Whitehaven Beach is on Whitsunday Island, Queensland, Australia. The island is accessible by boat, seaplane & helicopter from Airlie Beach, as well as Hamilton Island. It lies across from Stockyard Beach, better known as Chalkie's Beach, on Haslewood Island. The seven kilometres beach is known for its crystal white silica sands and turquoise coloured waters. The beach has tour barbeque and camping facilities.
The beach was named and discovered in 1879 by Staff Commander EP Bedwell. 'Whitehaven' specifically originates from the English town of the same name, it was one of the many names, from the then English county of Cumberland, which Bedwell brought to the area. It followed James Cook's 1770 naming of the island group, the Cumberland Islands. [1]
The beach was awarded Queensland's Cleanest Beach in Keep Australia Beautiful's 2008 Beach Challenge State Awards. [2] In July 2010, Whitehaven Beach was named the top Eco Friendly Beach in the world by CNN.com. [3] In 2014, tourism website TripAdvisor placed Whitehaven Beach in its top five on a list of the best beaches worldwide. [4]
In 2017, Cyclone Debbie affected the beach causing severe erosion and damage. [5] Intensive reconstruction work on the southern end was required. [5]
Dogs are not permitted on the beach and cigarette smoking is prohibited. [2]
Whitehaven Beach is known for its bright white sands, which consist of 98% pure silica. Local rocks do not contain silica so it has been suggested that the sands were brought to the beach by prevailing sea currents over millions of years. [6]
Unlike regular sand, the sand on Whitehaven Beach does not retain heat making it comfortable to walk barefoot on a hot day. This sand is also very fine, and can damage electronic equipment such as telephones and cameras, although it is good at polishing up jewellery. [7]
Tourists and locals visit Whitehaven Beach to swim and take in the bright white sand. Some visitors eat a BBQ lunch, and campers can stay by booking the National Parks camp facilities. [8]
The Whitehaven Beach Ocean Swim is a 2 km open swimming competition held on the beach in November each year since 2009 as part of the Hamilton Island Triathlon. The 2012 event was held on 11 November 2012. [9] The beach was also featured in the racing video game Forza Horizon 3. [10]
In 2018, the government announced an investment of $3.9 million for the construction of a new long-distance walking track and upgrading of the camping areas on the island to improve the holiday experience of the visitors. The track will connect Whitehaven Beach to Tongue Point. [11]
Great Sandy National Park is a coastal national park in the Fraser Coast Region, Queensland, Australia.
South Cumberland Islands is a national park in Queensland, Australia, 831 km northwest of Brisbane. It is famous for the marine stingers which can be found in the waters of the park between October and May.
Whitsunday Islands is a national park in Queensland, Australia, 920 kilometres (570 mi) northwest of Brisbane. It contains Whitsunday Island and 31 others.
North Stradbroke Island, colloquially Straddie or North Straddie, is an island that lies within Moreton Bay in the Australian state of Queensland, 30 kilometres (19 mi) southeast of the centre of Brisbane. Originally there was only one Stradbroke Island but in 1896 it split into North Stradbroke Island and South Stradbroke Island separated by the Jumpinpin Channel. The Quandamooka people are the traditional owners of North Stradbroke island.
The Whitsunday Islands are 74 continental islands of various sizes off the central coast of Queensland, Australia, 900 kilometres north of Brisbane. The northernmost of the islands are off the coast by the town of Bowen, while the southernmost islands are off the coast by Proserpine. The island group is centred on Whitsunday Island, while the commercial centre is Hamilton Island. The traditional owners of the area are the Ngaro people and the Gia people, whose Juru people has the only legally recognised native title in the Whitsunday Region.
The Cumberland Islands form a group of 70 islands at 20°34′S149°08′E on the Great Barrier Reef, off the coast of Mackay in Queensland, Australia. They were discovered by Captain James Cook in 1770.
Proserpine is a rural town and locality in the Whitsunday Region, Queensland, Australia. In the 2021 census, the locality of Proserpine had a population of 3,614 people.
Whitsunday Island is the largest island in the Whitsunday group of islands located off the coast of Central Queensland, Australia.
