The Whitsundays

Australia

Seventy-four islands in the heart of the Great Barrier Reef — short passages, warm water, the reef beyond.

The Whitsundays are seventy-four islands set into the heart of the Great Barrier Reef — fringing coral, deep sheltered channels, and beaches that hold their colour long after the light has gone. Charter here and the archipelago opens slowly: a morning at anchor off a quiet bay, a crossing to the reef at slack water, an afternoon walked out along the sand at Whitehaven. The distances are short and the water is warm. Days move between snorkelling the outer reef, drifting through Hill Inlet as the tide turns the sand to silk, and evenings held at anchor while the islands settle into dark.

THE ISLANDS

Seventy-four islands in sheltered passage water, with the reef beyond. Distances are short — every anchorage is within a morning’s cruise of the last.

Whitehaven Beach

Seven kilometres of near-pure silica off Whitsunday Island. The sand stays cool underfoot; at anchor off the southern end, it is often yours alone.

The white sand and turquoise shallows of Whitehaven from the air

Hill Inlet

The swirling sands at Whitehaven’s northern end, at their best toward low tide from the Tongue Point lookout.

Two guests in snorkelling masks ready to swim the reef

The outer reef

Bait and Hardy Reefs lie a morning’s run seaward. Snorkel the coral walls at slack water; Heart Reef is a short flight over.

A superyacht at anchor under a forested island headland

Hook and Hayman

Nara Inlet’s deep, fjord-still reach; Blue Pearl Bay’s fringing coral off Hayman. Anchorages that hold calm through a southerly.

Guests on the tender crossing to the yacht

Getting there

Fly into Hamilton Island or Proserpine; the transfer is arranged and you are aboard within the hour.

The galley

A private chef provisions for the passage — reef fish, Bowen mangoes, whatever the season holds.

THE WHITSUNDAYS, DAY BY DAY

Seventy-four islands and the reef beyond — the outline our concierge begins from.

DAY ONE
Airlie — Cid Harbour
Depart Airlie Beach, lunch underway, and a protected first night in Cid Harbour.
DAY TWO
Whitehaven
The silica sands at low tide, Hill Inlet from the lookout, sunset at anchor off the beach.

ON THE WATER

A charter through the Whitsundays is shaped by the reef and the tides. The crew know the anchorages that stay calm through a southerly, the hours when Whitehaven empties, and the channels that carry you to the outer reef and back before dusk. Snorkel gear, tenders, and paddleboards are ready on deck — the day forms around the water and the weather, not a timetable.

Aerial view of tenders crossing sunlit water past a wooded island headland

At anchor among the islands, the Whitsundays

ITINERARIES

The archipelago rewards time on board. Three ways to take it, from a single day to the full passage.

Two guests walking the sand at Whitehaven with boats at anchor offshore

One day — Whitehaven

South down the passage early, anchored off Whitehaven before the day boats arrive. Lunch on board, the afternoon on the sand, back through Fitzalan Passage by dusk.