Vitamin D! making sure our bodies were in surplus before leaving for Saskatchewan, we donned our board shorts, bikinis and sunscreen and headed to our second home, Airlie Beach, with the mission of seeing a turtle for the last time whilst we dive the Great Barrier Reef.
Whitehaven Beach
Welcome, to Whitehaven, for the last 15 years this little stretch near Hill Inlet has been our very own private exclusive beach. In all our years we have never had to share this little gem, granted it’s on an island and a good 45mins to an hour by private boat but it was and is so worth it!
We did however get turned away here a few years back as the whole of Whitehaven was in “lock down”, nope not Covid related but movie related! Chased away we headed to Hamilton Island for the afternoon, there we were met with more film crews, Kate Hudson and Mathew Mcconaughey filming the movie Fools Gold. Quite epic to see them driving around on the electric golf carts (it’s the only means of transportation whilst on the island)
Many many family memories were made on this beach, from my first visit in 2019, Charlotte’s first visit to Australia in 2020, first as a married couple, first steps for kids, and the first fish for Brent just so many epic memories that we take with us forever!
After a day spent on Whitehaven, the kids had a few items on the wish list which they were keen to see for the last time before we hit the airways, not having our own boat anymore the request to snorkel on the Great Barrier Reef and seeing turtles etc was a big ask. Fortunately, Airlie being the tourist destination that it is has an abundance of tours we could rely on.
Brent won a prize through Cruise Whitsundays for a family trip so we cashed that in and headed out on a busy ferry to Hardy Reef where Cruise Whitsundays have a pontoon 100km out to sea for our final visit to the GBR.
Here is a video the kids helped me make of our trip out, snorkel and you guessed it babies, Dad got us the turtle sighting all the kids wanted!
As you can see from the video, we were blessed with perfect weather and a sensational trip! Turtles, Maori Wrasse encounters and plenty of big Giant Trevally keeping the bait fish honest around the Hardy Reef Pontoon.
For families with kids, I highly recommend a trip like this, it is expensive if you have a tribe like mine, but being able to lounge around on large sofas on the ferry makes a long 2-hour trip very manageable with kids. There is food inclusive and you can bring your own, kids get free ice creams on the home trip whilst the crew on board display the pictures of the day.
On board is where the pontoon comes into it’s own for small kids learning to snorkel, as you can see in the video there is a great platform where you can sit and put your fins and goggles on, and there is also a small enclosed area for smaller kids to swim and it’s usually full of blue and yellow fusilier fish which offers a great up and close encounter for kids. There is also a great guided snorkel tour, we always opt for this option as they normally take you to an area that the rest of the guests cannot get to. Because we are a big family we normally take up the whole tour so our tribe get to float via float tube along the reef edge whilst the tour guide teaches the kids a few secrets of the reef. For first-time ocean scuba it’s wonderful too, with an underwater platform you can simply float off, with no back flips off boats or giant leaps and losing goggles, a really great way to introduce yourself to the ocean.
For the very experienced I’d suggest your own boat, or even better a mate with a boat! fewer people and you can go where you want to go! I’d be more than happy to help anyone if you reach out in the comments or direct message!
Airlie Beach, Whitehaven beach and of course the Great Barrier Reef must have known it was our last trip for a few years, as after months of bad weather, lots of rain and howling winds the Whitsundays turned in for us this trip, really making us doubt our decision to leave this paradise and explore life on the Prairies of Saskatchewan!
Goodbye Airlie, Good bye Whitsundays!
To our friends and family here on the Whitsundays, we bid you farewell for now, to our home and blue depths of the ocean we say see you soon! Thank you Whitsundays as always it’s been perfect! 
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