Airlie Beach
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Airlie Beach

Airlie Beach

Tropical Queensland coastal town and main sailing gateway to the Whitsunday Islands and Whitehaven Beach.

Airlie Beach is the gateway to the Whitsunday Islands, a small coastal town in tropical North Queensland that exists almost entirely to get people onto boats. The main strip is a short stretch of bars, tour booking offices, backpacker hostels, and dive shops, with a man-made lagoon pool on the foreshore that compensates for the stinger-season swimming restrictions.

The town itself is not the attraction — the Whitsundays are. Day trips and overnight sailing tours depart daily to Whitehaven Beach (consistently rated among the world's best), the fringing reefs of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, and the 74 islands of the archipelago. Most visitors spend a night or two in Airlie Beach before and after their island time.

The atmosphere is young, relaxed, and firmly backpacker-oriented, though the marina development at Abel Point has brought some upmarket dining and accommodation. The surrounding area offers bushwalks through Conway National Park and views over the Coral Sea from the hilltops above town.

Guide

Getting There

The nearest airport is at Proserpine (Whitsunday Coast Airport), about 25 minutes south of Airlie Beach, with flights from Brisbane, Sydney, and Melbourne. Hamilton Island also has an airport with more frequent services — from there, a ferry crosses to the mainland at Shute Harbour, and a short bus ride completes the trip to Airlie Beach.

Greyhound and Premier Motor Service coaches stop in Airlie Beach on the coastal run between Brisbane and Cairns. The drive from Brisbane takes about 12 hours; from Cairns about 8 hours.

Guide

Things to Do

Airlie Beach itself is small — the real attractions are offshore. The town centre is a half-kilometre strip along Shute Harbour Road, with the Lagoon at one end providing a stinger-free public swimming pool right on the foreshore. From the marina at Abel Point, sailing tours and dive boats leave daily for the Whitsundays — most visitors come for Whitehaven Beach, the powder-silica beach on Whitsunday Island that is consistently ranked among the best in the world, and the fringing reefs of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.

For walks and views, Conway National Park climbs into the rainforest above town, and the short Honeyeater Lookout track delivers a panoramic outlook over the Coral Sea. The Bicentennial Boardwalk runs along the foreshore from the Lagoon to Cannonvale. North of the marina, the Whitsunday Sailing Club sits at the edge of the bay, while sunset drinks at one of the foreshore bars look directly out over the islands.