Whitsundays Tours from Airlie Beach By Land, Sea & Air
A Must Visit Queensland Road Trip Destination
The Whitsundays
The main reason for visiting Airlie Beach is for heading out on Whitsundays tours to see the Whitsundays, an incredible collection of 74 islands off the Queensland Coast.
Whitsundays is known as The Heart of The Great Barrier Reef for its amazing stretch of coral reefs and white sand beaches.
You are spoilt for choice when it comes to having multiple ways to explore The Whitsundays out of Airlie Beach.
Lucky for you, I explored all land, sea, and air options and here are my Go With Gabbs recommendations for Whitsundays Tours From Airlie Beach:
Whitsundays Tour Bookings
When considering booking any Whitsundays tours from Airlie Beach, head to Nomads or Base hostel.
They have a vast variety of options for Whitsundays tours depending on what you wish to experience and how much you want to spend.
There are plenty of other travel agencies and tour bookings along the Airlie Beach main road. Although bear in mind, Nomads and Base will often price match or beat quotes.
Whitsunday Islands
Whitsunday Island National Park is a guaranteed tour stop of any company tour. You can access the Whitsunday Island by sailing day tour where you will spend the day on Whitehaven beach.
Or, you can visit as one of many stops on any of the Whitsunday Sailing tours over two or three nights.
Whitehaven Beach
Whitehaven Beach is one of the most beautiful, breathtaking beaches I have ever been lucky enough to visit. It is clear as day why this is one of the most visited and photographed beaches in Australia.
You can get to Whitehaven Beach by visiting Whitsunday Island National Park by boat.
Alongside the beach, it has Hill Inlet lookout point and a bush walk between one side of the island to the other.
Make sure to grab a photo on the famous sea bleached tree – bought in by a cyclone a few years ago and now the number 1 photo for anyone on tinder or hinge in Airlie Beach!
Whitehaven has the whitest sand I have ever seen with 95% Silica. This white sand can only be found on Whitsunday Island.
The sand is so rare if you are caught taking any from Whitehaven Beach, the Australian Government will fine you $10,000 on the spot!
The water is really shallow – Learn from Steve Irwin and watch out for the Stingrays in the morning as they rest on the sand and blend in pretty well. I was lucky enough to see around 15 of them in one morning!
Just a head ups…. small bull sharks (that are harmless-ish) also swim in the water but keep out of their way and you will be fine…
Every Airlie Beach Whitsundays tour will have Whitehaven Beach as a guaranteed destination.
Whitsunday Tours From Airlie Beach
Whitsundays Boat Tours
True Blue Sailing & The Atlantic Clipper
Whitsundays Sailing Adventures
Sail the Whitsundays with True Blue sailing – The Atlantic Clipper, for backpackers it’s the one to book.
Although not a booze cruise, The Atlantic Clipper is known for its party atmosphere and the people onboard are up for some fun whilst exploring the incredible surroundings.
The Whitsunday Cruise is a two-night – three-day tour is priced at $379.00 for shared accommodation. This include all food, excursions, stinger suits and snorkel gear in the price.
The boat also includes two slides & a spa pool on the top deck. BYO Alcohol is also allowed.
Scuba Diving Whitsundays
The Clipper has an amazing crew on board with two dive masters. They also offer the opportunity to scuba dive for an additional $75 for a 30-minute dive.
I was extremely lucky, I was unexpectedly surprised with a free dive by the amazing Clipper team.
This was only because I met the lovely owner of True Blue Sailing’s niece in Vietnam two years previously and she sneakily found out I was on board!
If you can afford it – it’s so worth swimming and diving between the reefs. Snorkelling was beautiful, but a completely different experience being amongst it as opposed to seeing from above.
Overall, in backpacker prime non-Covid times, The Clipper would be sold out months in advance.
For the Covid 19 Era (Nov 2020) we were the first full boat of the year. I would go on The Clipper again in a heartbeat.
The only thing I didn’t rate was the 6.30 am wake up call both mornings with the annoying songs blasting through the tannoy!
The food onboard was prepared fresh by the crew for each meal and was such a good feed! I am not sure what I expected but it went beyond what I could have hoped for.
There was always more food left than not so of course a lot of the lads on board helped themselves to seconds.
Onboard the crew were aware of any allergies, vegetarian and vegan requirements and catered well for anyone on board.
The Atlantic Clipper
If you want a fun, lively tour, True Blue Sailing (Who also own Horizon Sailing Adventure) are the Whitsundays boat tour for you.
The Clipper Departs Tues, Thurs & Saturdays at 2 pm
Book direct through their website.
Alternative Whitsundays Tours Boats
Habibi Sailing Whitsundays
The boat named Habibi was built by its owner Robbie in 1988. The boat tours The Whitsundays & specialised in snorkelling and guided tours.
Onboard you can view incredible sunsets, enjoy a relaxed bbq in the evenings. The Habibi boat in comparison to The Clipper has a more chilled vibe and attracts a calmer crowd.
Habibi Sailing cruise is also a cheaper alternative priced at $230 for a two-day tour.
The boat departs Monday, Wednesday & Friday.
My good friend Jack (Dumble) is one of the tour guides for the boat, say hello from me – he will make sure to look after you!
You can book through their website here.
Whitsundays Scenic Flight
Fly Australia Charter – Whitsundays Islands and Reef Scenic Flight
I booked my scenic flight after recommendations from friends and it was incredible!
Being made Co-Pilot was slightly scary should anything go wrong, but sitting up front made the excited little girl in me come out!
Luckily we were in safe hands, our pilot was knowledgeable and made us all feel safe. The plane is only a small seaplane after all, so it was a little nerve-wracking!
I booked my flight through the website BookMe:
There was a COVID Discount applied which meant the flight cost $179.00 as opposed to the usual base $250+ depending on what time and day you choose.
Seeing all the Whitsunday Islands from the air honestly was the highlight of my time in both Airlie Beach & The Whitsundays.
Heart Of The Reef
Spotting dugongs and dolphins in the water surrounding the reefs and seeing the Heart of the Sea reef is only something you can experience from the air.
If you do any tour of the Whitsundays, make sure to take a scenic flight.
If Covid has achieved anything positive in the tourism industry for Queensland, it’s making The Whitsundays a must-visit destination for oversea visitors, backpackers and now Australians too.
Who needs to travel to the Maldives when Aussies have something as stunning as this in their back garden.
Go With Gabbs To Airlie Beach
A Week in Airlie Beach – Queensland Road Trip
