Sailing the Whitsundays is one of the “must-do” items when travelling the east coast of Australia. The 74 islands are located in the heart of the Great Barrier Reef just off the coast of Queensland. A few have resorts on that you can stay at, but fortunately many are preserved as National Parks so you can enjoy them in their natural beauty.
The two main islands are Whitsunday Island and Hook Island, which are where we spent our time sailing.
We had initially booked onto a trip with Whitsunday Blue, but when we went to check in the day before we were told that it had been cancelled due to low numbers. However, they were able to book us straight onto a comparable cruise with On Ice, with a slight discount due to the last minute pricing which worked out quite well!
On Ice (<– reviews here) is a sailing catamaran with space for 10 passengers on board, although on our trip there were only 7 so there was plenty of room. The cruise lasts for 2 days and 2 nights, visiting various snorkel spots and of course Whitehaven Beach!
We met at Abel Point Marina in Airlie Beach at 4pm, and were introduced to the other passengers and our 2 crew members Phil and Mink, both really friendly. We headed out of the marina soon after having stowed our bags in our cabin- a private double with tiny ensuite; small and compact (but a lot nicer than what I’ve experienced with work on occasion!). Then we all sat on the back deck under an awning watching the sunset.
The weather was a little choppy and I had a bit of a nap as we headed to our evening mooring in Cid Harbour. There were loads of other boats sheltering there for the night too, so it looked like a little floating city out the windows with all the lights! We had chicken, pasta salad and greek salad for dinner prepared by Mink, which was really tasty. Mark and I also shared a bottle of wine which we had brought, and we all sat round the table chatting for a while. It was interesting to share backgrounds and cultural differences between the passengers- we had an Israeli brother and sister, and a German couple with a little boy onboard, as well as the local crew.
Went to bed late in our little cabin with a view of the stars through the skylight over our bed, pretty cool.
Day 2 we woke up early when the boat engine started up. I had a peanut butter English muffin and cup of tea, and we transitted around the top of Whitsunday Island down to the southern end of Whitehaven Beach. This white sand beach runs for 7km along Whitsunday Island, and is easily Australia’s most photographed beach. You can definitely see why!
The southern end of the beach is an area where only small groups with a special permit are allowed to go so we were pretty lucky. We were dropped off in the dinghy, and after a short rain shower the sun came out and it was totally beautiful.
Mark and I walked along the beach taking photos and writing messages in the sand 🙂 We also had a go at paddle-boarding which was really fun and surprisingly easy because the boards are so big and wide and stable. The hardest part, like surfing, is getting the board into the water in the first place! We also sunbathed for a bit before heading back to the boat.
We then literally just went around the corner to Hill Inlet, the famous bit seen on all touristy postcards, with the gorgeous swirling sands and blue water.
We walked up to the lookout at Tongue Point where you can see over the whole inlet, and took a LOT of photos! It was a gorgeous view, even if a little cloudy, and we saw a manta ray down below in the surf. The sand is so white as it is almost 100% silica and gets swirled around in amazing patterns by the incoming tide.
Back on the boat we had lunch- a large piece of roast chicken, potato salad w/wholegrain mustard and garden salad, very nice! After that we put the sails up and headed up to the north of Hook Island. It got quite rough (for me anyway!), and was quite windy and rainy. However, when we got to our snorkelling spot at Hook Island Mark and I went over to the beach in the dinghy for a bit of a walk and I was fine. We did some beach-combing and found some cool shells and bits of coral, as well as spotting another manta-ray in the shallows. It was a bit grey and rainy still but some of the others went snorkelling.
We then headed round the corner to a more sheltered mooring for the evening. Mink cooked a spicy tomato and bacon gnocchi with garlic bread and salad, which was really nice. He’s definitely a good cook to have on board!
Day 3 we all woke up relatively early again- it’s much like camping where you wake up when it gets light to make the most of the day! I had the same breakfast as yesterday (loving PB atm!). We were staying in the same location for a couple of hours so Mark and I went out in the clear kayak for a bit. It was quite a weird experience because you don’t feel like you’re sitting on anything! It was really cool though, and we saw heaps of coral just gliding right over the top of it. Mark joined a few of the other for a snorkel after but I was a bit cold and perfectly happy just to sit on deck and enjoy the scenery.
After a while we headed off round the coast to Langford Island- a small island connected to a sand spit that we could walk all the way along as it was low tide. It was supposed to be a good place to spot turtles but unfortunately none of us saw any. After a snack of coffee and oreos (nom) it was time to head back towards Airlie Beach.
It was a bit rainy and choppy but Mark and I just put on our rain jackets and sat on the back deck (which I have to say is a much better way of dealing with things if you do ever feel slightly seasick), which was fun despite getting a bit cold.
We saw a massive P+O cruise shop just outside Airlie Beach with a huge TV screen on the top as we came back in- it looked ridiculous! Mink made us chicken wraps for lunch, and we arrived back into the harbour at around 2pm.
We both had a great trip despite me feeling a little ill at some points. Mark loved all the sailing, and I’m sure he would have stayed to do it all over again if he could! I’m definitely more of a fair-weather sailor (haha) but the scenery was beautiful and it was a great experience.
Beki x
