Whitehaven Beach, The Whitsundays: One of the Most Beautiful Beaches in the World

Expect your jaw to drop open, your feet to effortlessly sink into the softest and whitest sand you’ve ever seen and your remaining iPhone storage to be full within minutes. Yes, it’s Whitehaven Beach, one of the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen and one that no picture will ever do justice. You simply need to witness the beauty for yourself and then rave about it to every person you meet afterwards because quite frankly, it’s pretty special.


When I was planning my trip to Australia, unsurprisingly Whitehaven Beach made it to the top of my ‘must do’ list. I’m a complete travel geek and you’ll always find me creating ‘must do’ lists for everywhere I go! Prior to visiting Australia, I had scrolled past numerous photos of Whitehaven Beach on my Instagram feed and longed to be able to see a beach as beautiful as that. It looked incredible in photos but you often wonder if it’s down to someone’s seriously crafty editing skills or whether it really will live up to the expectations the photos create.

If I’m honest, I thought the beaches on the East Coast of Australia were slightly disappointing. The beaches in the north were (understandably) off limits due to crocodiles and poisonous jelly fish and the beaches further towards the south of Australia were great for surfing with their big strong waves but not ideal for swimming or going for a quick dip to cool down from the heat. Not to mention, they all lacked the beautiful crystal clear turquoise waters of the Thai islands. Maybe I’d been spoilt after I’d seen the beaches in Asia but you can’t help compare now can you?

As you probably guessed from the title of this post, Whitehaven Beach was an exception.

Whitehaven Beach is not the most easily accessible beach and therefore a visit requires you to sign up to one of the many tours every travel agent on the whole of the East Coast of Australia is offering or alternatively own your own private boat which would be pretty damn cool now wouldn’t it? The former was our only option seeing as we were on a traveller’s budget and well a private boat is something I can currently only dream about. These tours set off from Abell Point Marina in Airlie Beach

I visited Whitehaven Beach with a company called Explore Whitsundays on their Hammer boat, a previous racing boat.  Would I recommend this company? Totally. Picture 22 people sunbathing on the top deck with music playing, sailing through beautiful scenery during the day and watching the sunset, eating dinner and drinking at night…pretty perfect huh? Sleeping on a boat was an experience in itself however. Waking up dripping with sweat, trying to rip myself off the ‘beds’ and cursing at the lack of air con was not ideal. Teamed with a goon hangover, my night’s sleep on the Explore Whitsundays boat was probably the worst of my life. Luckily, the rest of the trip made up for it. If I ever do this again, goon will NOT be present. 

As for the trip itself, we sailed to Whitehaven Beach with the sun beating down on us passing by the 74 Whitsunday islands along the way. Once we arrived at the location of Whitehaven beach, we had to walk through an off beaten track over a hill until the whiteness of the sand almost blinded us. I remember thinking that the beaches in the Thai islands had some serious competition.

Of course, it can be busy depending on what time you get there. It’s completely understandable that such a beautiful spot is wanting to be seen by so many people. Who wouldn’t want to have a taste of paradise? Luckily, you have plenty of time there to get the perfect pictures without anyone in them. The beautiful blue skies and islands in the distance of Whitehaven Beach make for the most beautiful backdrop.

Then there’s the viewpoint. An approximate 10 minute trek gets you to Hill Inlet where you need to time your arrival perfectly with the tide. Sometimes there’s too much sea and sometimes there’s too much sand but I’m sure either way the view is still beautiful. When timed perfectly though, you’ll come face to face with the turquoise waters mixing with strips of barely there sand creating swirling patterns throughout the sea. It’s so beautiful.

I could have stood there for hours.

I can confidently say that the beauty of the beach definitely isn’t down to anyone’s crafty editing skills but instead just natural beauty. Whitehaven Beach was definitely one of the highlights of my time on the East Coast of Australia and I think I’ll struggle to find a beach as beautiful as that.

Have you been to Whitehaven Beach before? What’s the most beautiful beach you’ve ever visited?

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Hannah Rose

Travel. Beauty. Fashion. Fitness.

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2 Discussion to this post

  1. Roxanne says:

    Omg Hannah this looks like paradise! It kind of reminds me of the Gili Islands but a better version, (which I didn’t think was possible!) I hope you are having such an amazing time. It looks awesome!

    Roxanne xx
    http://www.thebeautykingdom.com

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