Townsville Travel Forum

Hey all,

From melbourne here, needing a complete climate change so i've opted for Townsville to spend the next few years studying law at JCU. Just curious as what the town is like in terms of climate, beaches and nightlife for young people. Oh, any tips on JCU would be helpful too...

Thanks,

Marta

Hi Marta,

I've studied at JCU for the past six years (Bjournalism). I did the degree part time. The main campus (Douglas Townsville) has about 12 000 students.

The Strand in Townsville is world class and has about 100 000 people visit a week. Not bad for a population of 150 000. There are several beaches on Magnetic Island (Maggie) 8klm off the city.

The night clubs are basically in one block of a CBD street. The Student Union has a major night every week during semester at THE CLUB - Thursday's.

The weather can be warm (humid), but when it's winter (like now) it's mostly very mild.

Hope that helps.

Ross

Hi I studied there as an international student from the US, just for a semester, and that was in 2000, so i am sure there are some changes and my experience will probably be different than yours, however, i found the strand to be disapointing, more like a park than a beach, but magnetic island was awesome and cheap to stay at the hostel i believe called maggie's? That was defintetly worth a relaxing weekend etc. I remember the clubs being pretty fun, like "The Bank" etc. definitely some good partying going on at the right hour of the night. The campus itself is pretty, and i enjoyed the wildlife spotted, such as turkeys, kangaroos, and cuckaburros. The weather in feb/march is very humid and raining/downpours, but gets gradually more beautiful as may arrives, dryer and sunny, not too cool. The pool on campus was nice. hope you enjoy!
Nicky

hey there. with beaches in townsville we've got the strand, which has been all done up and looks really good. when swimming it's probably a good idea to go for the rockpool or swim between the flags coz we've got stingers and there has been a few croc sightings this summer. there's also riverway which is in thuringowa, which is supposed to be decent too - not sure, I haven't been yet. Climate - winters are gorgeous, cool but not cold. Summers, on the other hand...temperatures aren't high all the time, probably from 30 to 35ish, but the humidity is the killer. all my 18+ mates say that the nightlife in townsville isn't that great. i have a couple of friends at JCU but they're all doing engineering, so I don't know how helpful that'd be to you. I'm planning on moving to melbourne, could you tell me anything about that? cheers, cassie.