The Whitsundays Islands.

[w1651]

Anyone sailed the Whitsundays Islands?
I was surfing and got a glimpse of them online. They look really inviting.
But how and what would be the best way to sail them. They are Australian so I guess you would need a visa from Australia to see them up close.

[tdw]

Originally Posted by w1651

Anyone sailed the Whitsundays Islands?
I was surfing and got a glimpse of them online. They look really inviting.
But how and what would be the best way to sail them. They are Australian so I guess you would need a visa from Australia to see them up close.

StAnna is probably the fella to answer re the sailing, also SimonV. I've been to the Whitsundays but never sailed them.

They are part of Australia (well Queensland anyway and last we looked the toads were still part of Oz ) and yes coming from offshore you would have to clear into Oz first but the islands are not far offshore. Indeed that very convenience is possibly there greatest drawback as they are the most popular cruising ground (thing charter boats in abundance) in Australia.

Nonetheless I'm sure that the would be places where you can get away from the madding crowd.

For an American, I would have thought the logical thing would be to charter unless you are on a circumnavigation.

http://www.noonsite.com/Countries/Au...tsundayIslands

[nop]

My wife and I chartered there for our honeymoon. It was amazing. There are a ton of charter companies in the area. They kind of hold your hand by checking in with you every day and asking you to let them know where you're planning on spending the night.

They included the book 100 Magic Miles on board. It's a very detailed book which describes every place to anchor.

100 Magic Miles ~ The Whitsunday Islands

[chall03]

I am from Sydney and we have also chartered up there a few times now.

If you do charter then as nop said it is pretty easy in that there is daily scheds and they keep you on a tight leash.

It is certainly busy with a lot of charter boats etc, but certain times of year are much busier than others. Either way with it predominantly being national park etc you can still feel a million miles away from civilization, even if you are in a popular anchorage.

My recommendation in terms of chartering would be these guys.
Bareboats Whitsundays, Cumberland Charter Yachts, Airlie Beach, Whitsundays, Australia

The website is very good, full of information.
The book Nop mentioned is the cruising guide to the Whitsundays and a must have whether you are chartering or cruising.

[St Anna]

Hello, did I hear my name mentioned.....

What angle would you like to hear my views about the Whitsundays?

Each time we passsed, we would probably spend at least a month going through them [ for various reasons]. The last time was June/July this year.

[w1651]

TDW
Thank You and Nop for the info.
Hello Chall.
What is the slow season there? Do you know?
what is a no no when anchoring there?

StAnna
I will take any angle you can give me. Slighted or not..:-) The islands look Beautiful online but I'm sure as has been said everyone wants to be there a certain time of year.
Do you know of any out of the way places not to touristy?

[w1651]

Thank You for the great links guys. I will investigate further..

[St Anna]

Hey W

Yes; http://i665.photobucket.com/albums/v...a/P7140535.jpg

http://i665.photobucket.com/albums/v...a/P7050008.jpg

http://i665.photobucket.com/albums/v...a/Aug04036.jpg

http://i665.photobucket.com/albums/v...May2005004.jpg

http://i665.photobucket.com/albums/v...2ndhalf017.jpg

Good sailing and different anchorages are only a very short distance away. Too many others (mostly charter boats) about and they can make it feel a bit crowded.

To the south of the Whitsundays [between Great Keppel Island and the Whitsundays} is perfect, but you cant use a charter boat there.

Our winter is warm enough to swim/snorkel on the coral in the Whitsundays. Summer may be a little too hot/humid for you, but you can always have a swim and cool off if you wear stinger suits. Summer is also the cyclone season.

[kasyorks]

My husband and I chartered and sailed in the Whitsunday's in August 2010 for a week as part of a 6 week tour of Queensland and the Top End.

We love sailing but time and family limitations mean we normally charter for a week or two. We do own a small Hunter yacht which we sail on a lake in France (Vassivier) and we owned and sailed a Lark and Laser until recently. My husband has Day Skipper and theory Yachtmaster, plus many hours of skippering and sailing. Our prior chartering has included Greece, Croatia, Channel Islands, the BVIs, The Bay of Island (NZ), and lastly the Whitsunday's.

We have loved all our sailing experiences for different reasons.

The Whitsunday's, although busy in August - particularly Nara Inlet - were less developed than the BVIs or Greece or Croatia, but not as remote at the Bay of Islands. We picked the yacht up at Hamilton Island, which gave us a head start on getting out to our first overnight stop. You can charter from Airlie as well. Provisioning was well managed and excellent quality, and we provisioned for the full week with no problem at all. As a comparison, provisioning in the Bay of Islands was more difficult and we found sailing there more remote with a greater emphasis on self reliance (catch and cook your own food). There are holiday centres you can access in the Whitsundays, but we did not use any so cannot comment on these and the facilities or costs.

We were able to sail most days, with the best day being from Whitehaven Beach to Lindeman Island, Plantation Bay (excellent day to get there and brilliant overnight stop followed by a morning stroll on the beach to come across a ray).

We did stop over in Airlie beforehand and spent our last night in marina so that we could do a reef platform trip direct from Hamilton Marina (a great trip, stunning reef life). If you are going to go as far as Australia to charter and sail the Whitsunday's do take time to see more of Queensland and maybe other parts of the GBR. We cannot recommend it enough. I will try to find our sailing notes and post our trip report for the sailing.

[kasyorks]

Hopefully I have uploaded a picture of the Whitsunday's taken from the plane as we flew from Hamilton to Cairns after our week of sailing.