In the beginning was a photo. Like an Australian answer to the German Wadden Sea. This beach, these colours, these sandbanks, this longing. I wanted to go there. The Whitsunday Islands are one of the most beautiful spots in the world. Just behind the Great Barrier Reef, they are well protected from the Pacific swell.
Boating mecca down under - the Whitsunday Islands
This dreamlike archipelago is largely unknown in this country. This is primarily due to the enormous distance. It is almost impossible to make the journey from Germany in under 30 hours. The question that arises for Central Europeans: Is it worth the long journey? What about local specialities that you can happily do without? Sea wasps and seasonal cube jellyfish, for example, or sharks that are around all year round. We'll see.
You can read not-so-distant cruise tips for the next season here
The starting point for a trip to the archipelago is the small town of Airlie Beach in Queensland. The first thing you notice are the many excursion boats. And the huge outdoor pool right next to the beach. As I said, there are reasons why you don't jump into the sea as safely as elsewhere, Luke tells us.
Dos and don'ts on the Whitsunday Islands
Luke is a professional letter carrier. His four-hour briefing is compulsory and starts at eight thirty in the morning on the first day of the charter. He teaches the charter guest the rules of the Whitsundays Marine Park and World Heritage Site, the dos and don'ts. Nature conservation is particularly important in Australia near the Great Barrier Reef.
Part one of the briefing contains general rules and restrictions in the area: which of the numerous and differently coloured murings are intended for which size of boat. You also learn (somewhat irritatingly) that you should not sail after 4 pm and should moor at one of the numerous murings instead.
Rules, red pencil and curfew
Luke's explanation is as simple as it is baffling. He says: "Sorry, but ... the charter companies want to prevent late-night wanderings between the reefs." Apparently they have had their own experiences. In other words, accidents caused by inexperienced skippers. Which in turn comes as little or no surprise when you learn in the next sentence that apparently anyone can skipper a yacht in the Whitsundays. No such thing as an official boat licence is required here. The desire is much more important than the ability. So if you have no previous knowledge and still want to set sail, you can (and should) at least book a short crash course.
Of course, that explains a lot. Not only the early closing time at the end of each day's sailing, but also the thick red Sharpie on the nautical charts that Luke goes through with us. Lots of handwritten notes and exclamation marks: passages that must not be navigated due to strong currents, reefs that must be avoided at all costs and entire bays that are also taboo.
In other words: a skipper first sees red. As if he were dealing with the most demanding and dangerous area on earth. And a tidal area at that. Even the most experienced crew is left somewhat unsettled by this abundance of warnings. Whether rightly or wrongly remains to be seen. Cast off and off we go!
The Whitsunday Islands are paradise - but not a swimming paradise
We leave the mainland and set course for the archipelago. After so many red lines, the view of a blue horizon and the green islands is twice as good. And once on the water, everything feels the same as always. Just a little sunnier and more turquoise than usual. The breeze is steady, the boat is running. And there are no shark fins to be seen. But that's deceptive ...
Our first mooring is just ahead on Hook Island. Just a short beat, but a safe anchorage for the first night. A deeply indented bay like a tropical fjord. Well protected in all conditions. The sharks probably know that too. The Nara Inlet is known as one of their breeding grounds and nurseries. Swimming is not recommended. Especially at dusk. We were explicitly warned: only recently there were two incidents. One was minor, the other fatal. Jumping off the boat should therefore be avoided at all costs. Splashing makes the predators curious.
As soon as we've anchored, we head down to the bathing platform anyway - it's force of habit. With the clear warning still in your ear, you don't even want to put your feet in. A completely new experience. And to be honest, not the best. When everything else is crying out to be cooled off ...
Backpacker mecca Whitehaven Beach
The next day, the best conditions. Sunshine galore. And a possible destination in every direction. You see excursion boats of all kinds - with and without masts. Many an old regatta yacht looks like a refugee ship, given the number of backpackers on board. Most of the boats head for Whitehaven Beach, which has won several awards, but which we wisely avoid on this Sunday. We are travelling for the sake of travelling. Without a destination, in no hurry. There are plenty of bays and anchorages. And there's always a lee shore if it gets too windy or wavy.
The islands themselves are a wild mix of landscapes, like a tropical answer to Scandinavia. With dense vegetation, beaches like in the Caribbean - and a tidal range of up to four metres. With a corresponding current: in narrow passages it can be a strong five knots. They can be easily recognised by the red marker on the charts. This should be taken into account when navigating. However, most passages are not a problem around slack or low water.
