Posted May 25, 2024
about September 22, 2022
Today, I felt excited and nervous as we prepared to set sail for the Whitsundays. I was excited to finally visit these islands, yet anxious about figuring out how to cruise through them in a timely manner.
The Whitsunday Island group includes dozens of islands and islets. While only a few of these islands have good anchorages, it would still be a challenge to choose the most worthwhile spots, visit them during suitable weather conditions, and manage to do so in a sensible order to avoid zig-zagging around. Last but not least, I wanted to make this excursion as enjoyable as possible for Rich.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, Rich was not much enjoying this part of Australia. If it were up to him, we would have skipped the Whitsundays entirely. But for me, this was a dream destination; skipping this area was unthinkable! Rich agreed to go for my sake, and I agreed to choose just a few anchorages and get us through this area as quickly as possible. In a sense, Rich would be like a survivor contestant suffering through an endurance trail. I would try to make this endurance trial as comfortable as possible for him. Maybe he could even enjoy it.
I’ve developed a lot of skills during our years of cruising, but my greatest superpower is getting my sometimes-wary partner to enjoy places he’s not quite convinced he’ll like.
We had one lucky happenstance: we were arriving late in the season, which meant the trade winds were dying down. These winds make many of the east and south-facing anchorages nonviable. In fact, we had entered a period of light northerlies, which would make the cruising here much easier.
Below is a map of the Whitsunday Islands. As you can see, many of the most interesting-looking bays face south or east, making them ill-suited for the trade wind season (which is also the peak cruising season). We were lucky to be here after those winds died down.
I had made my first choice for anchorages. The forecast called for a few days of light northerlies, so it was a perfect opportunity to visit the two large bays on the south end of Whitsunday Island: Turtle Bay and Chance Bay. They both featured white sand beaches and water in tropical shades of blue. Chance Bay also boasted a walking trail to the area’s most famous landmark, Whitehaven Beach. Below, a map.
I decided we should start with Turtle Bay. The trip there would take only three hours; so we could spend a relaxed afternoon exploring the area by dinghy after we arrived.
And so we set off into another misty morning, the glassy sea making a mirror reflection of the sky above. The view surrounding us was filled with island landscapes. It was difficult to tell what was what!
We marveled at the large angled peak of unusually-shaped Pentecost Island, which seemed to change its appearance from every angle. There aren’t any good anchorages there, but adventure-seekers sometimes hire a speedboat to bring them over so they can climb to the peak.
We also got a good look at Hamilton Island, which I planned for us to visit for some marina and resort time. Although Hamilton Island is considered part of the Whitsunday Islands, it’s not part of the National Park, which has allowed for quite a bit of tourism development. And it showed! The photo with the high-rises is actually from the more remote backside of the island. The other side is much more developed!
Whitsunday Island, on the other hand, is completely undeveloped, its beautiful green mountains covered with pristine forest. However, it sees quite a bit of boat traffic. Speed boats bring tourists from the mainland for afternoon jaunts, while visiting yachts crowd the anchorages. This is exacerbated by the large number of charter yachts available. Another advantage to our late arrival is that the crowds had died down, and it looked like Turtle Bay had plenty of room.
Below, photos of our approach to both Whitsunday Island and Turtle Bay.
At this point in the post I went on to talk about the issues with cruising the Whitsunday Islands. I have decided to make it a separate post, coming up next. –Cyndi
