Posted July 16, 2024
about September 24, 2022
Cid Harbour is a deep inlet on the west side of Whitsunday Island. Its wide opening is partly covered by the large, forested Cid Island, with channels above and below allowing for easy access into the harbor. Cid Island provides a lot of protection for the harbor, making it an all-weather anchorage.
As we motored through the channel below Cid Island, a dramatic view of the harbor unfolded before us. “Oh my,” were the words that came to mind as I quickly forgot my disappointment about skipping Hamilton Island.
Here, Whitsunday Island’s mountainous interior was on full display, with dramatically shaped peaks backing layers of hills, lushly forested with pine and rainforest trees, all sitting above the rich blue and green hues of the water.
Below, Cid Island and the entry into Cid Harbour.
And some video we took while entering the harbor.
At first, this area reminded me so much of a similar place in New Zealand, Great Barrier Island. However, the air here was warm and tropical, punctuated by the screeching of cockatoos and the warbling of kookaburras, and there were sea turtles in the water! I, for one, was pretty enthralled!
Below, some photos of Cid Harbour from inside the harbor.
We had picked out an anchorage, but I noted two small areas, Joe’s Beach and Nari’s Beach, as we passed. They didn’t seem tempting; so we continued on to our anchorage, Sawmill Bay.
Sawmill Bay is fairly long, with anchorages at each end (although the whole area is actually one long anchorage). One end has a beach, noted by one guidebook as “the best beach in the harbor,” so naturally most of the boats had congregated there. We chose the other end of the anchorage, where a narrow finger of land forms a natural breakwater to tuck behind. With only two other boats there, we had plenty of room.
What a lovely place, hilly and green with water that lit up bright royal blue in the sun. However, it was ‘look but don’t touch’ for the water as this is where shark attacks have taken place (something I’m going to discuss in more detail soon). Below, some photos of Sawmill Bay.
At this point, we had the option to take a walk onshore or even hike up to the top of a nearby peak, but we succumbed to the temptation to open some wine and watch a movie before pondering our next steps.
So, I don’t have photos of any Cid Harbour hikes or dinghy rides, nor did I think to take any photos of whatever we were watching on TV (kidding). If I could go back in time and put up side-by-side photos of the movie versus a walk, I’d probably feel bad that we chose the former over the latter. But it had been yet another trying day, and we were mentally and physically tired. So, considering what best fit our moods, the wine and TV were a good choice.–Cyndi
