Sailing the Whitsundays in Australia 2018: Prices, Companies, & More

Updated: 11/1/2018 | November 1st, 2018

Located off of Airlie Beach on Australia’s east coast, the Whitsunday Islands are a popular destination for travelers. It’s one of those “must-see activities” in Australia.

The most popular way to see the islands is to take a sailing cruise. The tours typically last three days and two nights. However, since you leave midday the first day and return the morning of the third, it’s more like two days and two nights. Every backpacker who travels up the east coast seems to take a sailing cruise through the Whitsunday islands.

And, since I was a backpacker too, I couldn’t skip the sailing cruise! Where would my backpacker cred go if I skipped it!?

I went with a company called OzSail.

Heading out on a cloudy Sunday, we boarded our boat, Freight Train. Freight Train’s an old boat. Built in the 1980s as a German racing boat, the boat is quite small. It fits 18 people in the berth plus three crew. If it was up to me, I would have picked a bigger boat. There’s nothing really wrong with the boat—if you want a typical “sailboat,” Freight Train is a fine good option. I just hate being on small boats. But you go where your friends are, and my friends were there. I took the boat because my friend Phil was on it. (Turned out, my friend Caitlin and two Swedish girls I met in Noosa few weeks before were also on it. Small world, huh?)

Because the boats leave midday on the first day, you only have enough time for one snorkel trip before you set anchor at night. Because of the weather and rain, the snorkeling wasn’t great. The water was murky, and there wasn’t a lot of fish. But nothing could be done about that and we moved on, anchored up for the night, ate, and drank until…well, about 10 o’clock. A funny thing about being out on the water—your perception of time changes. After the sun goes down and you spend hours out on the deck, you begin to think it’s really late. “It must be like 1am!” someone would say. Nope, it’s 10pm and time for bed.

The second day sailing around was a lot better. We headed to the famous Whitehaven beach for a swim. Whitehaven is what you see on all the magazines and postcards of the Whitsundays. It’s a long, pure-white beach. It was beautiful until the rain came, spoiling the moment, and we headed back toward the boat. We sailed around for a bit to find a bay to stop and snorkel in. Because of the time of year, there were only a few places to go, and, according to our captain, the bay we stopped in might see only boats 10 days a year, making the fish and reef system a lot better. I opted to dive instead of snorkeling. The coral was beautiful, we saw a lot of fish, and I found a turtle. That was really the highlight. We followed the turtle around for a while and then, realizing we needed to surface, waved it goodbye and came to surface.

The Whitsunday Islands are beautiful, but I had the misfortune of visiting the islands during Queensland’s wet season. Except for a few hours of sun, the whole three days were filled with clouds and thunderstorms. Every time I was getting ready to get a tan, the rain came pouring down.

I can only imagine how the islands would have looked if it’d been beautiful and sunny every day. When the weather was nice, you could see the appeal of the place. Sailing on the water, stopping for a swim, exploring a few islands. Sailing around the Whitsundays is the perfect way to spend a few days.

Sailing the Whitsundays: Suggested Companies and Logistics

Sailing the Whitsundays is pretty straightforward. You can book directly with any of the big companies. However, the best way to save money is to book with a tourist office or a hostel. You’ll end up saving a lot more money as they get better rates and deals. Everything on the boat is provided for you except snacks and alcohol. Make sure you stock up on them before you leave. Additionally, try to find a boat that leaves early on the first day or late on the third day so you get more time out on the islands.

Some suggested sailing companies are:

Expect to pay between 490-550 AUD per person for a 2-night sailing trip. Prices will vary depending on the size of the boat and how basic or luxurious the facilities are. Rates are often a little cheaper if you book as a couple or part of a group, so be sure to ask if they have any discounts available.

Airlie Beach, the main jumping off point, is around a 7-hour drive from Cairns and a 12-hour drive from Brisbane. If you plan to fly, you can take a short flight from either Cairns or Brisbane to Hamilton Island or Whitsunday Coast. Brisbane has the most flight options, with round-trip tickets costing as little as 225 AUD.

