthead in terms of facilities). Masthead is a major nesting area for loggerhead turtles (and a minor one for green turtles). Snorkelling is brilliant, and spear fishing (of some species!) is allowed.
I have also been to Tryon Island, also in the same group. Tryon is smaller than Masthead, so it is usual for a group of 30 or so to have the island to themselves. Tryon has a sort of lagoon.
Most recently (December 1996), I visited Lady Musgrave Island. Because of its proximity to Bundaberg and the Town of 1770, this Island is open to day trippers, who come over on either the Flier (a fast boat), or a sea plane. You can't book the whole Island either, so you get to see a few different faces over the space of a week or two. Lady Musgrave's great feature is her huge lagoon, reasonably sheltered from the wind, which has fabulous snorkelling opportunities. If you're not into diving over the reef edge (where it is always a bit rough), this is ideal for snorkelling.
For further information on these islands, contact:
Department of Environment and Heritage Park Lane Plaza Goondoon and Tank Streets PO Box 315 GLADSTONE Qld 4680. Phone: +61 79 76 0766.
Remote camping requires group co-operation, and organising them is a bit of a pain. The cost of transport has to be spread over a group of 24 or so (one boatload). The way we usually go involves ferrying gear from the boat to the island at high tide using many trips in a dinghy, and everyone has to help with this. Other groups use a barge which allows gear to be walked directly off the boat, but there is less room during the long trip. Seasickness is often a problem, since the trip takes some 5-8 hours or more (depending on the destination and conditions), and can be rough.
Popular activities are snorkelling, swimming, fishing, jogging, volleyball, watching birds and turtles, and lazing in hammocks.
Because of their remoteness, these islands (group permitting) are a great place to practice naturism. See the newsgroup rec.nude, and this page.