Cockatoo Island

Cockatoo Island is Australia’s most unusual urban park – a heritage-listed island in the middle of beautiful Sydney Harbour. Visit, discover and experience this Sydney icon – Cockatoo Island.

Cockatoo Island plays host to a number of functions, events and festivals – the most famous of which is the ‘World’s Funniest Island’ comedy festival and the ‘Biennale of Sydney’ festival of modern art.

Cockatoo Island is the largest island in Sydney Harbour. It’s one of Sydney’s great places to visit, big, surprising, entertaining. Located at the junction of the Parramatta and Lane Cove rivers, Cockatoo Island is a former imperial prison, industrial school, reformatory and gaol. It is also the site of one of Australia’s biggest shipyards during the twentieth century. The first of its two dry docks was built by convicts and was completed in 1857. The island’s maritime industrial activity ceased in 1992.

Today Cockatoo Island retains many remnants of its past. Its prison buildings have been nominated for World Heritage listing. Large workshops, slipways, wharves, residences and other buildings retain the texture of the island’s industrial past.

Cockatoo Island is a fascinating place. Where else can you pitch a tent and camp so close to the city. There are guided tours for anyone who wants an in-depth introduction to the island’s history. Or if you prefer to discover the island at your own pace, there is an audio tour that offers a dramatic account of convict days and the shipbuilding era.

Visit the island with a picnic basket or buy lunch at the Cockatoo Island caf?. There are many spots around the island to sit and contemplate the views and enjoy the gritty, industrial character of the island’s buildings and open spaces. Always a Sydney landmark, Cockatoo Island commands magnificent views of Sydney Harbour.

Cockatoo Island is easily accessable by water taxi or water limousine. To book a water taxi call 02 9555 8888