Not to be underestimated: The Whitsunday Islands are a tidal area
In general, the first impression in moderate conditions: If you already have experience with tidal waters, the area is easier than all the instructions and footnotes in the nautical charts suggest. For example, white, pyramid-shaped buoys are placed everywhere in the popular bays to protect the corals from yachts - and vice versa. Murings are laid out at the most popular anchorages. They vary in size with coloured markings for the different ship sizes. You can stay there for two hours during the day, and if you arrive shortly before the end of the day, you can stay overnight free of charge. In fact, we only used the anchor once.
We set course for Hayman Island, the northernmost point of the area. This beautiful island resembles a tropical postcard with its high cliffs, lush vegetation, white sand and turquoise-coloured water. The Blue Pearl Bay is a perfect match. There are tonnes of coral fragments on the beach. Unfortunately. The devastation and remnants of a hurricane that hit the bay particularly hard. Nevertheless, inspired by the excursion boats around us, we dare to go snorkelling for the first time. Not without first donning the so-called stinger suit, a wetsuit that protects us from the jellyfish, which are said to be rarer between the islands than on the mainland.
Sharks and jellyfish: the biggest downer down under
The jellyfish season is between October and May. There are two species with which contact can be extremely fatal or even fatal. Although the probability of an encounter is low, it cannot be ruled out, which is why there are litres of vinegar for first aid in the on-board first-aid kit. However, this does not help against the sharks. The desire to swim is severely dampened. So far the biggest downer on our trip Down Under.
Next island, next stop in Butterfly Bay - if only because of the name. A twin bay in a beautiful landscape. There is also a snorkelling stop here. However, we decide in favour of a walk on the beach. We slalom around the coral heads in the dinghy and have to keep an eye on the tide. So that we don't get stuck on the beach for longer than we'd like. No matter how beautiful it is. Unfortunately, there is no signposted bushwalk here. On day three, we set our own course for the highlight of the islands - Whitehaven Beach. Eight kilometres long, winner of several awards. A beach of superlatives. Not least because the sand has a quartz content of almost 99 per cent. With an obviously high proportion of parrotfish faeces, it is considered one of the whitest and most beautiful beaches in the world.
Paradise on earth
Even more visually spectacular, however, is Hill Inlet - an inlet that winds its way inland behind the beach. We arrive just in time for low tide and grab a mooring in the neighbouring Tongue Bay. You can take the dinghy ashore and approach the inlet from land. A path leads to a viewing platform. The view is breathtaking. The Hill Inlet is a total work of art, a sandbank painting. Stingrays and small blacktip reef sharks swim in the shallow waters of the lagoon. And an anchored catamaran in the middle of this splendour. That's as good as it gets. Or is it?
We set course for the southern archipelago. The number of boats decreases rapidly. The loneliness increases. Suddenly the water becomes cloudy, as if we were cruising through glacial milk, a watercolour in various shades of turquoise. We drop anchor in the next best bay and let the drone fly. The higher it climbs, the greater the effect: a gigantic swirl of water, drawn into the sea by the current. What I see on the display literally looks back at me - like a divine eye. The rest is amazement and silence. After all, a picture is worth a thousand words.
Precinct information
The precinct
The Whitsunday Islands archipelago consists of 74 islands off the coast of the state of Queensland in north-east Australia. The average distance to the coast is around 10 nautical miles, the longest extension of the archipelago is 20 nautical miles.
The Whitsunday Islands lie protected between the mainland and the Great Barrier Reef. The largest island is Whitsunday. It was named after Captain James Cook, who passed it on Whitsunday in 1770 with his ship "Endeavour". Due to its easy accessibility, the archipelago is a popular excursion destination and one of the busiest boating areas in the south-west Pacific. The climate is subtropical all year round, and in the winter season (from June to August) the average temperature is a pleasant
23 degrees Celsius.
Literature and nautical charts
The standard work with all the detailed information about the area is "100 Magic Miles of the Great Barrier Reef" (Imray), available at 100magicmiles.com (95 euros incl. postage). The map sheets AUS 824 and AUS 825 (Admiralty) cover the area at a scale of 1:150,000 (57.90 euros), available from, among others hansenautic.de
