We moved just two hours north of Slade Point to the Airlie Beach suburb of Cannonvale. Airlie Beach is a vibrant coastal hub considered the tropical gateway to the Whitsunday Islands, and the reason we wanted to stay here. The town itself is your typical beach town with a main street filled with bars, restaurants, shops and tourist agencies selling boat trips to the islands.
The afternoon we arrived we began looking at brochures for boat trips to Whitsunday Island, the #1 destination from Airlie Beach, and at the weather forecast. It turned out the best day for this excursion over the next 10 days was tomorrow! While we usually like a day or two to check out our surroundings and decide what to do, this time we promptly got on the phone with SeaLink and booked ourselves on a tour the next morning. It turned out to be the best decision, we had moderate winds for the crossing and clear blue skies all day long. The 8 hour tour was not cheap at AUD $270 each, but the boat was a luxury catamaran with lots of space for everyone. The trip included morning tea & snacks, a buffet lunch, afternoon tea & snacks and coffee, tea and water available all day. The main level seating area is air conditioned but we spent our entire time outside on the second deck enjoying the fresh air, and sea spray from the waves. We met a lovely couple from Melbourne who we chatted with off and on all day.
The day began with a 90 min journey from Shute Harbor, just south of Airlie Beach, through the islands to the southern end of Whitehaven Beach where we disembarked the boat to enjoy the beach for 2 hours. Whitehaven Beach is a spectacular 7-kilometer stretch of coastline renowned for its brilliant white silica sand and turquoise waters. As it is part of a protected national park, there are no permanent structures, providing a pristine environment that is widely considered one of the most beautiful in the world. The sand here is 98% pure silica, which gives it a brilliant white glow and prevents it from retaining heat, making it comfortable to walk on even in the midday sun. Its fun to listen to the silica sand squeaking beneath your feet as you walk.
The Whitsunday Islands
When re-boarded the boat it was time for lunch before cruising to our second stop of the day, Hill Inlet lookout. Located at the northern end of the beach, this is the iconic photography spot. As the tide shifts, the white sand and blue water blend together to create a swirling, marble-like pattern. We were incredibly lucky to visit at low tide for the best view of these patterns. Our guide also mentioned how lucky we were that we were the only boat in the bay, usually there can be hundreds of people on the 15 min hike up through lush rainforest to the viewpoints. And today there was just us!! There are three different viewing platforms to capture the ‘swirls’ from different angles. I have to say this is truly one of the most spectacular views we have ever seen 🥰 Overall we thought the trip with SeaLink was excellent and would recommend their catamaran full day trip to Whitehaven Beach and Hill Inlet. (click on any photo to enlarge)
The best way to introduce yourself to the Airlie coastline is via the Bicentennial Walkway, a 4-kilometer coastal path that serves as a scenic link between the center of Airlie Beach and the Cannonvale suburb, where we are staying. Built in 1988, the track follows the shoreline of the Coral Sea, alternating between raised boardwalks and sealed pathways. Its considered one of the best ways to experience the area’s turquoise waters and views of the Whitsunday Islands without needing a boat. Roughly at the half way point the path winds through the Coral Sea Marina, an excellent spot for viewing luxury yachts and superyachts. The walkway is lined with several waterfront bars and restaurants, making it easy to break up the walk with a meal or a drink.
Our host recommended Northerlies Beach Bar and Grill so we headed that way for lunch one day. Lunch was delicious as we enjoyed the view over the water back to Airlie Beach, despite it being a cloudy day.
At the end of our time here the weather improved enough for us to book a 2-hour sunset sail on the Lady Enid, a magnificent vessel with an impressive racing history across Australia. This historic 63-foot yacht, which dates back to the early 1960’s was once a successful race yacht, competing in national races like Sydney to Hobart and Brisbane to Gladstone. Regarded as one of the finest timber yachts ever to race, Lady Enid has since retired and is a popular sailing tour boat in the Whitsundays. The sunset cruise takes 28 passengers and is an adults only cruise, including a cocktail and some canapes during the trip. Our tour cost AUD $99 each.
We are always impressed wherever we go around Australia at the variety of interesting birds. In Airlie Beach we have seen flocks of Sulphur Crested Cockatoos outside our window every day and while walking in town we heard first and then saw a flock of these pretty Rainbow Lorikeets. They are incredibly common along the eastern seaboard of Australia, are intensely curious and famously bold around people.
Our weather has been mostly cloudy, very windy and with a few rain showers. We feel so fortunate that we decided to take the catamaran to Whitehaven Beach that very first day because there was no other day as good during the 10 days we spent in Airlie Beach. We both agree that 10 days here was much too long. There is nothing much to do here but take trips to the Whitsunday Islands, and they are expensive. There are no interesting hiking tracks and no nice long beaches to walk, so we walked the Bicentennial Walkway a few times. Basically everyone comes here to do one thing, go to Whitehaven Beach and take boat tours around the Whitsunday Islands, and you need good weather to enjoy these activities. In a nutshell, Airlie Beach is your typical tourist town and just not what we are looking for as full time nomads.
We have our fingers crossed there is more to do at our next stop, a week on Magnetic Island…..
TRIP TIPS
After what felt like a rushed start to our 10 days here in Airlie Beach we settled into a more relaxed mode. We checked out a few gyms nearby and joined Gravity Fitness, the one closest to our apartment. It’s nothing like our last gym in Mackay, but it has everything we need for a short stay. We bought a 10 day pass for AUD $120 that we were able to share over 5 visits.