Beauty and the beasts
Cape Trib named as world’s most dangerous beach
Lethal jellyfish, venomous snakes, crocodiles and potentially deadly cassowaries earned Cape Tribulation the surprising No. 1 ranking in a list of the world’s most dangerous beaches.
“Cape Tribulation has a name that may serve as a warning for many travellers,” the report from weather.com, a company owned by IBM, states.
“When provoked, cassowaries can be aggressive and capable of inflicting injuries.”
The last known fatal cassowary attack was in Florida when a 75-year-old man who reared the birds died in hospital from severe injuries in 2019. Cassowaries have muscular legs that can pack a powerful kick, ending with three clawtipped toes. The claw on the inner toe is particularly formidable, reaching lengths of 12cm.
If a cassowary feels threatened, it will leap up and strike
out with these dagger-like weapons.
Cape Tribulation came in ahead of Hanakapiai Beach in Hawaii, which has rip currents that have claimed the lives of between 30 and 80 people, according to different sources.
Cape Tribulation even beat Bansbaai in South Africa – known as the Great White Shark capital of the world — where sharks are attracted by a colony of 60,000 seals living
in ‘shark alley’.
Cape Tribulation also beat the Amazon River beaches, where there are piranhas, anacondas and electric eels.
But Cape Tribulation was not the only Australian locale to make the list with Fraser Island’s dingoes rating a mention and all beaches in the Northern Territory – surprisingly, not because of the estimated population of 100,000 crocodiles — because of box jellyfish, which it stated have claimed the lives of 80 people.
Ironically, there is no actual Cape Tribulation Beach – the World Heritage-listed region north of Daintree River has Cow Bay Beach, Thornton Beach, where a woman was snatched by a crocodile in 2016, beautiful Noah Beach with its picturesque camping spot, and Myall Beach at Cape Tribulation itself, where there are rainforest boardwalks.
NSW traveller Cindy Waldron was taken by a 4.3m crocodile while in the water at Thornton Beach at night with her friend in May 2016.
Cape Tribulation has a ranking of 4.5 from 5 on TripAdvisor.
“Here you see how the rainforest meets the sea,” one traveller reported. “Fine beach sand, coconut trees and rainforest makes an idyllic setting,” another commented.