Whitehaven Beach | What to Know

By Roberto – (Updated Mar 2023)

⏱ 5 min

Considered as one of the best beaches in the world, Whitehaven Beach is absolutely stunning. In this summer post, we present you with what to know about Whitehaven Beach, an insane beach in the Whitsundays, Australia.

Location of this heaven

This paradisiacal beach is 7 km long and located on Whitsunday Island, the biggest island of the Whitsunday group. It was discovered and named in 1879 by a commander who probably said “Wow.” Whitehaven Beach has been constantly awarded with top positions in beach rankings. For us, it also ranks really high in our personal beach podium, possibly in the Top 3.

For more maps and information check the official page. Another option in the Withsundays is to relax your body and mind in Hayman Island.

Best time to visit Whitehaven Beach

Whitsundays´ weather is blessed all year around with temperatures between 23 and 30ºC. This doesn’t mean that there aren’t better or worse months to visit the islands. From April to October, the skies are bright and clear, and it’s hard to get a crazy storm. On the contrary, from November to March, there are some rain showers, low chance of cloudy days, and more wind. We went in Christmas week and had an amazing sunny day without wind, but the following day it was windy and cloudy so… 

Our recommendation would be to plan 2-3 days around Airlie Beach to not miss the chance to visit Whitehaven Beach. You’ll probably be here only once in your life. 

How to get there

Whitehaven beach is not inland, so to visit it you only have two options and both start from Airlie Beach or another island in the Whitsundays:

• By air. The more expensive option, yet with impressive views, is flying around the island by helicopter or seaplane. Numerous agencies offer this option that varies from $200-400 AUD depending on the services and quality. 

• By water. Cheaper and fun! We went there with Thundercat company on their 1 Day Adventure Tour, which we absolutely recommend. We not only went to Whitehaven Beach, but also snorkeled the Great Barrier Reef and swam in an area with huge fish. The full day tour is a bit more than $150 AUD, including lunch, water, and lots of fun. The last option is to use a private catamaran or half-day private boats, that allow you to save some money but skip the other parts of Whitsunday Island. 

Once you have landed on the shore of Whitsunday Island, you will need to walk, following a short but intense path to the SUPER lookout of Whitehaven Beach. Hill Inlet lookout is the spot where all the typical photos of the beach are taken from. Below this lookout, following the path some meters, the beach awaits you. You can explore it, swim in the water, or just relax under a tree – there aren’t many – while enjoying the surrounding epic landscape. 

Considerations to know about Whitehaven Beach

• Don’t leave any rubbish. Nothing else to add here. 

• The sand is made by 98% silica, and it’s said it doesn’t retain the heat. I didn’t analyze the sand but the second one is false. The sand was hot AF, so bring proper sandals or shoes. 

• Jellyfish! Sadly, they do like the tropical waters of the paradise. We didn’t use or see people using stinger suits – and we swam – but please watch out around you when you’re in the water. 

• Explore the beach. Don’t stay at the Hill Inlet lookout taking infinite photos, because the beach has multiple shores, low tide to walk through, and epic colours from multiple perspectives. 

Do we recommend visiting it if you travel to Australia? A b s o l u t e l y. The Whitsunday islands are unique and we can understand who comes to this country just to spend a week in them. Nevertheless, if you have more than one week of vacation, find other inspiring plans in some of our other posts below!