Four days in paradise
The Whitsundays region encompasses the beaches of Bowen to the north, the inland towns of Proserpine and Collinsville, and the coastal town of Airlie Beach. And, as the beating heart of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR), it includes 74 tropical islands in the warm waters of the Coral Sea. The region is so vast that you’d need a year to take everything in!
But here I’ve selected a few experiences to pack into a four-day getaway that offer a taste of what this tropical paradise has to offer.
Day one: Reef exploration, hotel comforts, and fusion dining
My trip started with a flight into Proserpine before checking into the base for my Whitsundays getaway at Airlie’s centrally-located Coral Sea Resort.
It’s an easy stroll from the resort to Coral Bay Marina where I embark on the first day of my adventure. I check into my Ocean Rafting tour, hop aboard, and within 40 minutes of departure we’re moored at Mantaray Bay, on Hook Island’s north-east.
“It’s time to zip up your stinger suits, get your snorkel, mask, and flippers on, and jump in the water!” calls out Jess Funnell. Jess is a guide aboard Joyride, one of Ocean Rafting’s fleet of 8–12m-long semi-rigid inflatable vessels. I’m on their Northern Exposure tour, which includes snorkelling and visits to Whitehaven Beach and Hill Inlet.
Taylor, another of our guides, leans over the side of the boat and shakes the contents of a small plastic bottle into the sapphire-coloured water. Jess – in training as a Master Reef Guide – explains that the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (the Reef Authority) provides permits for approved tour operators to feed small amounts of pellets to marine life at select sites. Within seconds of the pellets hitting the water, the surface bubbles as a large school of yellowtail fusilier gather. I leap off one of the inflatable sides, dive bomb into the warm water, adjust my face mask, clear my snorkel, and swim towards the feeding frenzy. It’s incredible to be this close to so many darting fish and they seem unconcerned at being so closely observed.
“This practice of feeding the fish enhances our guest’s experience and helps foster a deeper connection with the reef,” Jess explains. “We hope the experience inspires guests to want to protect the reef.”
Jess, who’s now in the water with us, duck dives below the surface to inspect a section of coral. This is part of the Eye on the Reef weekly survey. The team follows specific snorkel tracks at key sites to check for changes in coral habitat. The program, funded by the Reef Authority, falls under the Australian Government’s Reef Protection Package. The guides also report wildlife sightings – anything from manta rays to giant clams – on the Eye on the Reef app.
Snorkelling across healthy coral in Mantaray Bay, we see plenty of the GBR’s more than 1500 fish species, including colourful varieties such as parrotfish and a loggerhead turtle, but they prove elusive on this morning.
After 45 minutes in the ocean, we clamber back on board and motor over to Tongue Bay, adjacent to Whitsunday Island – the largest of the 74 islands. Here, we disembark to climb up Hill Inlet.
We arrive at the viewing platform where the majestic views over Whitehaven Beach and beyond are breathtaking. “You are seeing this at the perfect time!” Taylor exclaims. “The tide is out just enough to expose the white silica sands, but not too high that it’s completely covered.”
This stunning location has been used in many movies, including Ticket to Paradise (2022) starring George Clooney and Julia Roberts, Spiderhead (2022) starring Chris Hemsworth, and the fifth instalment of the Pirates of the Caribbean series, Dead Men Tells No Tales (2017) starring Johnny Depp.
Later, as I’m blissfully wallowing in the shallow water of Whitehaven Beach, I scoop up a handful of sand and it feels silky smooth, which is because it’s 98 per cent pure silica. After my downtime on Whitehaven Beach, I and my fellow guests clamber back onboard Joyride. It’s a fun, speedy, return to Airlie Beach, with loud music pumping as we bounce across the ocean surface.
We arrive back at Coral Sea Marina in the mid-afternoon. After our day out on the water the perfect way to wash off the ocean’s salt before heading to dinner is with a shower, followed by a bath, in my outdoor balcony suite. Soaking in the bath, I watch the sun set over the distant hills as the bath’s spa jets pummel my weary muscles.
Tonight, I dine at Eastwoods Dining in Airlie’s main street. Owners Kirsty and Jack Mason brought their passion for modern south-east Asian cuisine from Hamilton Island to Airlie, opening Eastwoods in late 2023. Their menu offers a tasty mixture of Thai, Chinese, and Vietnamese dishes such as spicy beef tartare, salt and pepper soft shell crab and, my favourite, the Penang curry with coconut braised beef.
Later in my stay, I discover two other special dining spots worth noting – both great places for lunch, both with incredible ocean vistas: Northerlies at Woodwark and Monte’s Bar & Grill at Cape Gloucester.
Day two: Mountain biking and wildlife
The following day I head inland to Conway National Park. The Conway Range cliffs tower 35km above the Whitsunday Passage, providing beautiful ocean vistas from altitude. Inside the park are trails through the largest area of lowland tropical rainforest outside tropical North Queensland.