However, there are more ways to visit the islands than just sailing. You can also stay on the islands, though accommodation is pretty expensive. Expect to pay at least 200 AUD per night (though 300 AUD is more likely). You can find hotels and resorts on some of the islands, including Daydream Island, Long Island, and Hamilton Island (which also has an airport). If you don’t want the party scene of the sailboats and are looking for a more relaxed, private stay then this might be the option for you.

If you want to visit the islands on a budget, camping is also an option. Camping permits will cost as little as 8 AUD per night, so if you have a tent and want to save yourself some money then this is a viable option. You’ll need to take a water taxi service to get to your island/campsite. Expect to pay at least 70 AUD for round-trip service to the islands. Some of the hostels on Airlie Beach will also let you camp on their grounds for a discount as well.

Book Your Trip to Australia: Logistical Tips and Tricks

Book Your Flight
Find a cheap flight by using Skyscanner or Momondo. They are my two favorite search engines because they search websites and airlines around the globe so you always know no stone is left unturned.

Book Your Accommodation
You can book your hostel with Hostelworld. If you want to stay elsewhere, use Booking.com as they consistently return the cheapest rates for guesthouses and cheap hotels. I use them all the time. Some suggested places to stay are:

• Whitsunday on the Beach – This motel on Airlie Beach has really friendly and helpful staff and is in a great location for anyone heading off to sail the islands.
• Base Backpackers Airlie Beach – This is a quieter hostel with great airconditioning as well as a pool and volleyball area.
• Airlie Beach Magnums – A well-organzied hostel in a great location with comfy beds and a super helpful staff.

Don’t Forget Travel Insurance
Travel insurance will protect you against illness, injury, theft, and cancellations. It’s comprehensive protection in case anything goes wrong. I never go on a trip without it as I’ve had to use it many times in the past. I’ve been using World Nomads for ten years. My favorite companies that offer the best service and value are:

• World Nomads (for everyone below 70)
• Insure My Trip (for those over 70)

Looking for the best companies to save money with?
Check out my resource page for the best companies to use when you travel! I list all the ones I use to save money when I travel – and I think will help you too!

Love, Fear, and a Chance of Drowning with Torre DeRoche

Did you ever read Eat, Pray, Love? Did you like it? I didn’t — and when I saw the movie on a flight, I wanted to throw a shoe at the screen. I’m not really a “chick flick” movie guy (exceptions: Love Actually and The Notebook, two great movies). But then my friend Torre DeRoche published her love story, Love with a Chance of Drowning, about meeting the man of her dreams and sailing across the Pacific despite an intense fear of the ocean.

To my surprise, I really enjoyed the book. It was less of a love story and more of an adventure story about getting over your fears. I found the book to be descriptive, funny, and inspiring. (Also, she is a much better writer than I am.) So today, I virtually sit down with Torre to learn how a girl who was afraid of water sailed across an ocean with a man she met at bar.

Tell us your story. How did a girl afraid of water end up on a boat?
In my mid-twenties, my life in Melbourne had stagnated, so I quit my job and booked a one-way flight to San Francisco. Not long after I got there, I met a man in a bar who had a humble boat and a ready-to-go plan to set sail. Since I’ve always been terrified of the ocean, I had no interest in his adventure, but he was fun to be around so I kept seeing him.

Over many months, he charmed me with pictures of the remote islands of the South Pacific, and I found myself wondering what it would be like to reach such a paradise by the power of the wind.

Curiosity got the better of me, and I grew excited by the challenge of facing my fear. I was also in love. So I decided to jump aboard and island-hop across the Pacific to Australia on a leaky, 32-foot boat.

For that matter, how did an Australian girl who doesn’t like water fly over an ocean to end up in California?
I was scared of a lot of things: the flight over, starting from scratch, loneliness, finding a job and a place to live, making friends, and getting by on what little savings I had. But I forged ahead because I had always wanted to live in the US, and because I felt that if I didn’t face my fears and go, I’d be sentencing myself to a predictable, boring life.

You weren’t afraid of ending up on the “Lost” island?
When you’re floating mid-Pacific in a boat that’s smaller than a bedroom, you’re far too vulnerable to let yourself get worked up about fictional stories. It was the creepy, real-life threats that I feared, like freak waves, white squalls, or orcas attacking and sinking the boat (yes, this really happens!).

