🐟How to get from Brisbane to Bribie Island
Can you get there without a car?
🟢 Yes, all the way
Yes, the whole way on a flat 50c fare. Train to Caboolture (~50 min), then 640 bus over the bridge to Bongaree (~30 min).
The short answer
- 1🚆Train to Caboolture (~50 min)
- 2🚌640 bus over the bridge to Bongaree (~30 min)
The journey, end to end
- Brisbane
🚆Train to Caboolture (~50 min)
- Change 1
🚌640 bus over the bridge to Bongaree (~30 min)
- Bribie Island
2 legs, 1 change. Dashed lines are the parts that aren't public transport.
The only Queensland island you can reach without a boat, because a bridge takes the bus straight across.
What is Bribie Island?
Bribie Island sits at the northern end of Moreton Bay, joined to the mainland at Sandstone Point by a bridge since 1963. That bridge is the whole point: it is the only bay island you can reach on a scheduled bus, with no ferry and no timetable anxiety.
Bongaree faces the calm passage side and is where the bus goes. Woorim, on the eastern shore, is the surf beach, and the two are a few kilometres apart across the island.
Why go, and what to see
Bongaree jetty and foreshore
Flat water, pelicans, and the best sunset over Pumicestone Passage
Woorim Beach
The ocean side, patrolled, and a genuine surf beach
Pumicestone Passage
Dugongs and dolphins in the channel, and kayaking in sheltered water
Bribie Island National Park
Wallum heath and four-wheel-drive tracks in the northern half
Every way to get there, compared
Including the ones that aren't public transport, because pretending the car doesn't exist helps nobody.
🚆 Public transport, 1 change
Our pick- 🚆Train to Caboolture (~50 min)
- 🚌640 bus over the bridge to Bongaree (~30 min)
Time
About 1½ hr from Central
Cost
50c each way
Best for
Cheapest by a distance, and no parking to find
🚗 Drive
- 🚗70 km from the city centre, about 65 min in normal traffic
Time
about 65 min
Cost
Fuel and parking
Best for
Carrying gear, odd hours, or several people splitting the cost
Usually quicker than the train, and that is worth being honest about. What it costs you is parking, tolls and driving home tired.
The connecting service, as it actually runs
Straight from the timetable data, not from a brochure. The days it runs and the last service back are the two things that decide whether a day trip works.
🚌 Route 640, Caboolture to Bongaree
Runs seven daysFirst
~6:05 am
Last
~8:03 pm
Weekday trips
17
Midday
~60 min
Planning the day around it
- 🌅 Earliest connection out is around 6:05 am, so an early start is possible.
- 🌙 The last one is around 8:03 pm. That, not closing time, is when your day ends.
- ⏳ Which leaves a window of about 13 hours between the first service out and the last one back, before you subtract the travelling at each end.
Work backwards from the last service rather than forwards from breakfast. Missing it here is a taxi fare, not a short wait.
Scheduled times on a typical weekday, counted one way and timed at Caboolture bus station, so the gaps are the ones you would actually wait. Check the live board before you go.
When to go
Year round, and it is a good winter option because the passage side is sheltered from the southerly.
Last service home →
Check your cut-off before you go, not after.
Anything disrupted? →
Live delays and closures across the network.
Live departures →
Times from the station you change at.
See it on the map →
The route drawn across South East Queensland.
More trips like this
GoThere route planner
Plan your trip to Bribie Island
Put in where you're starting from and we'll work out the connections, with live times on the day.
Plan my trip to Bribie Island →
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Add it to your home screen and your last train home and live departures are one tap away.
Getting to Bribie Island: quick answers
Can you get to Bribie Island by public transport?+
Yes, and it is the only Moreton Bay island where you can. Take the Caboolture line to Caboolture, then the 640 bus across the bridge to Bongaree. No ferry involved, and the whole trip is a flat 50 cents.
How do you get from Brisbane to Bribie Island without a car?+
Train to Caboolture (~50 min), then 640 bus over the bridge to Bongaree (~30 min). Allow about 1½ hr from Central station. Every leg on the TransLink network is a flat 50 cent fare.
How long does it take to get to Bribie Island from Brisbane?+
About 1½ hr from Central, door to platform to door, depending on how the connection lands. The planner on this page works it out from where you actually are rather than from the city centre.
How much does it cost to get to Bribie Island?+
A flat 50 cents each way on the TransLink network, however far you travel.
What time is the last service back from Bribie Island?+
It changes by day and by line, and it is the thing that catches people out on a long day trip. Check the last service home tool before you head out so you know your cut-off rather than guessing at the end of the day.