Hello, it’s the Reluctant Globetrotter’s daughter (I am an unreluctant wannabe globetrotter). You might remember me from my post on Melbourne when I visited in early 2018. I went back to Australia in 2019, and this time brought my boyfriend, Pete, with me. In addition to fun in and around Sydney, Pete and I took side trips to the Whitsundays and Tasmania.

Before I go much further, I would like to point out that it is incredibly challenging to select locations to visit in Australia. For anyone who plans to travel down under soon, I feel your pain. Lonely Planet Australia is 1104 pages!

After I got back from Australia in 2018, I spent over a year researching and narrowing down choices for the next trip. We concluded that the compliment trip to the rugged Tasmanian hikes (future post) would be a trip to the Great Barrier Reef.

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Where to go on the reef?

Deciding where to go within Australia was cake compared to deciding where to base our reef trip. My understanding is that most visitors go to Cairns, which makes sense when you look at this map I made from the list of accessible reefs and islands from greatbarrierreef.com.au. Cairns is the most straightforward city to get to and close to a ton of reef options.

So why did we not go to Cairns? We are not experienced snorkelers, and it was important that I found a place where the non-reef activities were just as exciting as the reef. Additionally, after a quick “Whitsundays” Google image search, I felt confident that we would have envy-inducing Instagram posts that would outdo all other vacation posts.

Our final four-day trip schedule ended up have three parts:

• Part One: Full day on Hamilton Island.
• Part Two: Reefsleep, a two-day, one-night trip to Hardy Reef
• Part Three: Airlie Beach before flying back to Sydney

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Part One: Hamilton Island

Hamilton Island is a paradise. Not cheap, but paradise rarely is. A little touristy? Of course. But paradise is a desirable place to be. We landed in Hamilton Island (or HaMo as a posh man we met in Tasmania called it) to this view from the plane.

Our planned activities for the day included meeting Oprah and a seven-course dinner. I told you we were going to paradise. 

Oprah, the koala, got her name because Oprah, the celebrity, held her when she was two months old. Our schedule only allowed us to pet Oprah. The koala holding was at a different time. 

Knowing that we would be in paradise for only 22-hours, I decided that we could not skimp on dinner. Bommie Restaurant is located in the Hamilton Island Yacht Club. Pre-dinner you can get drinks on the deck and watch the sunset. If it would have been possible to freeze time for a bit, this would have been the time. Dinner itself was one of the best meals we had the entire time we were in Australia. That said it’s been two months since we were there and the only part I distinctly remember is the octopus course, which was fabulous.

[Note: Hamilton Island offers something for everyone. There are chill pubs and cafes, plenty of beaches to sit at all day, pools to swim in. There is more than koalas and seven-course meals; we were just there for under 24-hours]

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Part Two: Hardy Reef

And now I need to get to the meat of the trip. After all, we came to see the Great Barrier Reef. I researched every tour option imaginable and was happy to finally tell Pete, “I found it, we’re sleeping in a swag on top of the reef!”

Cruise Whitsundays seems to be the premier touring company to the reef from Hamilton Island and the Whitsundays. Over 150 people board a large boat for the two to three hour trip to Reefworld (a beautiful permanent pontoon) at Hardy Reef.

Guests have about four hours to snorkel, scuba, take a semi-submarine guided tour and sunbathe. BUT only 18 or so people have the option to spend the night. Being one of that lucky group is critical for a few reasons. For one, you get to wear a wristband around denoting to the day-trippers that you are an elite reefsleeper.

But most importantly, you get multiple chances to snorkel. Don’t like the wind? You have the luxury of having a glass of champagne on the deck and waiting for the conditions to be more ideal.

As one who learned to swim only one year ago and who hated visiting aquariums as a kid, snorkeling involved a bit of a learning curve for me. The greatest perk we had that the day-trippers didn’t was time.

To illustrate the importance of multiple snorkeling attempts. Here was my thought process every time I went out to the water:

First snorkel (12 PM day one): “Omg I need a life jacket and a floating noodle, I don’t like this, there are so many fish. Will the fish bite?”

Second snorkel (3 PM day one): “I am getting the hang of this, oh look at that fish I have never seen before”

Third snorkel (10 AM day two): “This is amazing. Look at the clownfish. Can we find the giant turtle? I am ready for scuba!”

[It should be noted that Pete was swimming before he could walk and was a very comfortable snorkeler. While I was busy debating if I needed both the life jacket and floating noodle, he was chasing turtles with the GoPro.]

We had a big communal dinner that night with the other reefsleepers. We were the only Americans that night, but we got to meet people from China, Brazil, Australia, Wales, Belgium, and Germany.

I thought I had peaked the night before having a sunset cocktail on HaMo, but I was wrong. Raising a glass of champagne with a bunch of interesting strangers, while watching the sunset on a pontoon on a remote part of the Great Barrier Reef is actually peaking.

The next day, I was ready to try scuba diving. Reefworld has an option to hold a professional scuba instructor’s hand, so non-certified people like me can dive. The deeper you go, the more colorful the reef is. I would not have been eager to do this if I had not had snorkel experience under my belt. (See benefits of having more time).

Leaving Hardy Reef was bittersweet. I was excited to shower and have cell service. But leaving the reef also meant that one of the most exciting travel experiences of my life was coming to an end.

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Part Three: Airlie Beach

It was not in our budget to stay on Hamilton Island for two nights. So rather than dropping us off on HaMo, Cruise Whitsundays also has a drop off at Airlie Beach.

Airlie Beach is not HaMo. It is a party destination for backpackers or a stop en route to the Whitsunday Islands for the rest of us.

My experience in Airlie Beach was colored by the fact that it was “Schoolies week” there (a week where 18-year-olds party after they graduate high school). Being at bars with masses of 18-year-olds made me happy the drinking age in the United States is 21 (I realize my 18-year-old self would slap me for admitting that).

Pete and I tried to live the Airlie Beach party life. We even witnessed people betting on cane toad racing, but we were constantly reminded that we are not 18 and can’t party like we used to.

The next day we went for a walk along the water (Airlie Beach is very pretty during the day). It was a perfect way to close out our trip to the Whitsundays.

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Conclusion

Congratulations! You made it to the end of my post. If you skipped to the bottom, here are the takeaways:

1. Though clearly I am biased, I would say that the Whitsunday Islands should 100% be on any Australian itinerary.
2. I would not recommend trying to see the Great Barrier Reef via only one snorkeling attempt.
3. Hamilton Island is worth going to just for the airplane landing. (Obviously worth staying at since it’s paradise).
4. Airlie Beach is a much more affordable gateway to the Whitsundays, but you should plan on getting off the shore and onto a boat ASAP.