The Whitsunday Islands are group of small islands off the Queensland coast in the heart of the Great Barrier Reef. They’re a tropical paradise, with beautiful white sands, secluded beaches and stunning sailing, diving and snorkelling. It’s a fantastic way to explore the Great Barrier Reef, and I’d definitely recommend a sailing trip here.
My partner was keen for a sailing holiday given his lifetime of sailing, especially as I had never been on a sailboat with him before. So we did some research and decided on a sailing trip in the Whitsundays, leaving from Airlie Beach, Qld.
We did the 3 night Sailing Tour with https://sailing-whitsundays.com/whitsundays/blizzard-4-day-3-night-sailing-tour leaving from Airlie Beach.
It was a great booking experience, and lovely-looking boat, and we lucked on a great group of fellow adventurers of similar ages and interests. We went for the private double cabin with ensuite, as it wasn’t much difference in cost.
The captain Tris was one of the boat’s owners, and although only 30ish must have decided to live up to the image of the traditional gruff, taciturn sailor. Spoke only when he had to, slept in each morning. Unusual guy. He’s not the only captain (thank goodness).
Luckily the new first mate was an enthusiastic young guy called Sam, who was a wizard in the kitchen, naturally fun and loved being the life of the party.
We set sail on a Tuesday morning and headed out to the far side of Whitsunday Island, to Hill Inlet.
An easy climb to the lookout at the top and then down to Whitehaven beach was fantastic. You need to bring light walking shoes for this. The views of the swirling sands are absolutely stunning – you couldn’t make up a scene this beautiful.
Wearing swimmers, everyone waded in and saw our first manta ray. There was a lot of time to explore and relax before heading back up the hill and over to the inlet where the boat was.
We sailed over to a safe place to spend the night. The weather was closing in, so there was a rush to get there quickly. Sam’s dinners were delicious. Sunsets were gorgeous.
On Wednesday we visited a couple of snorkelling spots. Our taciturn capitain mentioned them, but didn’t show us on the map, so it’s hard to remember if it was Butterfly Bay, Nara Inlet or elsewhere. All the guests and Sam were so happy it didn’t really matter.
It was a fantastic snorkelling experience. The gear was great. Buoyancy vests were reassuring.
Tris did know the best locations, and in each bay suggested the best starting and ending places.
Each location was better than the last – the colours of the coral were brighter, and the fish more plentiful.
But the highlight was the last stop. It was seriously like swimming in an aquarium. Completely surrounded by hundreds of bright yellow and blue fish. We saw a turtle, more rays and beautiful coral. We all could have stayed there for ages – this really is a bucket list item.
On the last day we stopped off at the sand spit of Langford Reef for a last little wander and swim. We didn’t gear up for this. BYO goggles were great here.
This was also the site of the infamous shell massacre, where Tris decreed they were all ugly and knocked them over. This one survived.
Gear
I bought a GoPro specifically to film underwater. I had a small practice at home and thought it would be fine. Nope. The battery quickly depleted and wouldn’t recharge. On the far side of the islands there was no phone reception, so even though I had saved the user guide locally as a PDF, I couldn’t Google any solutions. Who’d a thunk that you needed to remove the memory card to fix a charging issue, and that battery removal wasn’t enough?
Although the advertising said there were USB outlets in each cabin, these weren’t turned on unless motoring. So all guests ended up joggling for a single USB outlet next to the controls… Definitely should have brought a juicy portable charger.
I also had an underwater phone protector dry bag as fallback, which was great for the beach, but didn’t feel comfortable going snorkelling with. Although clear, it did impact the photos, and was a little hard to use. So a working GoPro would be best for underwater.
Hat, sunscreen, sunshirt and shoes (plus photography gear) are all you really need. Coffee and soft drinks were provided, but you could bring your own alcohol for the esky.
Summary
Sailboats are a wonderful way to explore the Great Barrier Reef.
Go for at least 1 night so that you can really relax and enjoy the experience.
It’s nice to take a few photos, but when you don’t have a camera you can just focus on enjoying the beauty.
That last snorkelling spot was beyond anything I could have imagined – seriously like being inside an aquarium.
Go now, before climate change and warming oceans cause further harm to the beautiful reef and sea life. You’ll love it.
