Best Whitsunday Islands Vacation

Whitehaven Beach, world famous for pure white sand and clear waters is a dream come true. Secluded beaches, on the outskirts of coral reefs, with distinctive hoop pines and spectacular island views. This is one of the places travel magazines show to entice you to travel to far away tropical vacations.

Best Dream Vacation, Whitsunday Australia

These ancient Aboriginal lands, home to the Ngaro people for maybe as long as 9000 years ago. These islands, off Queensland’s coast, are anywhere from 10–40km south-east of Airlie Beach. Emerald-green islands sparkling in an aquamarine ocean and bright white beaches are part of the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area.

For hikers, Whitsunday Ngaro Sea Trail is a unique blend of Seaways and picturesque walks. It’s beautiful and if hikers make a bucket list this should be on it for its views. Typhoons affect the landscape, so expect changes.

Our trip

We booked our trip to Whitsunday through the Coral Sea Resort hotel, walked to the marina and boarded the boat below. We booked a Whitehaven trip, to Hill Inlet lookout for Snorkelling and Diving through the hotel.

There was plenty to see along the way.

Coral Sea – Aquamarine Water

Early Morning, Entering Whitehaven

Arriving the Beach

The more I think about the trip, the more I know words can’t describe how beautiful it is here.

A Dream Vacation

Celebrating with my toes in the water and my feet in the sky – I couldn’t believe I had made it to this amazing island location. Now, this is a vacation destination! Some people get here by private plane, which must have a great view, others come by private boats or charters.

One interesting point to note, the light changes here throughout the day and this affects the colors of the water and the sky, probably due to the reflection and effect of the white hard backed beaches.

Lunch

Our guide made us lunch, a barbecue. Australians love their ‘bar-bies’! It was delicious. Some of the guests had ordered fish in advance, they ate barbecued fish but most of us had sausage and salads. The best part of lunch was our entertaining cook and guide, who told hilarious stories and the uninvited guests.

Dish’er ‘up

He plopped food on the plate, and as you can see Australian’s are meat eaters, and serve large portions of food. They love their meat. There are vegans too, but, today, this meal, fit the ‘meat eater’ stereotype.

Special Guests

Suddenly, our uninvited guests showed up. They were little thieves. It was a troupe of Goanna, not just one, but many kept appearing. They were stealth, smart and mischievous. The goanna just kept appearing. I felt a little scared when they darted by me. Be forewarned, they will steal your food if they get the chance. Goannas are really fast. They might look slow until there is food in the mix. I kept my distance while others tried to encourage them.

The guide warned us – guard your food. No matter where I went they were there. One goanna was staking me, I think it felt my fear.

The uninvited guests are wild Monitor Lizards (watch the video to get the feeling) – or also known as Goanna. One of the many famous animals that makes Australia, unique.

Hit the Beach

Time to skip the food and hit the beach.

Our beach had fine sand. In the Whitsundays, every beach’s sand is a little different. But remember, don’t take the sand, its silica.

Hill Inlet

We went to Hill Inlet Lookout and Whitsunday Island Reefs.

Hill Inlet is a short hike to the lookout. Our spot was like arriving in heaven, with gorgeous views. Below is a striking mix of aqua and white sand swirls. The island’s famous sands shift through the waters, creating beautiful designs.

Whitest Sand

Here is where the purest, the most pristine white beach of the purest silica sand in the world. In fact, it’s so pure, our guide claimed it was used to manufacture the glass for the Hubble Telescope (probably a myth). Nevertheless, the sand is unique, it looks, feels and smells different from the other beaches in the Whitsundays.

Probably it is special because it is finest, purest sand, and silica. If you’ve never heard about this special sand, by walking on it, immediately it feels very different than other beaches. Walking on the sand, it sounds very different than other beaches. This sand crackles, it doesn’t crunch. The dry sand crackles, when walking across it, as if walking on fine broken glass.

Don’t take the Sand

By the way, don’t take the sand, coral or shells, they won’t let you leave the country with them and if discovered, and it will be noted on your Australian Visa travel record. It’s considered to be a national treasure, similar to taking a piece of the Statue of Liberty. Oh Yes, a Visa is needed to visit Australia if you are American and for others. Check out the Australian Visa Rules, here is the scoop on Australian Visa Policies. Australian immigration has strict tourism policies. They don’t want people to overstay their Visa. A country this beautiful tempts the tourist to stay forever.

In every direction, each view is as magnificent as all the others

As we looked out to the water, we realized those dots were people. This is a once in a lifetime destination, Australians are so lucky to have this continent!

Breathtaking Views

After we enjoyed a delicious lunch, and snorkeling, diving was still to come. Have I said, I love Australia, well I do. I would love to live there and see the whole continent. Maybe, someday, I can travel for a year in Australia, and still, I wouldn’t see all of its beautiful destinations.

Here is an idea for capturing the beauty and your impression of places like this when you are traveling.