Whitehaven Beach Tours

For most people, a full day that combines the beach, the Hill Inlet lookout and a snorkel stop. Red Cat Adventures' eco-cruise is the most reviewed (4.8 from 3,286, from US$176), with two snorkel stops, a buffet lunch and hotel pickup; Ocean Rafting's fast-boat day (4.8 from 2,457, from US$175) visits both ends of the beach. If you want the longest time on the sand, Cruise Whitsundays' Whitehaven Beach Cruise and Hill Inlet day gives you about six hours there. Three days compared

About an hour on a fast boat and up to two hours under sail, for roughly 33 km across the Whitsunday Passage. The day tours fold the crossing into the day with a snorkel stop or two on the way, so a full day runs seven to eight hours from Airlie Beach, and a sailing day nine or ten. The crossing is in the open water of the passage, so a fast boat can be bumpy on a windy day.

Yes, it is the most popular day out from Airlie Beach. The boats leave from the marinas in town, and several day trips include a bus pickup from your hotel: Red Cat's eco-cruise collects from Airlie Beach, Cannonvale and Jubilee Pocket. Book a day or two ahead in the school holidays; the three trips compared here all cancel free up to 24 hours ahead. Check today's dates

Only by boat or by air: there is no road or ferry service to Whitsunday Island. You can charter or hire a boat, or camp at Queensland Parks' Whitehaven Beach camping area with a boat transfer and a camping permit booked before you arrive. For a day visit, a tour is by far the simplest way, and the price usually includes the national park fees.

Two to three hours on the beach is enough to walk to the lookout, swim and eat lunch, which is what most full-day tours give you. If you want to walk the 7 km beach or simply lie on it, pick a day built around the beach: Cruise Whitsundays' Whitehaven Beach Cruise and Hill Inlet day gives you about six hours there, the longest of the day trips on GetYourGuide. The half-day trips from Hamilton Island give you much less.

Its sand: Queensland Parks says it is 98% silica, which makes it extremely fine, soft and white, along a 7 km beach on an uninhabited national park island. At the northern end, the Hill Inlet lookout shows the tide swirling white sand through turquoise water. Cruise Whitsundays calls it regularly voted Australia's best beach, and you can only reach it by boat or by air.

You can swim all year, but from November to May it is marine stinger season, when box jellyfish and Irukandji are about, so you should swim in a full-body stinger suit; the tours supply them. Swim close to the boats and follow the crew's advice. On very windy days the sea is choppy and some operators move their stops or cancel, which is why free cancellation matters.

The wet season, roughly December to March, brings the most rain, the hottest days and a cyclone risk, and some trips are cancelled for weather. Stinger season runs November to May. The June to July and Christmas school holidays are the busiest. For drier weather and no stinger suit, aim for the dry season, roughly June to October.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, filmed in Queensland in 2015, used Whitehaven Beach for its beach scenes. The production hired the local tour boats for the weeks of filming to keep the beach clear, and brought in palm trees that were taken away afterwards, since the beach is in a national park. The beach also appears in the racing game Forza Horizon 3.

Only by camping. Queensland Parks runs a camping area at Whitehaven Beach, reached by boat only, with tent sites, non-flush toilets and picnic tables but no fires; the permit must be booked before you arrive. Otherwise, people stay on the mainland at Airlie Beach or on Hamilton Island and visit on a day trip, or sleep on board a one- or two-night sailing trip that stops at Whitehaven.

Yes, mainly from Hamilton Island, which is closer: Ocean Rafting's four-hour dash to Whitehaven Beach and the Hill Inlet lookout starts at about US$137. From Airlie Beach most trips are full days, because of the longer crossing. A scenic flight is the other short option: you see Whitehaven Beach, Hill Inlet and Heart Reef from the air in about an hour. The Heart Reef flights

Yes. Ocean Rafting runs two from Hamilton Island: a half-day dash to Whitehaven Beach and the Hill Inlet lookout from about US$137, and a full day with snorkelling from about US$196. Hamilton Island is closer to Whitehaven than Airlie Beach, so the boat time is shorter. If you are staying in Airlie Beach, book one of the Airlie departures above instead.