The main reason for coming to Airlie Beach was to visit the world famous Whitsunday Island and Whitehaven Beach.  If you’ve ever googled “world’s best beaches”, you’ve seen the amazing photos of swirling azure water, and gleaming white sand.

Unfortunately, being ranked as one of the World’s Best Beaches, means Whitehaven is also one of the World’s Most Visited Beaches.  However, getting there requires some effort (or money – the actual effort involved was minimal).  Not being wealthy enough to afford a private charter flight or cruise, we opted for a day cruise with Sealink, chosen because it included two walks to lookouts, and no snorkelling (which we didn’t want to do).  This was our first organised group activity for quite some time.

The boat crew welcomed us on board, and congratulated us for picking a “brochure day” – perfect weather, clear blue sky, no wind, and calm water. They said it was the first such day for quite some time.

There was plenty of room on the boat, and we headed to the top, open air deck. We left Shute Harbour and made our way past the now-familiar islands, and into the Whitsunday Passage.  This was our first chance to see Hamilton Island close up; seeing the high rise towers and villas all over the hillsides made us glad we had opted for quieter, less populated options.

After an hour or so, we rounded the southern end of Whitsunday Island.  The island is uninhabited, and is almost all national park, with just a few rough campsites.  Whitehaven Beach curves for 7 km along the south end of the eastern side. 

As we slowed, we could see lots of other boats in the bay.  We joined them and dropped anchor, and started the process of tendering everyone ashore.  Our vessel had a nifty crane, which swung the tender boat around from the stern, to the starboard side.  Before long, we were wading through crystal clear water, and stepping onto powder-like white sand, amongst the purest silicon in the world. 

Our group had opted to join the first walk, up to the Whitehaven lookout.  It was a well formed trail, with many stone steps; quite a workout going up, but easy enough.  We were soon at the top, gazing at a gorgeous view of Whitehaven Beach, the stunning blue waters of the bay, and a small coral reef on the other side of the headland.

Back down on the beach, we had plenty of free time.  Ian opted for a beach walk and paddle, while I was determined to swim.  The water was refreshing, and it was lovely bobbing about, watching the beach activities, and the coming and going of boats and small planes.

Back on board, it was time for lunch, then we chugged north to our next stop.  Anchored once more in another beautiful bay, we sat on the top deck again while waiting our turn for the tender ride. We glimpsed a turtle as it surfaced briefly.  We were now at Tongue Point, where the track to Hill Inlet starts.  It is a small rocky beach, much like most other Whitsunday beaches. 

We took another trail with many steps (212, someone said), and a lot of people going up and down. There are three separate lookout platforms, which spreads people out; though you tend to stop in your tracks at the first one, as soon as you see the amazing colours in front of you.  After you absorb the panorama, you start to notice the details – stingrays looking like frying pans in the shallows; people swimming; small boats; tiny sand and rock beaches.  But it’s the colours and the contrast that you keep coming back to. Stunning – and we were seeing it at its best, thanks to “brochure day”.

I could have spent far longer just looking, and there were other trails that could be explored, but we had to return to the boat.  On the plus side, afternoon tea included delicious, sweet, fresh pineapple. 

The route back took us around the northern end of Whitsunday Island, and through the narrow Hook Passage.  Like many of the old resorts on these islands, the Hook Underwater Observatory was destroyed a few years ago by Cyclone Debbie.  I tried not to feel guilty by association.

The boat slowed right down – “Whale to starboard!”  Humpbacks are migrating all up and down the coast.  We’d spotted a mother and new calf.  Although there were no breaches or tail slaps going on, we could clearly see their dorsal fins and backs, glistening in the afternoon sun.  An unexpected bonus – seeing a whale in its natural environment is always quite the experience.

Pressing on, we picked up speed again, passing Daydream Island, then finally returning to Shute Harbour.  Then the slow climb up the hill, to home.  There we bumped into our host, Kat, and we had a chat, met her 2 year daughter Alina, and were invited to pick the ripe roma tomatoes growing just outside our front door.; the perfect addition to our evening meal.  Brochure day, indeed.