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Airlie Beach, Queensland Australia

Where

You’ll find the coastal village of Airlie Beach about halfway between the two major towns of McKay and Townsville. It’s also about halfway up the Queensland coast on the map just south and east of Proserpine.

Airlie Beach is considered the mainland center to the Whitsunday Islands. It’s a holiday haven with an abundance of things to do. There are walking trails and daily 4WD tours through the Conway Range National Forest where you’ll find lush valleys, waterfalls and streams flowing through some of the world's oldest continuously surviving tropical rainforest.

Things To Do

As the name implies, Airlie Beach has some great beaches. Funnel Bay, about 2 ½ miles from the village, is particularly beautiful. Further north is Earlando and Dingo Beaches, both favorites of the locals for fishing and beachcombing.

If you’re a golfer you won’t want to miss an opportunity to play the championship Turtle Point Golf Course at Laguna Quays Resort. Truly a golf course in paradise!

After dark Airlie Beach really comes alive. The Whitsunday area is home to an amazing cross-section of cultures from all around the world, which is reflected in its atmosphere, especially the food. You’ll find incredible culinary flavors of Indian, Italian, Cajun, European and Asian origins. Not surprisingly, many of the restaurants specialize in fresh local seafood.

Places To See, Things To Do

Just south of Airlie Beach is Shute Harbour. Palm and Happy Bay are the nearest safe anchorages to Shute Harbour and therefore a popular spot for yachts. From Shute Harbour you can take boats out through the Whitsunday Islands. Best of all, take along a Champaign brunch and stop off at one of the secluded islands.

Seaplanes and helicopters can also take you to the islands and on out to the Great Barrier Reef for a day of exploration.

Lindeman Island

One of our favorite islands is Lindeman Island. A small but beautiful Club Med Resort on the island can cater to your every need. The resort itself takes up a very small part of the island and the rest is all National Park covering an area of about 12 miles. There are almost 14 miles of walking trails through untouched bushland. One of the walks takes you to the top of Mt. Oldfield where you’ll get a spectacular 360-degree view of the surrounding islands. On a clear day you can see many of the islands in the Whitsunday Island group.

From Lindeman you can take dinghies to a number of the surrounding islands for a day of total seclusion and personal paradise.

Great Barrier Reef

Seeing the Whitsunday Islands and the Great Barrier Reef from the air has got to be one of the most spectacular ways to see the wonders of Mother Nature at her best. Flights typically leave early in the morning from Shute Harbour.

Our plane took off a little before dawn: the sun just rising as we passed over Hamilton Island. My view from the copilot’s seat had me speechless. The beauty was almost overwhelming as the suns golden rays lit up the morning clouds above and the islands below.

Most seaplane and helicopter operators combine the flights with a day of reef viewing from glass-bottomed boats. After circling the reef while listening to an explanation of its origin you land on the water and taxi to an awaiting boat.

Glass panels run the length of the boats on either side providing you an excellent, up close experience you won’t soon forget. Once acquainted with the marina life during a brief tour around the lagoon you strap on a pair of flippers, mask and snorkel and go check it out for yourself.

Fish of every color, shape and size swim right up to your mask to check you out. Once they're bored and move on, the next group swims in to peer in through your mask. You're almost obligated to swat them out of your way so you take in the sights around you.

There is so much to take in and see and at times you find yourself almost forgetting to breathe. More that once Linda and I found ourselves gulping air as we remembered that breathing was a fairly essential part of the human bodies survival process.

Airlie Beach... A "Must Do"

So, if you’re intrigued by Australia, you love a warm climate, you’re into scuba diving or snorkeling and you want an experience you’ll remember for the rest of you life, you’d better pencil in Australia’s Airlie Beach as a “must go” place to see.