About the islands
James Cook sailed through these islands in 1770, naming them “Whitsunday” after the day he passed through the passage nearby. Long before European arrival, the Ngaro people lived among the islands, leaving rock art and cultural sites that remain important today.
Now the islands are one of Australia’s most famous tropical escapes — white silica sand, turquoise water and sailing boats scattered across the bays. Places like Whitehaven Beach and Hill Inlet look almost unreal, and the surrounding reefs make it a natural playground for swimmers, sailors and anyone chasing postcard views. ⛵🌴
Hamilton Island
Hamilton Island is one of the few Whitsunday islands developed for tourism. After early pastoral use in the 20th century (we heard there was a deer park here once), it was transformed into a resort destination in the 1970s, designed to make the most of the surrounding reef and island scenery.
Today it’s a relaxed but polished holiday hub where golf buggies replace cars and the marina forms the social centre. Visitors come for sailing, snorkelling and easy access to the Great Barrier Reef and Whitehaven Beach. It’s tropical, scenic and pleasantly low-stress — island time in action. 🌴⛵
Island Life
We had a 5 night stay planned on Hamilton Island, starting on Friday 27 February, and to get there you pick up a ferry from Airlie Beach, where we left our car for the duration of our stay. We only passed through Airlie Beach but it really looked like our sort of place, and would like to visit if we are ever this way again.
The crossing takes around 75 minutes, including a drop off at Daydream Island which, in itself looks quite exclusive.
Our hotel picked us up from the Marina for the 5 minute transfer, when we got our first surprise. We thought we were in beachside bungalow style blocks and instead found ourselves standing outside a 19 storey complex, with we estimate around 400 rooms! Those who know us well will be aware that we spent months planning our big adventure, and we cannot understand how we never realised what we had booked!
We checked into our room on the 14th floor, which is huge and has magnificent views over the Coral Sea (albeit room was a bit tired). As we were unpacking Steve turned to the balcony and nearly jumped out of his skin – about 10 white cockatoo had landed on the balcony rail and were watching us intently. We just need Alfred Hitchcock to knock on the door.
Our room deal was Bed, Breakfast and a Buggy. An unusual combination it has to be said. Someone told us there are 350 Golf Buggies on the island for tourists, plus numerous more for staff. Those of a certain age may remember a cult TV series of the late sixties called The Prisoner starring Patrick Mcgoohan, and this place has exactly the same sort of vibe (we think the series was filmed in Portmerion in Wales). Buggies are buzzing around everywhere, with varying degrees of competency. As a golfer, Steve has driven buggies numerous times, but Nikki was not a big fan of the experience. Probably not helped by her googling that in 2022 a couple on honeymoon overturned one and the new bride was killed by her new hubbie who was driving. How devastating must that have been….
On our first night, we ate in Coco Chu, Asian fusion, where Steve tried the Whitsundays Bugs, which turned out be very similar to large prawns – we cannot help but think these bugs (and the Moreton Bay bugs) really need to get hold of their PR team because “bugs” are not the most enticing of names.
Saturday was our first full pool day. The pools there are magnificent and numerous and we spent everyday of our brief stay in one or more of them. As a side note, and without exception, ALL of the sunbeds were very uncomfortable, no cushions provided at any, and at their flagship pool, the Sails, we were amazed to find that every single one was broken so you could only use them flat, so we opted for deckchairs instead. Come on Hamilton, step up !!!
After a relaxing day, we headed across the road to the ‘Beach Club’ and had a fantastic mini degustation type dinner. It was a lovely evening not disrupted at all by a sudden downpour. Walking back we strolled past numerous Wallaby’s who are all over the Island in quite some number.
On Sunday, we had booked a full day cruise which included the reef and a return at sunset. Sadly it was too windy (nearing gale force) and the excursion got cancelled just as we were leaving to head down to the Marina. We were very dissapointed, but true to our British ways, we just got on with it and headed to the pool instead.
For dinner, we had decided to try a walk-in restaurant near the marina, but rain started which soon turned into a monsoon. Judging by how dripping wet everyone setting out or returning were, we decided to stay put and had a surprisingly good meal at the Pool Terrace restaurant in our hotel.
Hamilton Island has a very small wildlife park which is rumoured to have a croc, so on Monday morning we popped in for a brief visit and did indeed find a ‘salty’ named Big Mac. Not the same to see one in captivity, but probably safer than bumping into one in the wild. We also found a Cassowarie and some elderly kangaroos so that is a further three ‘dobs’ on our Aussie wildlife bingo card 😀
That evening we made it back to the Marina and had dinner at the Marina Tavern. It’s a popular and lovely venue with huge verandahs overlooking the boats, and we took advantage of the free bus that continually runs around the Island so to get us there and back so we could have a few drinks. Worth noting that the Queensland Police have quite a presence there and are not averse to breathalyzing buggy drivers.
Tuesday was our last day on the Island, and was also Steve’s birthday. We had a booked an off-road ATV adventure for the afternoon which was cancelled due to the recent heavy rain, so we totally struck out on both our booked excursions due to the weather. However, our planned culinary highlight was in the evening which we were very much looking forward to.
To start off the proceedings, and before heading out to dinner, we hopped on the buggy and headed to ‘One Tree Hill’ for cocktails. Given that that part of the Island is covered in tree’s it was difficult to identify which ‘tree’ the hill was named after. A quick google resolved that and there used to be a single tree on the summit, long since removed.
We then headed home, changed into our posh frocks (well Nikki did) and we headed over to Bommie, a fine dining, 6-course chef curated meal. This was absolutely outstanding, see separate post by clicking here
Hamish says ...
The Whitsundays are an absolutely stunning location to visit – the scenery, the turquoise waters and proximity to Great Barrier Reef, create an environment that should be perfect.
Unfortunately Hamilton Island did not live up to our expectations. It’s probably because it is as commercialised as you can get, and not quite the exclusive resort we anticipated. Steve described it in 2 ways – Centre Parks on steroids or Centre Parks without the dome. Nikki feels that is harsh but in truth the business model is virtually identical – you leave your car at the entrance; you swap bikes with golf buggies to get around; there are bar and restaurant choices but it all goes into one payment account; it has clients that range from families on a budget to those who can afford more exclusivity; there is an app with ‘what’s on’ to tempt you to part with more cash (that feels never ending). Yes it has location and scenery that Centre Parks can only dream about; it is tropical without a dome. Would we come again – maybe if we are looking for a Centre Parks experience, but I think we would research the Whitsundays a bit more carefully next time because we think this beautiful part of the world probably has something else that would more closely match our expectations.
Despite all of that, we have had a lovely time even though the weather was not kind to us. That is down to the Whitsundays vibe more than anything else. Steve felt another couple of nights there would have been great as it felt like we only scratched the surface.
What's next
We return by ferry to Airlie Beach and pick up our car (hoping it is still there and doesn’t have a ticket).
Our next main stop is Yeppoon, but as it is 500km drive, we are breaking the journey with an overnight stop in Mackay. Interestingly, and coincidentally, a Scottish chap called Dave Mackay is an absolute legend at Tottenham Hotspur from the sixties. You may not be aware, but Steve played schoolboy football with another Spurs legend called Glenn Hoddle for around 5 years. Always impresses Spurs fans.