Family tour Part 10: Whitsunday Coast

From Brisbane down to Gold Coast, then up to Sunshine Coast, now we flew even higher up north to Whitsunday Coast! Haha. :P Whitsunday Coast is popular for its picturesque scenes of white sandy beaches, in particular the Whitehaven beach.

Because the flight and resort accommodation in the beaches are more expensive, we stayed on Whitsunday Coast itself, the Airlie beach. Airlie beach town is so small; you can walk from one end of the street to the other in a mere 15-20 minutes. That also shows how boring it is. :P Although there is also a lagoon there, I guess most people (like us) stay on Airlie beach but cruise to other islands to enjoy the water activities and splendid breathtaking views.

Shute Harbour from Lion's Lookout at Airlie beach

Abel Point Marina harbour at Airlie beach

Airlie beach lagoon #1

Airlie beach lagoon #2

Airlie beach #1

Airlie beach #2

Airlie beach #3

The apartment we stayed - Coral Sea Vista - totally recommended!

Because we arrived at Whitsunday Coast on Christmas day, most of the shops in the town were closed, including supermarkets and McDonald's! :( Hence, we were only able to cook fried instant noodles that night for dinner but Chin Fei did a magnificient job by writing a message on the scrambled egg. Who says a good Christmas dinner needs a turkey? :P

There is also a Saturday community market in Airlie beach.

While everyone were busy queueing up to purchase items on Boxing Day stocktake sale, we were enjoying ourselves on a luxury cruise to Whitehaven beach, Hook Island and Daydream Island. For once, I felt like I was so rich because the service in the cruise was awesome! I expected just sandwiches for lunch but boy, this cruise serves biscuits and cakes with coffee or tea for morning tea, fried chicken wings, fried rice, mashed potato, buns etc for lunch and tonnes of fruits like watermelon, honeydew, paw paw etc for afternoon tea to rejuvenate our exhausted mind and body after snorkelling in Long Island.

Alwin lazing on the couch in the cruise

What we saw on our cruise ride:

Notice the resort on the island

What we saw and did at our destinations:


1. Whitehaven beach

Dad getting down from the cruise

We had to wear stingers suit to prevent being stung by jellyfish because it was the jellyfish season

Mum and dad enjoying in the water

Squeezing dry our stinger suits before boarding the cruise

Leaving Whitehaven beach

2. Long Island

We snorkelled in Hook Island but unfortunately there isn't any pictures of the fish or corals because we did not have any underwater camera. Haha. :P But, honestly, the although there were lots of different fish, they weren't as colourful as those found in Pulau Redang, Malaysia. A lot of coral were dying off also which is quite a pity or else it would have been much more beautiful.

Snorkelling time!!

One of the cruise staff fed the fish pieces of bread when we were snorkelling. I was quite scared because although I know they can't bite, there were a lot swimming right in front of my face which was a bit scary!

Pictures taken from above the water:

BIG fish!

3. Daydream Island

There isn't many things to do in Daydream island because this island is popular for its water activities and spa. We did not do those but explored around the island instead.

Coconut trees everywhere! What a paradise! :)

After visiting those paradise beaches, the Conway National Park seemed so uninteresting. Haha. :P We drove into the national park, hoping to take a photo with Cedar Creek Falls but disappointingly, because there wasn't any rain for quite some time, there wasn't a waterfall but a lake there. :(

Standing in front of the place which was supposed to be the waterfall

Dad taking a picture of the lake

Okay, now that I have finally blogged about Whitsunday Coast, do you reckon I can be the island caretaker employed by Australia which is deemed to be the best job in the world? Hmm... :P