Experience the best of The Whitsundays & Hamilton Island

The Whitsundays are a cluster of islands in the Coral Sea off Queensland's central coast, scattered in the sheltered water between the mainland and the outer Great Barrier Reef. Most are rugged, forested national parks, and a few hold resorts. Hamilton Island, the busiest, has its own airport, a marina and hill roads where golf buggies are the main way to get about.

Whitehaven Beach, on Whitsunday Island, runs for about seven kilometres of pure white silica sand, and the Hill Inlet lookout above it looks over swirling sand and tidal water in shades of turquoise. Boats and sailing yachts leave from the mainland ports of Airlie Beach and Shute Harbour, and day trips reach the outer reef and Heart Reef, a heart-shaped coral formation best seen from the air.

Coral trout and prawns are the local seafood, and sailing is the main way to see the islands. Captain Cook sailed through the Whitsunday Passage in 1770 and gave the channel its name, and humpback whales visit the waters in winter.