This group of six high islands lies midway between the coast and the outer barrier reef. Surrounded by coral reefs, the islands are fringed by mangroves and sandy beaches, and cloaked in grasslands, woodlands and wind-sheared heaths.

Lizard Island National Park comprises Lizard, Osprey, Palfrey and South islands and Seabird Islets along with Eagle Island, which is located several kilometres west of Lizard Island. It is the only continental island group close to the outer barrier reef. The stark, rugged beauty of Lizard Island, rising 359m above sea level, contrasts sharply with the sparkling blue waters and rich fringing reefs surrounding the island group.

More than half of Lizard Island is covered in grasslands. Eucalypt and acacia woodlands, heaths, paperbark swamps and mangroves are also found there. The island's best-known animal is a lizard—the yellow-spotted monitor Varanus panoptes. Lieutenant James Cook named the island for this lizard during his exploration of the east coast of Australia in 1770. More than 40 species of birds inhabit the island group. Seabird Islets and Osprey, South and Palfrey islands are important nesting sites, particularly for terns.

The islands are rich in cultural meaning for the Dingaal Aboriginal people and contain sacred sites including initiation, ceremonial and story sites. Shell middens, which provide evidence of long-ago feasting on clams, oysters, spider shells and trochus shells, are found on the islands. Lizard Island also has a rich heritage associated with the earliest European exploration of the coast and subsequent settlement. Today the islands are a popular tourism destination and the base for world-renowned tropical marine research.