Whitsunday Islands

juke

Myself and Mr juke are travelling to Oz in September. Planning to fly to the Whitsundays for a few days - was thinking on staying in a hotel for 2 or 3 nights (maybe Hamilton or Arlie) and then chartering a small yacht (Mr juke's a good sailor) for 2 days to explore the islands. As he's such a good sailor, I'm not sure the larger crewed charters (eh tallships etc) would appeal to him.

Anybody any experience of private charters?

Any general opinions of the Whitsundays and where to stay?

Thanks j.

ibh

juke wrote: »

Myself and Mr juke are travelling to Oz in September. Planning to fly to the Whitsundays for a few days - was thinking on staying in a hotel for 2 or 3 nights (maybe Hamilton or Arlie) and then chartering a small yacht (Mr juke's a good sailor) for 2 days to explore the islands. As he's such a good sailor, I'm not sure the larger crewed charters (eh tallships etc) would appeal to him.

Anybody any experience of private charters?

Any general opinions of the Whitsundays and where to stay?

Thanks j.

Depends on the quality of the accomodation you are looking for. I stayed in a hostel but as it was myself and the g-friend we took one of the apartment chalets and it was top class. There is a real backpacker vibe around Airlie Beach which is both good and bad.
We arrived at 6.30am to be greeted on the street by about 5 Celtic Jersey wearing skobies 'on de lash'.

We didn't go for the private charter cause I have no sailing experience but we chose to go with one of the smallest group charters available. It was around $350AUD but there were only 12 or so on the boat (a Catamaran) and the craic was top notch.

I think the benefits of being on a crewed boat is that they have the local knowledge. Good for finding cool deserted beaches for a game of beach cricket, or good snorkeling spots and a nice sheltered place to spend the night when there was a bit of a storm one evening.

The overall opinion I had of Airlie was that it was grand as a means of getting to the Whitsundays, but I wouldn't have spent a week there without the sailing.

If you are doing some travelling in Queensland, i would highly recommend Town of 1770 as a really nice, quiet place to go. Its a bit isolated but really worth going to and is not overly full of tourists.

Gd Luck

juke

Thanks ibh - particular the warning about the Arlie "vibe"- whilst we won't be back-packers (30's too old :rolleyes:), we can't afford the top resorts. And we will want the craic - that's why I thought Arlie.

I take your point about the "local knowledge" for the sailing - I hadn't thought about that (never done anyting like this before).

Did/could you take any active role in sailing on the yacht you went on, or did you (justifiably) chill on deck and enjoy the sun?

ibh

juke wrote: »

Thanks ibh - particular the warning about the Arlie "vibe"- whilst we won't be back-packers (30's too old :rolleyes:), we can't afford the top resorts. And we will want the craic - that's why I thought Arlie.

I take your point about the "local knowledge" for the sailing - I hadn't thought about that (never done anyting like this before).

Did/could you take any active role in sailing on the yacht you went on, or did you (justifiably) chill on deck and enjoy the sun?

No I didn't actually do any sailing but the boat we went on was a catamaran. There were plently of sailboats but some of these were seriously crowded, up to 35 people on some of them.

I don't know if I gave Airlie Beach a bit of a hard time in my other post. It was fine, but the impression that it left on me was that it was very backpackery(!). It some ways this can be good, like walking into a bar on a Tues afternoon and theres live music and the craic is flying.
Didn't really look to find if there was a slightly more upmarket part of Airlie.

One thing I won't forget is the sight of the most amazing beaches I've ever seen out on the whitsundays.

Spud83

There are boats that allow you to participate in the sailing, mainly just putting up and down sails and maybe the odd adjustment. We went on one and I think we had about 15 people. You just have to look for a boat that is a proper sail boat rather than a yacht. The boat we were on was called the Boomerang I think.

I found Airlie beach to be grand but we were backpackers, I'm sure there are a few places around there that might suit you better if you are looking for quiter nights.

Since you are doing the Whitsundays have you looked into Fraser Island. I enjoyed that more than the Whitsundays. It might not be for you but its I just thought its an idea. You can get a bus from Airlie down to where you need to be for Fraser.