Travel Answers

Hi! I have been given the challenge to plan our visit to Australia and will be traveling soon (late May, early June), and finding it difficult to find a travel agent who is knowledgeable enough to help. We are a couple coming from the US (Boston area) and traveling with 2 adult children (21 & 23). We all love beaches and adventure. We are a little short on time and plan to take flights in the interest of time where necessary. Most of our party will be originating from Sydney having spent several days there. Having trouble figuring out the best way to see a lot and yet have a somewhat relaxing enjoyable vacation. Considering renting a Catamaran and learning to sail to see the islands, however, not opposed to other alternatives including a resort with something for everyone. Really want to see Hamilton Island and Whitehaven Beach, and open to other suggestions (read something about Fraser Island and renting 4x4's?). Any advice will be greatly appreciated! This is most likely a once in a lifetime trip for us.

We are thinking of a sailing holiday in the Whitsunday Islands chartering a yacht from either Abel Point ot Hamilton Island. Can anyone give us information about where we can re-fuel and replenish fresh water on board the boat without returning to either Abel Point or Hamilton Island?

Hi. I live in the Whitsunday area. I love bushwalking or hiking up hills or mountains Ect... Overnighting if need-be. Also enjoy kayaking. I am a male in my forties. I am interested in meeting anyone with the same interests. Who likes participating in these activities for exercise and adventure. I am fit, healthy and easy to get on with. Looking forward to a response from anyone in any age group with same interests.

Hi all, We have relatives visiting in july and they would like to visit hamilton island. Am wondering if it will be too cold at that time of year for swimming/snorkelling spending time on the beaches? If so would a better option be cairns/port douglas? Thinking could then do the rain forest trips/railway etc. Then spend 1 day braving the cold snorkling and would have more options for activities? Thinking of 5 day trip so am worried that cold could ruin a whitsundays holiday? thanks

My Husband to be and I are thinking about having our honeymoon on Hamilton Island or the Whitsunday's. We are from Melbourne but we have spent more time travelling the world than actually seeing our own country and thought we may have a honeymoon close to home. Years ago I spent a week on Great Keppel Island and had a really good time. Our honeymoon dates are between March 31st - April 13th. Is this too long to stay in one place or will there be plenty to do for the 2 weeks that we will be there? I really like the idea of staying in a resort and not just a hotel or apartment block. Can anyone suggest the best place for honeymooners to stay? We understand that we are travelling through the Easter Holiday period which unfortunately can't be helped from a work perspective. We are also extremely active people and will most probably do a lot of tours and island activities. I am leaning towards staying on Hamilton Island because I know we can fly direct from Melbourne but we are also open to suggestions as well. Budget we do't have as yet but like I said we are open to all suggestions. Looking forward to hearing from everyone Thanks Lisa

Hello, I would like to spend some days at the Great Barrier Reef - Whitsunday Islands - for relaxation, swimming, snorkling and meeting nice people. I am traveling alone. What is the best island to visit when traveling alone (but I am not a ClubMed/Robinson Club friend!!). I am planning to fly in to Hamilton Island and it would be okay for me to stay there ... unless I am getting other great recommendations from you :) Thanks a lot for your ideas and recommendations. TM

Hi all. Myself and my two friends are trying to plan a trip from Airlie Beach up to Cairns for the last week of June and the first week of July. We will also have with us a two year old child. We are on a tight budget and so are looking at the cheapest way of doing the trip. Can anybody recommend some budget accomodation? Bearing in mind that we would have a small child with us, we would rather something like an apartment or cabin rather than a hostel. We are looking at spending at least half of the trip around airlie beach/whitsundays. We also looked at renting a campervan but decided it night not be the best way to travel. Any advice or info anyone might have would be greatly appreciated! Thank you :)

Hello all! We are flying to Hamilton Island Airport on the 7th and plan to stay on the Whitsundays! What is the best place there? Should we just stay on Hamilton Island or should we go to a nicer? better? island? We are all together 4pax. Our budget is not luxurious...is it wise to go on a sailing trip to avoid paying hotel fees? Any special recommendation? Maybe a boat where we would be alone? Has anyone stayed in the Hamilton island apartments before? Thank you in advance!

