If you ever had a chance to watch reportage on the Whitsundays Islands, and if the islands attract you of course, I am sure it is a place you would like to include in your itinerary. The global picture being of course white sandy beaches, palm trees, blue and green water, … Oh well, you know as well as me all the images closely attached to the islands.

The Whitsundays is a collection of 74 islands off the coast between Mackay and Bowen, accessible via Proserpine, Airlie Beach and Shute Harbour. The Whitsunday Passage is made up of sun drenched islands and turquoise seas, immersed mountain peaks surrounded by fringing reef and coral systems. Most of the islands are uninhabited national parks and only few of them have resort facilities – South Molle, Hamilton, Daydream, Lindeman, Hayman, Great Keppel, Long and Orpheus. Whitsunday Island is the largest of the group with camping areas but no resort.

The Whitsundays Islands will probably match most of your expectations and for the accommodation, offers to the visitor many different options.

One of these options, that could be a cheaper approach (yes, staying few days in one the island resort is not cheap) is to base yourself on the main land and take day trips to the different islands.

If you then decide to spend few days on one of the islands, you will perhaps have the opportunity to benefit from a cheaper last minute deal.

On the main land, your gateway to the islands will probably be Airlie Beach. A small town that has growth year after years due to the continual increasing interest for this very attractive region. Airlie Beach is only few kilometres away from Shute Harbour, the place from where most of the boats are leaving for the islands. At Airlie Beach you will find a good selection of accommodation of different types and different costs. You should have no problem finding one fitting your needs.

As we were travelling with a mobilhome we choose to leave it safely in a caravan park for the time we spent on the island.

The caravan park we selected the first time we visited the region, and where we are returning each time we are back, is the Airlie Cove Resort Van Park.

Each time we enjoyed our stay. Nice park with a lot of trees providing shape, possums coming in the evening (care for the children, they can bite), great swimming pool, daily birds feeding, weekly 'breakfast with the birds', ... and very nice people!

The previous times we visited the Whitsunday Islands region we dedicated our time to South Molle Is. only. This time we decided to spend part of our time on at least one other island and the one we selected was Daydream Island.

The Fantasea Cruise company is offering several day trip packages that include a visit to one or two islands. One of these options, a day trip to Daydream Island, just matches our needs. The package also includes a free pick-up from and to your accommodation, plus a voucher for a lunch on the island.

If you do not want to benefit from the free pick-up, an alternative is to drive yourself up to Shute Harbour and use the car park located near the jetty.

In such a case, you better have to be there early as it is small and quickly full.

You can also use a secure car park located 200 meters from the terminal.

As we decided to leave the mobilhome at the caravan park we took the shuttle to the harbour.

Upon our arrival to the Shute Harbour, we exchanged our vouchers against tickets before boarding one of the fast catamarans.

Daydream Island is the closest of the Whitsunday Islands to Shute Harbour.

It is lying just five kilometres from the mainland and only 15 minutes later, after a very short trip, we are disembarking on Daydream Island jetty.

The island is just one kilometre long and half a kilometre wide. The island is offering both accommodation for several days as well as facilities for the day visitors. There is a clear separation between the 'resident' and the 'day visitors'.

From the jetty, the resort is located on the right and all the facilities for the day visitors are located on the left. They can easily be reached by a 10 minutes walk.
If you do not feel comfortable with this short walk, you can also benefit from one of these small electrical cars that are commuting between the different sections of the island.

We chose to walk and it was with amazement that we discovered the place where we will spend the day. The first place you discover is a wonderful swimming pool. (A little bit cool, due to the season (August), to really enjoy it).

Then hidden between the trees you discover a tropical reef lagoon, followed by a very special 19 holes mini golf course. This mini golf course is very well known for its decoration. Each hole section represents a typical Australia landscape (Sydney, The Red Centre, Canberra with Ned Kelly, ...). It is very pleasant and unusual.

On the list of activities, there is also snorkelling along beaches with fringing coral, and water-sports including sailboarding, jet-skiing, parasailing, coral viewing in glass bottomed boats, and reef fishing.

Afterlunch, the one included in the package, my daughter and I booked for a ride on a jet ski. A experience a little bit expensive but 30 minutes of great fun.

With only two jet ski and a rescue boat we are leaving Daydream island and heading in the direction of South Molle Is. We stopped for a rest on a side from South Molle from where it was possible to see resort. We then returned to Daydream Island with plenty of opportunities to speed and enjoy the ride. After a tour of the island, we are back on the beach near the water sport kiosk. A really great experience, enjoying all the sensations you can get with this type of engines.

After enjoying few more moments on the island, it was time to go back on the jetty and wait for the next ferry to return to the main land.

If you have the opportunity to visit the Whitsunday Islands, Daydream should definitively be on your to do list ...

Back on the main land and to the caravan park, we still had the time for a short drive that brought us to a place from where we had the opportunity to enjoy very nice sunset.

For the second day, we decided to visit, once again, South Molle.

The day is then starting as the previous one. Shuttle to the harbour, ticket, boarding , ... and disembarking on South Molle.

Located in the heart of the Whitsundays (eight kilometres north-east of Shute Harbour), South Molle Island is the largest of the North, Mid and South Molle Island Group and the only one with a resort. South Molle is a very picturesque, hilly continental island with undulating grasslands, lush pockets of rainforest, secluded bays and fringing reefs. One of the Island's greatest assets is the white sandy beaches and pale blue waters.

Unfortunately, once again (it seems to be usual when we are going to this island) the weather was far to be stable. After one hour of sun and clear sky the weather was degrading and grey sky and showers were present during all the day. So we did not do a lot except a short stay in the spa, have a ride on paddle ski and watch the fish feeding from the jetty.

Otherwise, the island also offers a good range of activities. A place where you can enjoy a swimming pool, the reef, some water sports, a mini golf, bush walking, … in the morning, feeding the fishes from the jetty, or the parrots in the afternoon, and of course if this is your style, disco in the evening (if you are staying on the island).

Well, for us it was not a great day due to the weather conditions, but it is anyway a great place to visit.