Posted October 2, 2024
about about September 26, 2022
We planned to get a slip in the town of Airlie Beach, but our expanded insurance coverage would take another day to activate, giving us one more night to fill.
Where to go? The logical next stop was one of the islands paralleling the Queensland coast: Long Island, the Molle Islands, or Daydream Island. Though officially part of the Whitsundays, these islands also form Molle Islands National Park.
The coastal islands are definitely set apart from the other Whitsunday islands. Their long and narrow shapes, lower hills, drier vegetation, and proximity to the mainland–averaging 1 to 2 miles offshore but merely ¼ mile away at the closest point–give them a unique look and feel.
The anchorages on the west side of these islands face the mainland, offering a tranquil view of calm seas framed by palm trees and hilly landscapes. Though the westside beaches are coarse with coral rubble, that tropical wonderland view is something special.
Given the view and their proximity to the mainland, it’s no surprise these islands were once home to the area’s key resorts. In their heyday, the resorts on South Molle Island, Long Island, and Daydream Island were very popular. But like many island resorts off the Queensland coast, two of the three now sit abandoned and decaying.
I’ll cover the abandoned island resorts of Queensland in a future post, but their typical pattern is one of financial struggle followed by cyclone destruction, which literally delivers the fatal blow. Of the many damaged resorts along the entire Queensland coast, only three have been revived, including the one on Daydream Island in Molle Islands National Park.
Today, our choice was between South Molle Island and Long Island, only 3 miles apart.
The anchorage at Long Island, named Happy Bay, was home to the remains of the closed-down Long Island Resort. The anchorage looked pretty, and from what I heard, the old hotel had a caretaker and was only mildly spooky. But this spot would be out of our way.
South Molle Island also boasted an attractive anchorage, Sandy Bay. This island was also home to a defunct resort, but it was located in another area, well away from the anchorage. This meant no creepy, haunted-house buildings to contend with. Sandy Bay also lay directly on our route to Arlie Beach. With that, we chose South Molle Island as our next stop.
It was a pleasant day for our 2-hour motorsail trip to the destination, with sunny skies and a light breeze. Our route took us between South Molle Island and Long Island, giving us great views of both islands.
I briefly second-guessed the decision not to stop at Long Island, but I let it go as we approached the west side of South Molle Island. Below, a couple of photos of our approach to South Molle Island.
Things got interesting when our helpful current met a counter-current, stirring up whirlpools and turbulent water all around us. Thankfully, Sandy Bay appeared to be outside this zone of chaotic water. We didn’t mind motoring through it, but it’s not something we’d want to anchor in. Below, a video:
At first Sandy Bay seemed like a great anchorage, boasting an attractive beach backed by high grassy hills. But while there were only a couple of boats there, the presence of private mooring balls meant there was far less space than there’d initially appeared to be, and the anchoring zone between the reefy shore and the swift current was not so roomy. We could have eked out a spot if we were desperate, but Rich already had his eye on another anchorage near the north end of the island. Below, a photo gallery of lovely, but not-so-roomy, Sandy Bay.
And a large sea turtle that was hanging out in the area . . .
As we headed north we checked out another area, Camp Bay. At first glance it looked like a potential anchorage, but a closer look revealed the bay was quite reefy. Still, it was pretty from a distance. Below, a photo of Camp Bay.
Soon, we arrived at the spot Rich found. There wasn’t much of a beach or any striking visual features, but it was calm and quite pleasant. The low hills here were thickly forested, and the rocky shore was dotted with mangroves. Soon, it became apparent this spot had one standout feature: birds. We heard a cacophony of bird calls, including kookaburras and cockatoos, especially around sunset. As the daytime calls faded, the night birds took over.
We also had views of Mid-Molle Island (which is connected to South Molle by an isthmus and not truly a separate island) as well as hilly, green North Molle Island, still a wilderness. Then there was the renovated resort on Daydream Island, less than a mile away, which I was very interested in seeing. I’d initially considered taking our dinghy over to see if they were cruiser-friendly, but after a look through the binoculars, it didn’t seem worth the effort. Below, a photo of Daydream Island Resort.
We stayed put, enjoying the golden evening light from the cockpit, followed by yet another beautiful Queensland sunset, serenaded by countless birds.
The next day, we’d be heading into a whirlwind of a busy, heavily-touristed town; so it was nice to have this last peaceful, nature-filled evening. –Cyndi