We're planning a trip to Whitsunday Islands particularly to see Whitehaven Beach sometime between late May-middle of July next year. We're coming from LA. I have absolutely no clue where to begin so questions: 1. Does it rain a lot between May and July? When's the best time to go? 2. How many days should we allot for this trip? I've checked the flight schedule and it looks like we'll be losing 3 days to travel. Is 15 days too much if we're really most interested in Whitehaven beach? Thanks in advance :)

Melissa and Graham here! We are visiting Australia in September 2011 as part of our 'celebrate retirement!'round the world trip. We fly into Cairns from Sydney at the end of August and have booked 3 days on Green Island. We have 6 days to see Cairns/ Cape Tribulation/Port Douglas/Whitsundays before flying to New Zealand from Brisbane. [A flight from Mackay to Brisbane and on to Christchurch has been booked.] There are so many amazing places and so little time! Graham enjoys diving but I don't dive. Cape Trib looks amazing but do we need to stay there or is it better to stay in PD and travel for a day? What is the best way to get to the Whitsundays from PD/Cairns and should we fly to Proserpine, Hamilton Island or Townsville or is driving cheaper? Where are the best dive sites? So many questions...so confused...yet very excited! Look forward to advice from the travel experts out there! Thanks! Melissa

Hello, this is our first time to Australia (my husband and me). Our plans are to fly into Brisbane, stay the night, the next day go to the Australia Zoo, the next day do the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary & shopping. So, we have a week left to snorkel the reef. Does anyone know the best way to do this? Should we just get a snorkel cruise, or maybe stay on one of the islands? The cost is not important, but I am feeling frustrated and my travel agent doesn't know much about Australia. Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks! Melissa

As I,ve posted before my friends and I are coming to Australia for 3 months. I was wondering where the best place would be for us to stay with a really good chance of getting a job, and a cheaper place to stay? Would also like to know what are drinks worth there? Whats a beer worth in the bar? Any other prices or expences would help to! Thanks! Cory

Hello, My name is Cory, my 3 friends and I are going on a trip to australia from Canada on Oct 10 through to Dec 29. When we land in Sydney we plan to take a 14 Day tour along the coast and end up in Whitsunday. Hoping to stay in Arilie Beach. Does anyone have any good tips for us? Like cheap places to stay? We plan on working once we have arrives in airlie beach does anyone know of any good jobs to get for the time we spend in Airlie beach? Or is it better to be staying somewhere else if were looking for work? Any tips would be greatly appreciated even if they dont have anything to doing with my questions. Thank you! Cory

We are a family of 5 (mom, dad, kids 10, 14, 16), trying to see as much of Australia as possible in 2 weeks. I have most of our time planned (Sydney, Melbourne/GOR via rental car, 3-day Kakadu/Katherine NP safari out of Darwin, then 3 night sailing trip in the Whitsundays out of Airlie). How do I squeeze in seeing more of the Great Barrier Reef between the Kakadu trip and Whitsunday sail? Is it as simple as booking a seaplane trip out of Airlie (haven't even checked into this in detail yet -- next on my to-do list)? I know this itinerary is very ambitious, so am trying to avoid having to add more airport-to-airport flight to piece this all together. Thanks for any help you can offer!

OK..... We are looking at optionts re: travelling to whitehaven beach to marry. Can anyone reccomend a boat we can hire to take us there please? Whats the weather like at the start of April, and whats the journey like via boat over to whithaven? We will base ourselves in Airlie afterwards we would like to go somewhere for a spoilterness honeymoon for 3 nights- a resort that allows no children, any pointers? Finally how do you get to Airlie from Brisbane? I thanks you for reading this and all my questions and hope you do not have a headache!!!!

Hi, I have been looking into cruises in the Whitsundays and travelling at the end of next week. Does anyone have any previous experience who can help with my choice. There are a lot to choose from and it is a little confusing. Probably want a 2 or 3 night cruise for me and my husband. Any help would be appreciated.

Hi Folks, Im going to be chartering a bareboat later this year and I wanted to find out how good the snorkelling around the whitsundays really is. The charter companys all say its great, but then again they would hey. I know the inner islands typically have rather average reefs. Are there any good spots to know about? Thanks, Ad

hi, I am looking to go on a tour whereby I can see the whitsundays and the great barrier reef, all the ones i've seen so far include the outer barrier reef, is it worth doing a seperate day trip to see the barrier reef or the ones that they are offering? I am travelling between late october amd mid november thanks

I am visiting the Whitsundays in December and am considering staying for 5 nights on Brampton island followed by a couple of nights on a boat sailing and scuba diving around the whitsundays. My husband and I are very keen scuba divers and love water sports. I have read mixed reviews about Brampton Island and I was wondering if anyone has any experience they could share with me about Brampton Island, or if they could recommend places to stay in Whitsundays.

