If Covid has taught us anything about travel, it’s that our own backyard is incredible and a great place to explore. If you are ocean inclined, a great winter escape is the Whitsundays. A group of friends and I recently chartered a catamaran from Airlie Beach and we were all pleasantly surprised at how accessible the experience was. It sounds bougie, and don’t get me wrong, it easily could have been, but we all agreed that the Whitsundays could be as luxurious or as intrepid as you wanted it to be.
While, we were lucky to have friends amongst us who were experienced sailors/lovers of mucking around on boats, no prior experience or licences were required to set sail. We provisioned, and oh-goodness did we provision at the local Airlie Beach supermarket, fish shop (in case the fish weren’t biting…and they weren’t) and bottle shops before we left. This was the most mentally challenging part of the trip. “Will I need a bottle of Rose, and margaritas each day?”.
We were given a very thorough briefing and sailing instruction at the Coral Sea Marina and after that we were on our own. Can I tell you, there is nothing more glorious and satisfying, than raising the sails, cutting the engine, hearing the decibels drop aboard a boat you have full control over. The catamaran remained true to its reputation of being a “champagne sailor”, calmly cutting though the water in winds over 20knots. Even those on board who hadn’t yet discovered their sea legs, found the boat made the passages between islands comfortable, and exhilarating at the same time.
We made a point of anchoring or mooring at different spots over the course of our seven-day trip. This including a brief day stop over at Hamilton Island to pick up an additional crew member and to restock the esky. We answered the rose question – “yes- you will need a an extra bottle, as well as margaritas”.
These were our favourite spots/highlights:
- Whitehaven Beach. It’s voted ‘Best Beach in the World in 2021 by Travellers Choice’ for a reason. We anchored up there early one morning and cooked up a full breakfast, followed by a long walk on the pristine white sands before the high-speed tourist boats turned up with crowds of people. Having that stretch of sand to ourselves was magical. Later that day, it was the backdrop for the kite-boarders on board. 10/10
- Mooring up at Tongue Bay and walking up to the lookout across Whitehaven. It’s a postcard personified. This sheltered bay is where all the turtles hang out. I think we may have witnessed some turtle romance? It had a very David Attenborough feel about it.
- The best free dive we had was at Phantom’s Cave. This is the spot to see Manta Ray.
- Our favourite stand-up paddle board spot was Turtle Bay. It lived up to its name. Turtle heaven.
- If you crave that feeling of being where humans aren’t, I highly recommend anchoring up at Neck Bay, take the short walk through the “neck” and pretend you’re on an episode of Survivor.
Hot tips:-
- Don’t be frightened about raising the sails and giving it a go. The boats are very user friendly and forgiving if you don’t quite know how to trim a sail or know the difference between a headsail and a mainsail.
- When provisioning – take lots of snacks, don’t rely catching fish (we only caught one!), stock up well at Airlie Beach (the shops on Hamilton are fine, but a little exie), and you will need an extra bottle of wine in case of emergencies.
- Pack tights and a rashie for swimming– stinger suits are recommended, but oh so unattractive.
- Expect little things to crop up with the boat. Boating is like that. Accept it as part of the challenge, the charter companies are usually pretty good at sorting out anything major.
- Don’t go crazy with the packing. It’s fairly warm up there, even in winter. Save the room for activities gear. Maybe take one slightly dressier outfit if you plan on calling into a resort, a light jumper for the evenings, multiple pairs of bikinis/boardies and the rest – light clothes for keeping the sun off. The charter companies usually provide wet weather gear.
- Expect patchy cellphone coverage. Download enough music to listen to while you’re cruising, but otherwise it’s an enforced digital detox. Bliss.
