On my last full day in Airlie Beach I went on a trip out to the islands. I went out with Ocean Rafting, as I had been told it was one of the best and one of the cheapest. They operate fast zodiacs out amongst the islands. When I say fast I mean almost 30 kts!
We left at about ten, and after a short stop on Daydream Island we powered out to Whitsunday Island. We disembarked in Tongue Inlet for a walk up to the lookout over Whitehaven Beach.
The water was crystal clear, the sun hot, the sky blue, the company fun. It was a great day. I sat on the yellow inflatable bit for most of the ride. They have little straps you can hang onto. Quite fun!
We walked up to the viewpoint for the extraordinary view of the extraordinary beach.
This is what we saw.
At low tide, that whole inlet dries out, and the swirling sandbars surface out of the sea. It is a pretty spectacular view that was worth the trip out just to see!
We descended to the tongue of sand you see on the left of the picture for lunch and a hang out. For scale, that was probably almost a kilometer long from the base around the corner!
We descended to the pure white sand beach. It is almost pure silica which is what gives it it's unique color and texture. Also strange is the fact that it doesnt even get warm even in the hot sun!
Here are a variety of views from the couple hours on the beach we had.
It is an amazing place, and if anyone ever even considers going to the Whitsundays and not seeing this, they are crazy people.
We left the beach after a sumptuous lunch and headed to the north end of Hook Island for some snorkeling. I only went in at the first of the two sites, as it was freezing cold for me, and I have seen a substantial amount of fishies up in Cairns.
I did see some really cool fish I had never seen before, notably several massive Maori Wrasse. Search it on google images.
After that we rode back, a nice relaxing ride under the dimming rays of the late afternoon sun.
Airlie Beach looked nice on the way back in.
That was my amazing day out in the islands. It was pretty spectacular, and I highly recommend it!
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