Posted June 17, 2024 about
September 23,2022
After we’d settled in at Crano Cove, we got in our dinghy and motored over to East Chance Bay, which is likely the second most famous beach in the Whitsundays. The most famous is, of course, Whitehaven Beach, located a few kilometers away on the east side of Whitsunday Island.
There is a trail that connects these two beaches. The walk is about 1.5 miles in length, but the terrain is pretty easy. Many people choose to visit both beaches by taking this trail, which is what we planned to do.
While there were a number of boats in anchorage off the beach, we saw only a few people on the beach as we approached. Much like Turtle Bay, the water near the shore took on beautiful shades ranging from blue to blue-green.
Below are some photos taken from the dinghy in the morning and later in the afternoon when the beach had more sun, and a lot more visitors.
Upon landing, we stepped into soft sand, more light beige than white. The beach gently sloped up to the line of trees and was quite expansive. On its east side, the beach ended at the base of a long and fairly high hill that made up that headland. The west headland was a small humped hill, beyond which was another beach that wasn’t visible from this one.
The hill backing the beach was low and topped with bushy scrub forest, but its sandy base was reminiscent of sand dunes, making this beach seem even larger.
We walked along the beach, taking photos whenever the sun broke through the clouds since the morning had been overcast. It was lovely here, but we didn’t have much time to linger as we had a hike to ahead of us (the subject of the next post).
Later, when we returned from our hike, the beach was much busier as a few tour boats had arrived. They’d set up a bunch of blue shade tents, and people were scattered about on the beach and basking in the shallow water near the shore.
It wasn’t actually that crowded, but something about this reminded me of the beach scene from Jaws. I pushed that thought aside and waded into the warm water to get a few photos before we took off in the dinghy.
Overall, I’d say Chance Bay Beach was pretty exceptional, but it did lose some of its appeal when there were a lot of people about. My advice to other cruisers would be to go early in the day before the tour boats arrive. I will say, though, that even when crowded with tourists, it’s still a beautiful spot. –Cyndi
