The Whitsunday Regional Information Centre  (  tel. 07/4945 3967; www.tourismwhitsundays.com.au) is at 192 Main St., Proserpine (on the Bruce Highway in the town’s south). It’s run by Tourism Whitsundays and is open daily from 10am to 5pm and on public holidays (except Good Friday and Christmas Day) from 8:30am to 5pm. It’s also easy to pick up information from the private booking agents lining the main street of Airlie Beach. All stock a vast range of cruise, tour, and hotel information, and make bookings free of charge. All have similar material, but because some represent certain boats exclusively, and because prices can vary a little from one to the next, it pays to shop around

Safety in the Water

Deadly marine stingers may frequent the shorelines of the Whitsundays from October through April. The best place to swim is in the beachfront Airlie Beach lagoon.

The rivers in these parts are home to dangerous saltwater crocodiles (which mostly live in fresh water, contrary to their name), so don't swim in streams, rivers, and water holes.

Choosing a Whitsunday Base

The advantages of staying on the mainland are cheaper accommodations, a choice of restaurants, and the freedom to visit a different island each day. The mainland has jet-skiing, kayaking, parasailing, catamaran rental, and windsurfing.

The main advantage of staying on an island is that swimming, snorkeling, bushwalking, and a huge range of watersports, many of them free, are right outside your door. The deadly stingers that can infest Airlie's shores do not make it to the islands, so swimming in the islands is safe year-round. You won't be isolated if you stay on an island, because most Great Barrier Reef cruise boats, sail-and-snorkel yacht excursions, Whitehaven Beach cruises, dive boats, fishing tour vessels, and so on stop at the island resorts every day or on a frequent basis. Be warned, however, that once you're "captive" on an island, you may be slugged with high food and drink prices. Bear in mind, too, that although most island resorts offer nonmotorized watersports, such as windsurfing and catamaran sailing, free of charge, you will pay for activities that use fuel, such as parasailing, water-skiing, and dinghy rental.

In some places in the Whitsundays, extreme low tides may reveal rocky mud flats below the sand line. Watersports can be limited then because of the low water level.

When to Go

High season in the Whitsundays coincides with school vacations, which occur in January, in mid-April, from late June to early July, from late September to early October, and in late December. The Aussie winter, June through August, is popular, too. You have to book months ahead to get high-season accommodations, but any other time you can indeed find some good deals: Specials on accommodations, sailing trips, day cruises, and diving excursions fairly leap off the blackboards outside the tour-booking agents in Airlie Beach.

Getting Around

By Boat

  Cruise Whitsundays (  tel. 07/4946 4662; www.cruisewhitsundays.com.au) operates Resort Connections, providing transfer services between Hamilton Island Airport and Whitsunday Coast Airport at Proserpine and Daydream Island and Long Island, as well as all Airlie Beach properties.

Island ferries and Great Barrier Reef cruises leave from Shute Harbour, a 10-minute drive south of Airlie Beach on Shute Harbour Road. Most other tour-boat operators and bareboat charters anchor at Abell Point Marina, a 15-minute walk west from Airlie Beach. A new marina, Port of Airlie, is under development and is expected to be open by 2015. Most tour-boat operators pick up guests free from Airlie Beach hotels and at some or all island resorts.

By Bus

 Whitsunday Transit (  tel. 07/4946 1800; www.whitsundaytransit.com.au) meets all flights and trains at Proserpine and provides door-to-door transfers to Airlie Beach hotels or to Shute Harbour. The fare from the airport is A$15 adults and A$9 children to Airlie Beach or Shute Harbour. From the train station, it is A$8.20 for adults and A$4.20 for children to Airlie Beach or A$11 for adults and A$5.50 for children to Shute Harbour. Bookings are essential and should be made 48 hours in advance if possible. It also runs buses every half-hour between Airlie Beach and Shute Harbour.

By Car

  Avis (  tel. 07/4967 7188), Europcar (  tel. 07/4946 4133), and Hertz (  tel. 07/4946 4687) have outlets in Airlie Beach and Proserpine Airport (telephone numbers serve both locations). Budget (  tel. 07/4945 1024) has an office at Proserpine Airport.

Island Hopping

Day-trippers to the resorts on Hamilton, Daydream, Long Island, and Hook Island can rent the hotels’watersports equipment, laze by the beaches and pools, scuba dive, join the resorts’activities programs, hike their trails, and eat at some or all of their restaurants. Cruise Whitsundays (  tel. 07/4946 4662; www.cruisewhitsundays.com) has an Island Hopper day pass that allows you to hop-on, hop-off at the islands, A$120 for adults or A$59 for children 5 to 15. They also offer day-trip packages (including lunch) to each of the islands.



Getting There

ByCar

  The Bruce Highway leads south from Cairns or north from Brisbane to Proserpine, 26 km (16 miles) inland from Airlie Beach. Take the Whitsunday turnoff to reach Airlie Beach and Shute Harbour. Allow a good 8 hours to drive from Cairns. There are several car-storage facilities at Shute Harbour when you want to go to the islands.

By Plane

  There are two air routes into the Whitsundays: Great Barrier Reef Airport on Hamilton Island and Whitsunday Coast Airport at Proserpine on the mainland. QantasLink (  tel. 13 13 13 in Australia; www.qantas.com.au) flies direct to Hamilton Island from Cairns and Sydney. Virgin Australia (  tel. 13 67 89 in Australia; www.virginaustralia.com) flies to Proserpine direct from Brisbane, with connections from other capitals, and direct from Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney to Hamilton Island. Jetstar (  tel. 13 15 38 in Australia; www.jetstar.com.au) flies from Brisbane to Proserpine and from Brisbane and Melbourne to Hamilton Island. If you stay on an island, the resort may book your launch transfers automatically. These may appear on your airline ticket, in which case your luggage will be checked through to the island.

By Train

  Several Queensland Rail (tel. 1300 131 722 in Australia); www.queenslandrail.com.au) long-distance trains stop at Proserpine every week. The one-way fare from Brisbane on the Spirit of Queensland is A$173 for a seat or A$312 for a railbed, or you can book a sleeper on the Sunlander for A$226or in the luxury all-inclusive Queenslander Class for A$755. There is a bus link to Airlie Beach for A$17.

By Bus

  Greyhound Australia (  tel. 1300/473 946 in Australia; www.greyhound.com.au) operates plentiful daily services to Airlie Beach from Brisbane (trip time: around 18 hr.) and Cairns (trip time: 11 hr.). The fare is A$230 from Brisbane and A$93 from Cairns.

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