Dylan Ford, owner and head tour guide of Bike and Hike Whitsunday, introduces us to our dual suspension Trek Electric Mountain bike – personally tweaked to suit our previously supplied height and weight. After a few minutes practise on the road, we engage the bike’s motor and power up the mountain road to enter the park, where Dylan acknowledges the Traditional Owners, the Gia and Ngaro.
During our safety briefing Dylan mentions the wildlife we may see inside the park, including the Ulysses butterfly, goannas, and a variety of birds, including the orange-footed scrub fowl, ospreys, wedge-tailed eagles and the buff-breasted paradise kingfisher. “At certain times of the year you can see all three different types of black cockatoos,” Dylan says. There is an audible gasp when he shares that three of the top five most dangerous snakes in Australia inhabit this rainforest. “There’s the eastern taipan, which is the third most dangerous snake for venom,” he explains. “But if you keep your distance they will hold their ground. The red-bellied black snake is the one we most commonly see but 99.9 per cent of the time, if they move it will be in the opposite direction to where you are standing. And, in the denser part of the forest you tend to see pythons and whip snakes.”
Dylan reassures our group that, being up front, he will see any snake first and pull up.
Inside the national park, we ride on trails that were once logging tracks, passing ancient rainforests with towering hoop pines and pandanus woodlands. While we keep an eye out for snakes, the closest thing we come across is a monitor lizard.
Day three: Sea kayaking, tiny islands, and birdlife
Hayley Kennedy arrived in Townsville from England in 1990. She moved to the Whitsundays with husband Neill in 1997 to start up Salty Dog Sea Kayaking, selecting tour guides based on their local knowledge.
Not long into my sea kayak tour on Shute Harbour we’re soon realising today’s northerly wind is not going to make it a smooth paddle. From her kayak, Hayley says, “Ideal conditions for kayaking in the Whitsundays is a 5–10 knots south-easterly.” But we are not in “ideal” conditions and our kayak bounces up and down on the choppy water. But once Riley (my kayak partner and rudder controller) calls out our stroke pace, “one, two, one two,” we settle into a nice rhythm. We paddle with gusto towards a tiny island in the distance and, as our kayak nose slides onto the sand, we emerge, feeling triumphant.
As we explore White Rock island, occupied only by sooty oyster catcher birds Hayley shares what she loves about living in the Whitsundays. “The brilliant weather, climate, outdoor lifestyle, small friendly community, easy access to the islands, amazing water colour, and kayaking around the islands of course.” A nice list!
Day four: Outer reef and sunsets
Keen for an outer GBR experience I board RedCat Adventures’ Wildcat for a full day (eight hour) outer reef snorkelling adventure. The catamaran is custom-built specifically for the Whitsundays, designed for stability and speed. If you suffer from sea sickness, this boat might be the one for you.
Our group of 35 travels to the outer reef quickly and in comfort. We are under cover and seated in pairs on either side of the vessel. Wildcat’s skipper, Tony Ritter, provides commentary via a loudspeaker, advising us we are very lucky to have perfect (calm) conditions. We arrive at the first reef, chosen because of the lack of wind. As we ready ourselves for snorkelling in our stinger suits, one of the crew points to the giant trevally and a pair of batfish hovering in the water near the back of the boat.
Crew member Shannon Burke lowers an inflatable Zodiac tender into the water. Her role is to watch over the snorkellers as we swim over coral bommies. If anyone feels fatigued or is not a strong swimmer, they can hop into the tender and be returned to Wildcat. Another crew member, Joe, is on a surf ski paddle board as a second pair of eyes at the snorkelling site. Given this is the outer reef and there are channels with currents, it’s reassuring to know they’re watching over us.
At the second location, a small group of snorkellers pile into the Zodiac with Shannon. She drops us a few minutes away at the “seven stepping stones”, explaining there are seven coral bommies to navigate around before returning to the boat. For the next one and a half hours, we’re mesmerised by the marine life. We follow green turtles, spy reef sharks resting on the sandy bottom, and see more reef fish (I haven’t reached the 1500 species yet!)
Later, as the sun sets on the last of my Whitsundays adventures, I reflect on what I’ve seen and experienced here. I live in Queensland and sometimes I forget that one of the Seven Wonders of the World – the Great Barrier Reef – is right here in my home state. And the Whitsunday Region is the perfect jumping off point to experience the reef, both on and below the water. And don’t forget about the amazing on-land experiences too!
Getting there
The Whitsundays is approximately 1,120km north of Brisbane.
Virgin Australia offers up to 11 return services per week into Proserpine Airport. You can also book direct flights to Hamilton Island, with services up to nine times per week from Brisbane, daily from Sydney and up to three times a week from Melbourne.
The writer was a guest of Tourism Whitsundays and Virgin Australia.
