74 islands, one of which has the whitest sand on earth. This is the most condensed reef experience in Queensland and the one most travelers come for. Five days of sailing, snorkeling, and lookouts, designed around the Airlie Beach launching point.
Day 1
Arrive into Airlie Beach via Proserpine Airport. Airlie itself is the gateway — a strip of bars, dive shops, and tour offices along the marina. The town isn't the destination but it's where every boat leaves from, and the lagoon (a free seawater pool on the foreshore) is a fine place to acclimate. Drive 15 minutes north to Cape Hillsborough National Park if you arrive early and want a soft introduction — the kangaroos come down to the beach at sunrise and the headland is a 30-minute walk above the surf. Stay in Airlie Beach tonight.
Cape Hillsborough National Park
Airlie Beach
Day 2
Day trip to Daydream Island, the most accessible of the Whitsunday resort islands. The 30-minute ferry leaves from Port of Airlie. Daydream is small enough to walk in 90 minutes — the Living Reef is a man-made stingray and shark lagoon that's better than it sounds, and the island's two beaches face each other across a 200m strip of land. Catch a late-afternoon ferry back or stay over.
Daydream Island Resort — hotel
Day 3
The big day — Whitehaven Beach and Hill Inlet. Almost every Whitsundays day tour goes to one of two ends of Whitehaven: the southern (main) beach where boats anchor for swimming and lunch, or the northern end which is where the iconic Hill Inlet swirls of white sand and turquoise water photograph from the lookout. Take a tour that does both ends if you can — Cruise Whitsundays and Ocean Rafting both run combo trips. The South Whitehaven lookout adds a third perspective from the southern bluff. Back to Airlie Beach by sunset.
Whitsunday Islands National Park
Whitehaven Beach
Whitehaven Beach - Northern End
South Whitehaven lookout
Day 4
Outer-island and snorkel day. The Cairn is a campsite and snorkel beach on Hook Island, in the gap between Hook and Whitsunday. Haslewood Island Lookout sits on the small island just east of Whitehaven and offers views back over the famous beach with almost no crowds. Hayman Island is the most luxurious of the resorts, and you can do a day trip from Airlie if you don't want to stay. Many boat charters thread these three together in a single trip.
Haslewood Island Lookout
The Cairn
Hayman Island
Day 5
Hamilton Island as the closer — the only Whitsunday island with its own airport, which makes it the easy place to fly out from. If you have time, take the morning chairlift to Passage Peak for the highest viewpoint in the Whitsundays, swim Catseye Beach, and walk to Coral Beach (just outside Shute Harbour on the mainland) for one final snorkel. Fly home from Hamilton Island Airport in the afternoon, or ferry back to Airlie Beach and drive to Proserpine.
Hamilton Island
Coral Beach
