My first adventure of 2016 was a five day trip to Airlie Beach. Airlie Beach is located in North Queensland and is the gateway to The Whitsunday Islands, aka blue heaven. The Whitsundays are made up of over 70 islands but the ones you are most likely to know are Daydream, Hamilton and Hayman. These islands are developed with luxury resorts are a familiar to the rich and famous.
I had high expectations of crystal clear skies and waters and our trip did not disappoint. Every day was perfectly sunny, hot and humid. Our first day included a day trip out to Daydream Island and Hamilton Island. Daydream Island was practically just the resort. The resort have incorporated their surroundings in to the resort through their very incredible "living reef" which is an artificial reef with stingrays, reef sharks, coral and fish that pans throughout most of the property. As it was stinger (jellyfish) season you needed to borrow a stinger suit to swim in the ocean water so we just stuck to sun baking by the pool - this was meant to be a more relaxing day trip after all. The next stop was Hamilton Island which was much the same, resorts and not much else. We had a quick lunch and then headed straight to see Catseye Beach. It was the same situation of needing stinger suits to swim in the water so we just stuck to swimming close by the shore. The water was crystal clear but very warm as it was so hot and 100% humidity. We had a quick swim at the Beach Club before heading back to Airlie. To be honest I had higher expectations of Hamilton Island and was a bit disappointed. I'm not sure exactly why. I know that I wouldn't spend the money it would cost to stay there when there are so many other places to see with more things to do.
The absolute highlight of the trip was an overnight sail cruise we did on the SV Whitehaven. We had a full day snorkelling on the reef in the clearest of waters seeing the most spectacular coral and fish. When snorkelling it wasn't hard to get lost in imagining how cool it would be to be a mermaid and live under the sea, just like Ariel in 'The Little Mermaid'. And the the coral, the coral! I can't tell you enough how much of an amazing natural wonder it is! The shapes! The colours! The texture! The gorgeous yellows, greens and pinks that line the ocean floor in which the multi-coloured fish swim over the top to create a most wonderful contrast is just like magic to the wanna-be-mermaid soul. The photos don't do this incredible environment any justice. You need to see it with you're own eyes to be truly touched.
After the day of next-level snorkelling we anchored to watch the sunset and carry on with dinner, drinks and forging new friendships. The next morning started at the crack of sunrise with us setting off to explore world famous Whitehaven Beach. Did you know that Whitehaven Beach has some of the purest, whitest sand in the world?! I didn't. The sand is so pure in fact that NASA are the only organisation to have permission to remove sand to use in their satellite dish reflectors....! Walking through Hill Inlet, to make another movie reference, is similar to Leo walking through the jungle and finding the beach in 'The Beach'. Queue Moby's Porcelain. And there you are, standing on a wooden look out, starring straight into the bluest of blue water that is met with the whitest of white sand surrounded by an untouched tropical island. After taking it all in, 'being in the moment' and getting a few pics for Insta it was time to hit the beach. The sand felt like powder under your feet, the softest sand I have ever felt, and the water, was warm and clear as day. Spending three hours frolicking on Whitehaven Beach was no hard task. It was by far and beyond the most spectacular beach I have ever been to.
After setting sail back to port in Airlie Beach it was time to shower, nap, get ready and go out and cement the great friendships already made on the boat. The shenanigans wrapped up in the early morning hours like all great backpacker-cheap unexpected nights do. And I wouldn't have had it any other way.
I would encourage anyone and everyone to visit the Great Barrier Reef/The Whitsundays. This was my second Great Barrier Reef experience and I can't wait to go back and do it all over again. I would also encourage you to invest your money on getting out and exploring the reef rather than spending it on sterile hotel experiences. You won't regret it!
