petere9

Townsville is a lovely small city with all the facilties and services of any big city without the hustle and bustle.
You can get almost anything you need in Townsville.
One drawback if you travel though, is the necessity of flying down to Brisbane to access most international flights.
The swimming areas provided by council are absolutely wonderful.
The major fault I have discovered for a boatie is the excessive regulations in the area.
The entire beach along the Strand is off limits to boating...one cannot bring a boat into shore or even into shallow water for swimming for fear of fines. It is reasonable to expect boaties to stay clear of flagged swimming zones, but to declare the whole beach off limits is council regulation gone mad. The beach without any boating activity just looks deserted, sterile and forlorn.
The same goes for Magnetic Island...the profusion of Dept of Marine and Fisheries exclusion buoys prohibits landing on most of the island's beaches. The only beach that has any "laid back holiday feel" about it is Horseshoe Bay, and the reason for that is because it is filled with boats and yachts, and all the related activity that goes along with that.
Why do these councils think that prohibiting human activity is the way to proceed? There will always be those who act irresponsibly...(the current youth crime problem is evidence of that) but the great majority of citizens (and boat owners) are responsible people and respectful of others, and restricting access to these beautiful places is only going to keep them away in droves.
I recently towed my boat all the way from Adelaide to Townsville, and spent several months there in Townsville, but I was so disgusted by all the rules and regulations, that I doubt if I will ever do it again.
I should also add that the exhorbitantly high cost of council rates is preventing me from ever buying a property in Townsville.