Tinaroo Dam Cairns, Australia

Tropical North Queensland is not renowned for its natural lakes. The mountainous countryside means we have thousands of creeks and rivers, but lakes are a little hard to come by. So a few years back, we made one.
Tinaroo Dam has been used as a principle source of irrigation for farmers on the Atherton Tablelands for over 50 years. It also provides a small amount of hydroelectric power. But we are interested in it's value as a recreational facility.

Visitors and locals in Tropical North Queensland use Tinaroo for everything you could imagine a large lake might facilitate.

• Swimming
• Camping
• Fishing
• Water skiing
• Sailing
• Fishing
• Wind Surfing
• Hiking
• Houseboating
• Fishing

You may have noticed that fishing is a prominent activity at Lake Tinaroo. In fact, this lake is regarded as the best Barramundi fishing in the world. The barra here cannot breed because the water is only fresh. (Barramundi need a salt and fresh water environment to breed) Therefore, the lake is stocked annually with baby barra that grow into monsters bigger than anywhere else in the world. The world's biggest barras have been caught here by keen anglers – visit the local store and see all the photos on the wall of proud fishers wrestling with their fish that are bigger than their boats.

But aside from fishing, Tinaroo is wonderful for family activities like picnics on the bank. The climate is cooler than in Cairns, and the nights can be very chilly during winter so make sure you bring a jumper if you're staying overnight.