We left Saturday morning on our sailing adventure through the Whitsundays. We headed down to the marina and meet our boat, the Wings II Diving Adventures. Our crew consisted of Captain Cookie (not to be confused with Cap’t Cook), Skipper Woody and our cooks Harriett and Veronica. Our catamaran held about 25 guests and our group was a mix of a younger, fun group, a family and a few older couples. We set sail to explore the Whitsunday Islands, which are 74 pristine islands surrounded by aqua waters and white sandy beaches (the whitest in the world). The Whitsunday Passage was discovered by Captain Cook in 1770 and was named because the discovery was made during Pentecost and the passage literally means White Sunday, after the white gowns worn during Pentecost.
(group shot day 1; Woody, Harriet & Cookie; setting sail)
Our first stop was Luncheon Bay, where we ate lunch (obvs) and did some snorkeling and scuba diving. Danielle and I both did our first explorer dive in the Great Barrier Reef, which you can do without PADI certification, but it’s supposed to help down the road when I go to get certified. Cookie and Woody commented on how many questions Danielle and I asked. It was A LOT! It’s a lot of thinking about breathing, but generally pretty easy once you get into a rhythm. It was a lot of fun. I didn’t see Nemo, or any turtles, but we saw lots of coral and Dori’s. We went to Mantaray Bay next, but I opted to stay on the boat and just relaxed and enjoy the gorgeous scenery.
We never went hungry on the boat. They had great food, including one of the most delicious snack trays I’ve ever had (I was a total vulture…stuffing my face till our tray was done, andddd perhaps sneaking some off the other tray). That evening, we had an eco slideshow and learned about the islands, followed by a slideshow of the pictures taken earlier in the day. The snorkeling photos were sooo much better than our scuba diving ones. Only bummer of the trip. We had a couple of glass of goon and then went to bed, exhausted from the day. Danielle and I slept in the kitchen/table area (not sure the technical boat term for this) along with four others. All the tables converted into beds. Not the most comfortable, but not too bad. And best of all (since I left Teds back at the hostel) they had a cuddly Tiger Shark named Trevor that I cuddled all night long. I know, I’m 30 and still sleep with a teddy bear. I have no shame.
On our second and last day, we went to the famed Whitehaven Beach (voted the forth best beach in the world last October by CNNGo). Whitehaven Beach is 98% silica which is super fine, dazzling white sand on magnificent marble aqua blue waters. Heaven on earth! We spent most of our time at Whitehaven Beach taking amazingly, silly photos.
There was one more stop for snorkeling and scuba diving, but I was warm and dry, so I decided to stay on the boat, get some sun and drink some cider and goon! Day drinking on a boat, umm, yes please.
(Max, Danielle, Kurt & me; boat lounging)
Our catamaran adventure around the Whitsunday Islands was probably my favorite thing we’ve done so far (minus bungee jumping, but they are really in different categories). Sailing the Whitsunday Islands is a definite must-do when traveling in Australia.
If the pictures didn’t capture the trip, our new English friend Kurt made a video, so you can get a small feel for it:
