Airlie Beach Online

Home page

How do I get to Airlie Beach from Hamilton Island Airport?

By

There are a few different options to get to the mainland where Airlie Beach is located, if your plane is arriving on Hamilton Island.

Via Ferry:

This service is operated by Cruise Whitsundays and as at 1/3/2015 the price to travel to the ‘Port of Airlie’ at Airlie Beach is $48.00 per person.  There are no discount prices for children, pensioners, seniors or students.  Children under 4 years of age are complimentary.  The transfers will connect close to the arrival time of your flight.  If you have not booked tickets, don’t stress, you can purchase them at the Cruise Whitsundays desk located in the baggage claim area on Hamilton Island.

Via Small Plane:

Need to connect to Airlie Beach for a departing overnight sailing tour or just don’t want to be on a ferry? Then this options is available at $79.00 per person one way with a minimum of two people booking.  You can pay for two people if you are only one person travelling and your luggage entitlement per person is 15kg or 30 kgs for two people. https://airliebeachonline.com.au/whitsunday-tour/hamilton-island-air-transfer/

Via Small Plane and seeing the Great Barrier Reef:

How about some adventure to start your holiday or finish off your holiday in the Whitsundays!! Yes, the small plane can offer the service whether arriving at Hamilton Island or if you want to disembark at Hamilton Island.  We just need to know your flight details, minimum luggage must be 15kgs per person and the cost is $229.00 per person.  A beautiful way to see the icon of the Whitsundays and Australia! https://airliebeachonline.com.au/whitsunday-tour/hamilton-island-airport-via-great-barrier-reef/

**For those living in Melbourne and Sydney, Jetstar will fly direct to Whitsunday Coast Airport as of June/July on Monday, Thursday and Saturday.  Tiger Air fly direct from Sydney on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

Prices correct as at date of publishing, 1st March, 2015.

Should I do both a Whitehaven Beach tour & the Great Barrier Reef cruise?

By

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.

The Airlie Beach & Whitsundays Bucket list, what’s your top 5?

By

It’s just not possible to head to Airlie Beach and the Whitsundays without a bucket list of things you must do. This is our top 5 things on the must do list, why not create your own?

1. Whitehaven Beach

voted Australia’s most beautiful beach and definitely one of the most well-known beaches in the world. The first time I ever step foot onto Whitehaven Beach I was in ore. The water was such a beautiful aqua colour and the sand, I could not believe how fine it was, how white it was and the fact that it was not burning my feet (like you experience at most other beaches). Such an amazing place and it was right on my door step. Now after living here for 16 years, I still have that same feeling.

When you are in the Whitsundays, this should be on the top of everyone’s bucket list of things to do.

2. Scenic flights

Over the Great Barrier Reef and Whitsunday Islands – A great way to see this amazing part of our country in all its glory. Flying over the Great Barrier Reef including Heart Reef for the first time I felt like I was in a dream, the crystal clear waters, the reef, the islands, Whitehaven Beach and Hill Inlet. If you are really adventurous, you could also try sky diving in Airlie Beach. The only thing I can say is wow, when I can I do it again!

3. The Living Reef Lagoon on Daydream Island

This is one of the world’s largest man-made living coral reef lagoons and features more than 140 species of marine fish and 83 species of coral. Every day at 10am the Living Reef staff and marine biologists do a public fish feeding display; where they hand-feed the stingrays and manta-rays. This is a must see and it pays off to get in early so you get a good seat up close.

If you want to feel like you are youngster again, you must do the private fish feeding tour when you are on the Island. This includes a guided tour of the reef lagoons where you get to hand feed the stingrays and manta-rays + hold a baby shark (they feel like sand paper to touch).

4. Snorkelling

My first snorkel experience was at Blue Pearl Bay and is something I will never forget. Heading out with my new found friends on the trip with snorkel, fins and mask on I only had to look under my feet to see the marvel of the Inner reef. Fish everywhere, hundreds could be seen at any one time against the backdrop of the coloured coral bed.

Before we knew it we were out a little deeper and were surprised by 3 or 4 sea turtles
passing through. They certainly didn’t seem to be in much of a hurry, as we tagged along behind them for quite some time following them out until they quickly pointed there nose down and slowly drifted out of sight.

I have been snorkelling many times since that first time at Blue Pearl Bay including some of the other great snorkelling areas not far from Airlie Beach by boat but it will always be Blue Pearl Bay where I swam with the Sea Turtles.

5. Cedar Creek Falls

A short 30 minute drive from Airlie Beach on Saltwater Creek Road, off Conway Beach Road. These waterfalls are spectacular in the wet season and offer a year-round natural swimming pool at the base of the falls. They are set in a natural rock amphitheatre. The flora and fauna will amaze you, particularly the strangler figs, red and white cedars and wild orchids. On a good day you may even spot a few turtles swimming around too.

You will need a car to get to this beautiful location or you can join a guided Rainforest tour!

A great way to visit the Great Barrier Reef!

By

As we depart the ‘Port of Airlie’ at Airlie Beach (8am) to head to the Great Barrier Reef, the captain made an announcement that we will make a quick stop at Hamilton Island for more passengers to board. How wonderful to see the port of Hamilton Island and the main street where the shops are.
Leaving Hamilton Island, we travelled past Whitsunday Island and then through Hook passage to the Coral Sea.  Getting to the Great Barrier Reef on this tour, is by boat and they say we should reach it by 10.30am -11am (about 3 hours travel time).

A yummy morning tea is being served and then the staff entertain us by demonstrating the snorkel equipment. Now that is interesting and a little bit funny! Yeah, we are now at Hardy’s Reef pontoon. So exciting!! We head straight for the snorkelling equipment & stinger suits. We climb down to the landing, put our flippers on and we are off snorkelling the Great Barrier Reef. A dream come true snorkelling the Great Barrier Reef. We still have to get in the semi-submersible to motor around the reef. This is great if you do not want to snorkel. Getting hungry, so I head back to the boat to the smorgasboard lunch. Oh this is good! Once lunch settles, I want to go to the underwater viewing chamber to see what is happening down under. Might see a scuba diver on their way back up. I am definitely heading back for a final snorkel. Time to get back on the boat  and cruise back to Airlie Beach.  Oh, and they show all the photos taken on the day on the big screen. I might just buy that one of me and my family. What a fantastic day and we are back home by 6.30pm, tired but so happy we visited the Great Barrier Reef.

No credit card fees

By

Don’t want to pay credit card fees when making a tour booking???

Book direct with www.airliebeachonline.com.au and pay no credit card fees on the prepayment amount.

At AirlieBeachOnline.com.au, we only deduct our commission from the total price of the tour and we do not charge credit card fees.  On the day of check in for your tour, you will pay the balance of money owed to the operator. You may pay credit card fees based on each operator’s conditions.

Footer

Recent Posts

loader-image
Weather
Whitsunday
9:41 pm, October 2, 2025
23°C
light rain
79 %
1014 mb
13 Km/h
Wind Gust: 16 Km/h
Clouds: 2%
Visibility: 10 km
Sunrise: 5:45 am
Sunset: 6:03 pm
Weather from OpenWeatherMap

Contact Us

Contact Airlie Beach Online to enquire or book your Whitsunday Islands and Great Barrier Reef tours and transfers.