Flying Fish Point, a rural town and holiday place, is 70 km south-east of Cairns and 7 km north-east of Innisfail. It was named by the explorer George Dalrymple, in 1873 after the cutter 'Flying Fish' in his expedition. It is the northern head of the mouth of the Johnstone River; the southern head, Coquette Head, was also named by Dalrymple, after the expedition's second cutter.
Flying Fish Point was leased by Thomas Fitzgerald, Innisfail's pioneer sugar planter, as his 'head station', but the site was resumed by the government in about 1883 for pilotage purposes.
A township developed after World War II, and during 1966-86 its population more than doubled to about 650 people.
Flying Fish Point has a motel, a caravan park, a general store, a slipway, a protective rock wall and esplanade, a sawmill, and a primary school (1899).
In 2015 beach erosion occurred near Scheu Park.
Its census populations have been:
| Census Date | Population |
|---|---|
| 1921 | 34 |
| 1954 | 106 |
| 1971 | 380 |
| 1991 | 637 |
| 2006 | 712 |
| 2011 | 419 |
