The car-free Maria Island was declared a national park in 1972. Its mixed history provides some interesting convict and industrial ruins among some exquisite natural features: forests, fern gullies, fossil-studded sandstone and limestone cliffs, and empty beaches. Maria is popular with bushwalkers, mountain bikers and bird-watchers, and snorkellers and divers are in for a treat. National park fees apply; island info is available at the visitors reception area in the old Commissariat Store near the ferry pier.
