Inside abandoned resort on South Molle Island, Whitsundays after cyclone renders it a wasteland

Once hailed as a luxurious paradise destination, but a resort on a tropical island in the Whitsundays is the setting for an abandoned wasteland.

At least half of the resorts on the island of Queensland’s Great Barrier Reef have closed their doors after Cyclone Debbie hit the shores in 2017, rendering them unviable.

Australian traveler Jasmine Dyduła was on holiday in the Whitsundays with her family when they sailed to the deserted island of South Molle.

Ms. Dyduła shared a video on TikTok on Friday showing the abandoned complex on the northern tip of the island in Bauer Bay.

Ms. Dydula, along with her sister and mother, explored the resort’s ruins despite the “creepy atmosphere” on the island.

The video shows the resort’s empty dining room with its ceiling, walls and windows missing, a green pool covered in rubble and dilapidated rooms.

“The pool is basically a breeding ground for frogs. There are all cane toads there and it smells so bad,” said Ms. Dydula.

South Molle Island appears to be returning to nature with the resort covered in rubble and slowly taking over with tropical plant life.

Ms Dydula said her family vacationed on the island nearly 30 years ago, but the resort is now “completely covered in foliage.”

His mother, Viv, explained that the rooms in the complex were all two stories, however the powerful category four cyclone ripped away the top level of each room.

“I think with the palm trees and the clear water it would have been such a nice holiday,” said Ms Dydula.

Viv is seen pointing out a ‘new’ pier that she believes was built by the ‘Chinese company’ that bought the island.

“It is very possible that they will rebuild the entire complex and it could be a fantastic new complex,” said Viv.

Australian traveler Jasmine Dyduła explored the deserted island with her mother and sister. The images show the green pool of the abandoned complex, which has become a breeding ground for frogs.

The complex’s 200 two-story rooms were destroyed by the cyclone, with the Category 4 storm ripping away the entire top floor.

The video has received more than 200,700 views and more than 300 comments, with many former guests calling the state of the resort “sad.”

‘Very sad, I was the general manager a little over 20 years ago. I lived on the upper level that is now missing. I used to have a Polynesian night every Friday,” one person wrote.

Another commented: “Aww that’s so sad, it was the best place to stay.”

‘My God, I’m devastated to see how bad this looks now. We used to go every year when my kids were little,” a third chimed in.

South Molle had a single 200-room resort and featured a nine-hole golf course when it was established in 1937.

The island has over 10 miles of island walking trails and most are part of the protected Molle Islands National Park.

Category Category Four Cyclone Debbie hit the island just a few months after CCIG purchased the resort, leaving the island in a state of disrepair

In the 1980s, the resort was owned by the now-defunct Australian airline Ansett, before Queensland businessman Craig Ross bought the bankrupt island and established it as a backpacker resort in the early 2000s.

Shanghai-based China Capital Investment Group (CCIG) took ownership in 2016.

The group snapped up South Molle Island for $25 million, just over a year after buying the nearby Daydream Island Resort and Spa.

They planned to renovate the resort before Category 4 Cyclone Debbie hit the island just a few months after the resort was purchased by the company.

While CCIG has begun an $86 million redevelopment on nearby Daydream Island, which it also owns, as of 2019 South Molle remains closed and in disrepair with its redevelopment still “a few years away.”

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Tourism Whitsundays for comment.