I would say ‘YES, YES, YES’ but it is a personal decision that you will make. I often hear, that you can snorkel of Whitehaven Beach and unfortunately that is not true. It would be lovely but there is no fringing coral reefs off Whitehaven beach. If you take the 1/2 day WHitehaven Beach tour, you will not snorkel. If you take a tour that incorporates Whitehaven Beach, snorkelling and the Hill Inlet walk, then you will go to another area to snorkel and the Hill Inlet walk is close to Whitehaven Beach, also another stop for most tours. Most tours are a full day as it takes a few hours to get out to Hook Island and Whitsunday Island from Airlie Beach. Whitehaven Beach is located on Whitsunday Island and has national parks on it, self catering camp sites and toilet facilities. No shopping here ladies, and the gentlemen I can hear saying ‘thank you’!
There are some lovely areas to snorkel especially around Mantaray Bay, Blue Pearl Bay, Butterfly Bay & Langford Reef at the northern end of Hook Island. Your snorkel experience also depends on the weather and whether it is high tide or low tide, the winds are up or down and if it is the rain season (December – March). This can all effect your time snorkelling the fringing reef or Great Barrier Reef. Most times, I have had wonderful experiences from looking at the different formations of coral to the fish and coral interacting together. Some fish are so interesting to watch that I feel they are really reacting to me being in there home.
For tours to Whitehaven Beach that incorporates snorkelling, please go to our www.airliebeachonline.com.au website and select DAY TOURS and then Whitehaven Beach from the drop down menu or on the home page.
The Great Barrier Reef – is also magical and you have to travel up to 3 hours by boat to get to Hardys Reef from Airlie Beach. If staying on Hamilton Island, the boat stops here to collect more guests and Hardys Reef is 2 hours from Hamilton Island. Once again, the weather can effect your experience however, I believe it is a beautiful area to snorkel. I am happy sitting on the boat and enjoying the scenery. My first experience was perfect in every way, perfect weather, perfect tide time and it was head down to snorkel for hours exploring the reef. Another time, it was windy, and the tide was up so it was difficult to snorkel. If you don’t want to snorkel at the Great Barrier Reef or you are short on time, you can always take a small plane, the sea plane or a helicopter to fly over and see it all from above. The layout of the Great Barrier Reef, the Heart Reef is spectacular and a wonderful choice as an alternative or do both.
For tours to the Great Barrier Reef , please go to our www.airliebeachonline.com.au website and select DAY TOURS and then Great Barrier Reef from the drop down menu or on the home page.