Fingal Head - Places to See

Fingal Lighthouse
Fingal lighthouse dates from 1878 and was electrified in 1980. Designed by James Barnet it stands at the southern end of Fingal Beach. From the cliff-edge it is possible to see an outcrop of columnar-jointed basalt called the 'Giant's Causeway' which is named after a similar natural feature associated either with a locality called Fingal in Northern Ireland or Fingal Cave on the Scottish Island of Staffa, depending on which source you believe. At any rate Fingal was the name of a mythological Celtic giant who tried to build a causeway over the ocean.

Cook Island
500 metres offshore is Cook Island which is a breeding habitat for wedge-tailed shearwaters and the crested tern. In 1823 John Oxley and his party took shelter during a storm in the lea of the 10-acre islet. Two men from his party investigated the island where they found turtles and an unidentified wreck. Oxley called it Turtle Island. In 1828 Captain Rous conducted the first survey of the Tweed River and gave the island its present name.

Recreation and Foreshore Areas
There are picnic, barbecue and childrens' play facilities at Fingal Beach Park (north of the lighthouse and adjacent the beach) and at Fingal Boat Harbour Park on Fingal Rd near Wommin Lagoon. The latter also has a boat ramp.

At the northernmost point of Fingal Head (via Letitia Rd) is South Head, which constitutes the end point of a lengthy beach which runs along the ocean shore. Just behind South Head, on the Tweed River's southern shore, is tiny Doppys Beach, and just behind it is Letitia Spit, which ends at Kerosene Inlet.

For information on beaches and foreshore areas to the north see entries on Tweed Heads and Coolangatta.