Sailing the Whitsundays

March 20-22, 2023

Hi friends and family,

Mel and I arrived from Gold Coast to the Proserpine airport, a tiny regional airport that’s mostly in the middle of nowhere, in the afternoon of March 20. The main reason people visit seems to be to go to Airlie Beach, the nearest port city where boats launch to sail to the Whitsunday Islands, which is what we were there to do.

We caught a shuttle from the airport to our YHA hostel in Airlie Beach. We mostly hung out there because it was extremely humid and there were some thunderstorms. The hostel was pretty small and there wasn’t a lot of common area so it was cramped down in the kitchen and TV room, but thankfully the rain passed quickly and we got out to explore the town. It’s a pretty small town with not much going on besides the sailing to the Whitsunday Islands and some restaurants, bars, hotels, and tourist services to help plan excursions like sailing, snorkeling, scenic flights, and more. One place in town that was unique was the Airlie Beach Lagoon, a large public pool right by the ocean. Surprisingly, it made sense that there was a public pool right by the water because the beach looked rocky and apparently this time of year there are stingrays with potentially lethal stings, and sharks are always a concern in that part of Australia.

The next day, we walked to Coral Sea Marina for an 8:30am departure on the Prima, our two-day, one-night adventure to the Whitsunday Islands. We realized as soon as we stepped on the boat that we had far too much luggage. One of the employees said there was an office to leave stuff but we couldn’t get what we needed into smaller bags quickly enough. The boat was pretty small since there were only 12 of us (10 passengers and 2 crew). The upper part of the boat was relatively long and had a decent amount of seating area, but most of the seats in the front of the boat were undesirable because that section of the boat rocked violently in the wind and swells. The more stable section of the boat had fewer seats and was quite crowded when all of us were up there. The lower part of the boat was similarly small and we didn’t spend much time down there because it swayed dramatically with the ocean.

Our room was tiny. We were expecting a proper room with a private bathroom from the booking description, but we had a bed much smaller than a single for both of us to share and the bathroom was also shared with the boat. Space was limited and our big bags took up all the ground space in our “room”, which was just an extension of the main cabin separated by two curtains.

By the time we got our bags squared away, we were off to our first adventure: snorkeling at reef. The reef in the Whitsundays is part of the Great Barrier Reef, so I was excited to see it in person. It took us a couple hours to get there and once we got to the reef we were snorkeling at, we had to get into sting suits, which are basically wetsuits that protect your vital organs (only our hands, feet, and parts of our faces that weren’t covered by a snorkel mask were exposed) in case of a sting from a stingray. The snorkeling was high quality; the visibility was alright, but there were lots of fish and different plants among the coral that made up for the lack of visibility.

The current was strong, so we started up current and let it carry us back towards the boat. We got to do this lazy river style snorkeling twice, with the skipper Tommy picking us up in the dinghy we dragged behind our main sailboat and motoring us back up current. The coolest sight I saw was a big rainbow fish chomping away at some coral. For some reason, the sound of it ripping the coral was amplified under water, similar to cracking knuckles, and it was much louder than I expected.

After snorkeling, we had a lunch of deli sandwiches, prepared by our friendly deckhand Abby, and continued on to our next stop at Langford Island. The island had a long sandbar and short hike to a scenic lookout point. The sandbar was really cool since it was so exposed to the rest of the ocean, but it was just enough above sea level to avoid getting entirely swept away by the ocean.

After 45 minutes on the island, Tommy picked us up from the shore in the dinghy and took us to the sailboat. We then sailed (and used the motor) for three hours to get to Tongue Bay. The first part of this journey was smooth sailing, but about halfway through we entered open ocean unsheltered by any islands and the water became much rougher. The boat was rocking aggressively and Mel became quite sea sick.

We made it to Tongue Bay about an hour before sunset and relaxed and had dinner. After eating we chilled on the deck and looked up at the stars. The bay was a really peaceful place to stay at night since there was only one other boat and there were so many stars visible. We were wishing there wasn’t rain in the forecast because it would’ve been a pretty magical experience to sleep on top of the boat under the stars.

Also, it was far more comfortable than the hellishly hot and turbulent cabin of the ship. I had one of the worst nights of sleep in years because the bed wasn’t even close to being big enough for one of us alone. We literally couldn’t both be lying down on our backs at the same time at one end of the bed because it was so narrow. I rotated so my head was at the other end and Mel did the same because it was a bit wider down there. This helped with comfort a tiny bit, but it was still so hot and humid down there. Even with the window open, the breeze was infrequent and fleeting. I slept some of the night, but it felt like I was up for most of it.

The next morning we had an early breakfast at 6:30 before boating over to the nearby beach. From there we hiked 10-15 minutes to Hill Inlet Lookout, a famous viewpoint on the island. The views of Whitehaven Beach and the ocean were pretty. The tides there vary significantly and, with the rising and falling of the tides, sand is pushed and pulled in ways that form beautiful designs in the shallow waters. I think the tide was a bit higher than ideal, so we couldn’t see the really dramatic swirling patterns, but the views were still cool. We kept hiking down to the beach, seeing one of the biggest spiders I’ve ever seen in my life on the way down.

We got to the beach around 8:30 and had it all to ourselves, which was awesome. The tide still wasn’t at its highest, so we could walk around the beach, which was pretty wide at points, and see parts of the beach that became submerged under water in the next couple hours. Around 9:30 a bunch of other visitors arrived on bigger tour boats. The influx of people and diminishing beach made it feel crowded. It made me appreciate the time we had the beach to ourselves since it was so idyllic and beautiful.

We left around 10:40 and boated over to another snorkel spot. This one wasn’t as good, since the water was deeper and murkier. After snorkeling we had some lunch and started the three-hour boat ride back to Airlie Beach.

We walked our luggage from Coral Sea Marina to our new hostel called Magnums. Mel was sick and we were both tired from being on the boat the last couple days, so we napped and relaxed at the hostel. Luckily this hostel was way better than our first one with tons of space in common areas and buildings next to trees that made it feel like we were in the forest.

Sleeping on a sailboat was a cool experience and I’m glad we got to see the Whitsundays that way. I might’ve preferred another night on the boat if it had been more comfortable because I think we would’ve got to soak in more of the islands and spent less of our time getting from place to place. Still, I felt like we got to see the beauty of the islands. I’d like to go back and get another view of the beach from Hill Inlet Lookout to see some truly wild and magnificent sand designs. The stars at night and having Whitehaven Beach to ourselves were the two highlights of sailing for me. The people on our boat were nice, but many of them spoke French and kept mostly to themselves. It could’ve been fun to have a more social boat, but all in all the people were fine.

Sailing the Whitsundays was something we’d heard we absolutely must do and I would say it lived up to the hype. The islands themselves are beautiful and the experience of living on a boat for a couple days was unique and challenging (in a mostly good way). Our stay at Airlie Beach/the Whitsunday Islands was quick, with just one night on the boat and two nights, one on either end, in hostels. We left on the morning of March 23, picking up a rental car from a Budget car rental agency and starting the seven-hour drive up to Cairns. That’s all for now. As always, thanks for reading!