Posted September 17, 2023
about September 2022
The Whitsunday Islands group is made up of 74 islands and dozens of islets scattered between the north Queensland coast and the Great Barrier Reef. They are part of a larger group of islands known as the Cumberland Group. (However, the entire Cumberland Group is often included when people talk about cruising “the Whitsundays.”)
Below, an interactive map of the Cumberland Islands, which the Whitsundays are part of.
While islands line the entire Queensland coast, it’s here in the Whitsundays where they take on a significant change–going from hilly and scrubby to more mountainous and green.
Since the Barrier Reef lies in close proximity to the Whitsundays, these islands are more protected than those further south. This allows for a greater number of suitable anchorages, some of which have fine white sand beaches with clear turquoise and green water near the shore. While coral exists further south, it’s more abundant here, enough to be a draw for snorkelers. Diving excursions can be taken further out at the Barrier Reef.
The wildlife is dense here, too, with a plethora birds, migrating butterflies, sea turtles, and at certain times of the year, migrating whales. The climate is warm, but winter trade winds offset the mainland’s heat.
Not surprisingly, these islands happen to be beautiful, especially those with white sand beaches. This makes the Whitsundays a popular tourist destination. While most of the area is national park, there are a handful of resorts scattered through the islands, some of them very upscale. The majority of visitors, however, prefer to travel through the Whitsundays on a sailboat, making this one of the most popular yachting destinations in the Southern Hemisphere. Since visiting here in one’s own yacht can entail weeks of travel, the charter boat business is a thriving industry.
And this makes for the biggest drawback of cruising these lovely islands: crowded anchorages. It’s particularly crowded during the winter cruising season when privately- owned boats descend on area. These same boats generally head south at the start of the summer cyclone season, but since the charter industry runs year round, it’s never empty.
Crowds aren’t the only hurdle. The peak of cruising season is also the peak of the trade wind season, and these winds can become quite strong (known as enhanced trades). Enhanced trades result in fewer viable anchorages, unpleasant conditions for moving around, and rollier anchorages. The trade winds die off during the summer months, but that’s when cyclone season begins. Not wanting to take that risk, cruising boats usually migrate south.
Boats that remain, and the charter boats, have another issue: the Irukadji jelly fish that ply the warm waters off north Australia during the summer. This is subject I’ll be posting about, but I’ll sum them up this way: they are tiny, and they can be lethal. Those who survive a sting endure excruciating pain until they can get to a hospital.
As a result, most people going into the water in the summer months wear something called a stinger suit, a lycra or neoprene suit that covers the body, with the addition of boots, gloves, a hood and preferably a mask. Those who chose to go without take a terrible risk. I will add that wearing this getup is not much trouble for scuba divers (usually just adding a hood to what you’re already wearing), but the idea of taking a swim in a full stinger suit, especially in the summer heat, is not all that appealing.
So cruising the Whitsunday Islands is not without its hurdles. In the winter it’s the crowds and wind, in the summer it’s deadly jellyfish and cyclones. But there’s one risk that exists year round: sharks.
Unfortunately there is something about Australia that makes critters such as snakes, spiders, jelly fish, and birds extra hazardous. Sharks such as bull, tiger and white sharks are dangerous enough as it is, but it seems they are even more so here. Australia has the highest number of fatal shark attacks in the world. Other places have more attacks, but they are less likely to result in a fatality.
It seems the Whitsundays are quite a nice place for big species of sharks to live. After doing some research, I believe the high number of tourists here contributes to the number of shark bites that have happened in this area. Unfortunately another contributing factor–in my opinion–has been the tourist industry squelching reports of attacks, to the detriment of boaters coming here and not realizing the risks. This is yet another blog post subject I’ll be addressing, not just regarding Australia but a few places we’ve traveled.
For now, we can all just acknowledge sharks are an issue in the Whitsundays. There are places absolutely not to swim, and others where people should not go in the water, and yet they do. And places where the risk is no greater than anywhere else in Australia.
So, the Whitsundays are beautiful islands with some fantastic beaches. But not without its issues. Cruisers can have a great time, but it’s wise to be informed and make conscious choices regarding conditions that are present at particular times of the year.
Some cruisers don’t mind crowds at all and love an event called Race Week, taking place in August. People on big rental catamarans may not mind windy conditions. On the other hand, people who love to swim will want to be conscious of when they come here and where they go (I think maybe Greece would be a good alternative. Just kidding. Sort of.)
While I am just starting to do blog posts about this area, I will say in hindsight that I found the Whitsundays beautiful and am glad we did it. Rich was not as impressed overall but did appreciate some of the individual places we saw. We went in the spring, after the crowds and strong winds, but before the jellyfish and cyclones. We didn’t go in the water much, and when we did we sat in shallow water along the shore; no actual swimming. Since we lived to tell the tale, it worked out pretty well!
I was going to look for a photo to sum up the look of the Whitsunday Islands, but I thought hey, maybe let AI generate an image. I told Rich the key features I’d like to see, he did some work, and voila, the photo at the top of this post! It’s not of a particular place but more to convey the look and feeling of the Whitsunday Islands. I think AI did a remarkable job! –Cyndi