Hiya, I am heading to Sydney for 2 weeks to hang out with some relatives. However, I would like to explore other parts of Australia. One area that was highly recommended to me was the Whitsunday Islands. Does anybody out there have any tips/suggestions for a solo traveler? I'm open to any and all suggestions! Thank you in advance for your help! Best, Eric

Hi, I am 40 and my mum is 73. I want to go to the Whitsundays sometime this year and I will take my mum away with me. I am a business woman and have had an insanely busy year (or ten), and all I want to do is absolutely nothing. My idea of a great holiday is lying in and beside the pool with multiple cocktails for 7 days. We have been to Daydream Island before and really loved it. Would this be the best place for us or does anyone have any other islands they can recommend. I really want somewhere with a pool bar and somewhere where everything is quick and easy to get to. Also, considering I want to spend most of my time in the pool, which would be the earliest month that I could go between June and December where this would be suitable. I don't want to freeze my butt off. Thanks, Heather

Hi! We are three girls that are travelling the Whisundays around christmas 2008. Does anyone know if we should have everything booked (i.e. accomodation and sailing trips) before we arrive? We are a bit worried that everything will be booked out if you do not book before we arrive. Thanks for your help.-)

Hi there- after a rather trying holiday with our 3 and a bit year old son recently, it has occurred to us that we should really take him to a resort with a kids club, as one of his main complaints while we were in Noosa was that he was missing his friends back home. So- the kids club, although not his usual friends, would at least keep him amused- he has no trouble making new friends either, so during school holidays, there would be many diversions I suspect. I've been looking at Dunk, Daydream and Hamilton- perhaps Hayman. Does anyone have any experience of the kids clubs at these places, and in general are they as family friendly as they advertise themselves? Our budget is probably on the higher side of average, but certainly not unlimited (so of the four above, Hayman might be just a little out of our range). Of course we would like to have some fun as well, but it's more about keeping the lad entertained. Thanks, m

Just wondering, what the weather is like in early December? Is it an expensive time to book accomodation and when do school hol's start? Just got an email from Virgin Blue with some cheap flights... Thanks guys Betty

My girlfriend and I recently sailed the Whitsundays for a week at the end of January on a bareboat yacht. Loved the place! Warm water, turtles, dolphins, not that crowded, good diving, lovely islands and beaches. Can anyone recommend another place in the world that is a great sailing playground with good diving and warm water/weather like this? I want to book another holiday, but going back to the Whitsundays might not be that creative of me...! We're UK based.

My boyfriend and I have just book some cheap flights up to the Whitsundays for 5 nights in March. I was wondering where people would suggest we stay – is it better to go out to the islands or stay on the mainland around Airlie beach? I’ve looked up many of the hotels/resorts and they seem either expensive or they don’t get great reviews! ... I’m unconvinced by being stuck with resort food as well! (we probably would spend up to200 a night, maybe a bit more). Also I wanted to ask if there was anything in particular you’d recommend doing whilst we’re there! Thanks! :o)

Hi, Me, my girlfriend and my dad are travelling from Cairns to Sydney by car for 3 weeks and going sailing in Whitsundays would be so nice. I'm wondering if anyone has any advice on what boat to take? We don't want a party boat because my dad is coming with us but we're on a pretty tight budget so a cheap boat would be to prefer. Cheers, Tomas

Hi, I will be arriving Airlie Beach Fri and staying Until Mon (FEB), can anyone recommend a bareboat charter company that does 3 days hires. We are a couple so don't need anything big. Just want to get a feel for bareboat sailing. Thanks

Can anyone advise which month is better to book for sailing & snorkelling - we would like to take a miss on the jellyfish or cyclones or extremely wet weather? Also, would we have to wear the special suits while swimming off islands & barrier reef in late Feb or late March? Thanks Lori

What is the weather like in the Whitsundays in June/July? Is the water warm enough for swimming?