Airlie Beach for First-Timers: The Marinas, the Free Pool and the Islands

Quick facts

• Admission: none. The town, the lagoon, the boardwalk and the beaches are free.
• The lagoon: open every day, 4:30am to 6pm, with lifeguards all year.
• Where boats leave: Coral Sea Marina, the Port of Airlie and Shute Harbour.
• Where flights leave: Whitsunday Airport at Flametree, not the airline airport.
• Getting in: about 20 minutes' drive off the Bruce Highway at Proserpine.
• In the sea: a stinger suit, in any month.

What you pay for when nothing has a gate

Nobody sells a ticket to Airlie Beach. What you book is a day out of it, and the choice is wide: rafts, catamarans, sailboats, a jet ski, small planes and a helicopter. Searching for Airlie Beach guided tours turns up days that sell very different things for similar money, so it helps to see them side by side by kind.

Read the table as a map of intents. The boat days are where the classic picture lives: white sand, the swirl at Hill Inlet, a snorkel. The flights show you the reef from above in an hour. The short trips fill a morning or an evening around them. Private charters sit apart, priced per group of up to eight from $2,769. All of it is compared on Airlie Beach tours to Whitehaven Beach and Airlie Beach boat tours.

Getting there

Most visitors fly. Whitsunday Coast Airport at Proserpine is about 40 minutes from town, and buses and taxis meet every flight. The other airport is on Hamilton Island, with ferries across to Airlie Beach. Queensland Rail's Spirit of Queensland stops at Proserpine, and coaches run into town. If you drive, Airlie Beach is about 20 minutes off the Bruce Highway along Shute Harbour Road.

The names trip people up. Whitsunday Airport at Flametree is the airfield the scenic flights and the helicopter use, and it is not the one your airline flies to. Book your flights to the right one, and your taxi to the right one too. The routes in detail are on the how to get to Airlie Beach page.

The town on foot

The centre of town is the Airlie Beach Lagoon, a free public pool on the foreshore of about 4,000 square metres. It is stinger-free all year, with lifeguards on duty. There is a toddlers' wading pool, a children's pool up to 1.5 m deep and a larger one up to 2 m, with grass, barbecues and playgrounds around them.

From the lagoon, the Bicentennial Walkway runs more than five kilometres along the water to Cannonvale Beach, past the marina. The town has three main beaches: Cannonvale, Airlie Beach and Boathaven, which has a stinger net in the summer months. For a climb, the Honeyeater Lookout track is a 5 km round trip through forest to views over the islands. On Saturday mornings the Lions run a community market on the foreshore. The full list is on the things to do in Airlie Beach page.

The three harbours

Where your day starts matters more than it looks, because the three departure points are spread out. Coral Sea Marina, a short walk from town, is the busiest, with meeting points at its northern and southern ends. Most rafts, fast catamarans, jet skis and overnight sailboats leave from there. Check which end your ticket names: the Northern Village and the South Village are a walk apart.

The Port of Airlie is the other harbour in town. Cruise Whitsundays' terminal is there, and so is the sunset sail. Shute Harbour sits about 10 km further along the road, with its own marine terminal and bus transfers from town. Every meeting point is marked on the departure map.

What the boats ask you to bring, and to leave behind

A few rules catch first-timers out, and they differ by boat. Look for these in your confirmation before you pack.

• Drinks: some fares include them, most do not. Several sailboats let you bring your own, and there is no bottle shop at Coral Sea Marina.
• Glass: the private charters take your own alcohol but no glass, and Prosail's overnight boats say no glass and no red wine.
• Cards: the raft sells drinks on board by credit card only.
• Bags: small and soft. Space on a raft or below deck is tight.
• Suits: most snorkel days hand you a stinger suit or a wetsuit; check yours does.

How long to stay

Three nights is a comfortable first visit. Give one full day to Whitehaven Beach, by raft, catamaran or sail. Keep a morning for something short, a jet ski or a flight, and an evening for the sunset sail or the lagoon. If you have a fourth day, add another island by sail, or a mainland day to the waterfall or the northern beaches.

Leave slack. Boat days and flights both need the weather, and a spare day lets a cancelled trip move instead of vanishing. If you only have one day, see our ocean-raft day, which fits the beach, the lookout and a snorkel into seven hours, or the hour-long scenic flight if the time is shorter still.

When to come

The dry months run from about May to October. In the Bureau of Meteorology's figures for Proserpine, the nearest long-running station, September is the driest month at 17.7 mm and February the wettest at 351.7 mm. Humpback whales are in the waters from around May to September, peaking in August, and August books out earliest.

Stingers are the other calendar. Tourism Whitsundays says they can be in the sea in any month, with the higher risk from October to May, and the standard answer is a suit. The month-by-month detail is on the best time to visit page and the weather page.

The first-timer's shortlist

• The classic day: the ocean-raft day to the beach and the lookout, from $180.
• A thrill in half a day: the guided jet ski, from $93, with hotel pickup.
• The reef from above: the hour-long scenic flight, from $253.
• An evening: the sunset sail on the bay, for your group alone, from $87.

Which islands each boat reaches is set out in the island-by-island guide.

Three ways to fill a first stay

Whitehaven Beach and Hill Inlet Lookout Snorkeling Cruise

Eight hours on a high-speed catamaran, with two snorkel stops, the guided lookout walk above the inlet and about an hour on the beach. Mask and snorkel are in the fare; fins and prescription masks are not.

From $181 per person

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Sunset Sail Cruise Airlie Beach

Two and a half hours under sail on the bay as the sun goes down behind the hills, for your group alone, up to eight. Champagne and canapés are in the fare, and you can take a turn at the helm.

From $87 per person

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Airlie Beach: 3-hour Cedar Creek Small-Group Eco Half-Day Tour

Three hours out to the rainforest swimming hole and back, with about an hour and 40 minutes at the water. Water shoes, pool noodles, banana bread and coffee are in the fare, with an eco-certified guide.

From $68 per person

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