Lindeman Island is an island in the Lindeman Group of the Whitsunday Islands off the coast of Queensland, Australia. The island was named by Captain Bedwell after his sub-lieutenant, George Sidney Lindeman whilst aboard the Royal Navy vessel HMS Virago.
Daydream Island is one of seven islands of the Molle Group, a sub-group of the Whitsunday Islands in Queensland, Australia. The island is small, measuring 1 km in length and 400 m at its widest point. The highest point on the island is 51 metres above sea level.
Keswick Island is an island in the southern half of the Whitsunday Islands. Located 34 kilometres north-east of the Queensland city of Mackay, Keswick Island is part of the Cumberland Islands of islands that lay protected inside the waters of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.
Teewah Beach is a beach that extends from Double Island Point in Cooloola, Gympie Region through Noosa North Shore in the Shire of Noosa to the Noosa River in Queensland, Australia. It is part of the Great Sandy National Park. The beach extends from approximately 25°56'11"S, 153°11'18"E to 26°22'44"S, 153°04'38"E, a distance of about 51 kilometres.
Hamilton Island Race Week is a keelboat regatta set against the backdrop of the Whitsunday Islands, on Queensland's Great Barrier Reef. It is one of Australia’s favourite yachting events and a firm fixture on the international sailing calendar. Competitors, family and friends come together to enjoy the convivial atmosphere and unique camaraderie of the event’s on-water and off-water carnival.
Hayman Island is the most northerly of the Whitsunday Islands, off the coast of Queensland, Australia. The island is 294 hectares. It is a private island open to the public, most famous for its luxury resort which was built in the 1950s by Ansett Transport Industries. The island is a significant for tourism in Queensland. The resort is managed by the InterContinental Hotels Group.
Air Whitsunday is a charter airline based in Australia that operates a fleet of seaplanes. The company also operates tours.
Lucky Bay is a bay located at 33°59′40″S122°13′57″E on the south coast of Western Australia, in the Cape Le Grand National Park. Located southeast of Esperance, the bay is a tourist spot known for its bright white sands and turquoise-coloured waters.
Chalkie's Beach is located on the western coast of Haslewood Island in the Whitsunday Islands of Queensland, Australia. It lies across from the more popular Whitehaven Beach on the main Whitsunday Island.
Severe Tropical Cyclone Debbie in 2017 was the strongest tropical cyclone to strike Queensland since Marcia in 2015, and was the costliest tropical cyclone in Australia since Yasi in 2011. Forming as a tropical low on 23 March, the low gradually intensified into a named tropical cyclone on 25 March. After steadily strengthening offshore to a Category 4 system, Debbie eventually made landfall near Airlie Beach, at 12:40 AEST on 28 March. Afterwards, Debbie rapidly weakened into a tropical low by late 28 March, but continued to travel south, causing significant damage and flooding in the populous areas of South East Queensland and Northern Rivers. In total, the storm caused A$3.5 billion (US$2.67 billion) in damage and fourteen deaths across Australia, primarily as a result of extreme flooding. This makes Debbie the deadliest cyclone to hit Australia since Fifi in 1991.
Severe Tropical Cyclone Ada was a small but intense tropical cyclone that severely impacted the Whitsunday Region of Queensland, Australia, in January 1970. It has been described as a defining event in the history of the Whitsunday Islands, and was the most damaging storm in the mainland town of Proserpine's history at the time. Forming over the far eastern Coral Sea in early January, the weather disturbance that would become Ada remained weak and disorganised for nearly two weeks as it slowly moved in a clockwise loop. Accelerating toward the southwest, the system was named Ada on 15 January. All observations of the fledgling cyclone were made remotely with weather satellite imagery until it passed over an automated weather station on 16 January. The extremely compact cyclone, with a gale radius of just 55 km (35 mi), intensified into a Category 3 severe tropical cyclone just before striking the Whitsunday Islands at 14:00 UTC on 17 January. At 18:30 UTC, Ada's eye crossed the coast at Shute Harbour. The cyclone made little inland progress before stalling northwest of Mackay and dissipating on 19 January.
Dingo Beach is a coastal rural locality in the Whitsunday Region, Queensland, Australia. In the 2016 census, Dingo Beach had a population of 169 people.
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