When did you get over your fear?
After we spent 26 days at sea sailing from America to the Marquesas, I felt pretty invincible. I was still nervous about deep water and long sea passages (see above for reasons why), but the throat-clenching, phobic fear that I’d felt at the start of the voyage was gone.

With your book Love with a Chance of Drowning, how did you go from self-publishing to being published by a traditional publishing house?
I queried agents for six months and, after having no luck with that, I decided to self-publish. A couple of weeks after launching, I received a Twitter message from a Hollywood producer who had chanced upon an excerpt of my book through a series of random clicks. He wanted to know if the film option was available.

A month after self-publishing, I received two offers: one from the UK publisher and one from the Hollywood producer. Armed with two offers, it took me about four days to sign with a New York agent. From there, the book went to auction, and we quickly sold to five publishers around the world. The film rights were also optioned.

What’s life like now as a big-time author?
I’m hand-fed caviar and peeled grapes around the clock by an entourage of Herculean men in leather thongs. No, that’s a lie. Life as a published author is exactly the same, only with a vague understanding that a bunch of strangers are reading my words right now.

I’m asked to sign books, which never stops being strange. At a book event, someone said to me, “Could you please write a little piece of wisdom in my book?” I’m not very skilled at wisdom-on-demand, so after a long, thoughtful pause, I wrote, “Thanks for coming tonight.” Whoa — watch out, Dalai Lama!

I always find it weird people want my signature too.
It really makes me wish I’d invented a cooler signature.

What do you want people to get out of your book?
On its most basic level, Love with a Chance of Drowning is a lighthearted, fast-paced travel memoir that takes the reader across the Pacific Ocean via a string of remote islands aboard a leaky boat. It’s a love story set on a sailboat, but it’s not just for armchair travelers, sailors, and romantics.

At its heart, it’s a book about going up against fear and taking big risks. If you have the courage to step outside your comfort zone with an open mind and an open heart, the world and its possibilities becomes infinitely larger. Big risks yield big rewards.

It may force you to question your own life decisions, it may give you the inspiration you need to embark on your own scary adventure, or it may simply take you on a hair-raising boat trip through the South Pacific with a terrified woman and her clumsy-but-lovable Argentinean boyfriend.

Is there a movie in your future?
Somewhere in Hollywood, Love with a Chance of Drowning is being adapted into a script right now. If all goes to plan, there will indeed be a film. Watch this space.

What were some of your top three moments sailing the pacific?

1. Smelling land for the first time after 26 days at sea.
2. Meeting a beautiful 60-year-old woman who had been sailing for 40 years, and learning that she also had a fear of deep water. She taught me that adventurers are not always fearless, which inspired the name of my blog Fearful Adventurer.
3. Being welcomed with huge bear hugs by islanders in destinations accessible only by boat. We were taken in like family.

I’ve always wanted to sail around the Pacific. How do you do it? What if I don’t want to buy a boat? Any advice?
There are a few ways to see the Pacific without having to buy your own boat:

• The Aranui — This is a freighter ship that delivers food and goods to various remote islands around French Polynesia. It also takes passengers on its route through the Marquesas, the Tuamotus, and the Society Islands. The ship doesn’t stay in port long, but you’ll get to see many remote islands that can only be reached by boat.
• Crew on someone else’s boat — A lot of sailors take on crew to help with the sailing and chores. Many of them want people with prior experience, but if you’re a particularly charming backpacker with the right attitude, you can hitch a ride across the Pacific on anything from a structurally questionable wooden boat to a Fortune 500 CEO’s mega-yacht. You may end up with a lovable captain, or a complete freak — but that’s all part of the adventure, right?
• Charter a boat out of Fiji, Tonga, or Tahiti — There are a number of companies that offer charter boats. You can hire a skipper and crew, or you can bareboat. From Tahiti, you can sail a couple of days northeast to reach the Tuamotus. There you’ll find some of the most beautiful — and treacherous! — atolls in the world.

What would you tell a person who wants to try something new but who is afraid?
I believe that if you get that nagging urge to try something new and you find yourself hesitating because of fear, the only reasonable path to take is to follow through with it. If you do, possibilities will open up and you’ll get an incredible sense of empowerment from breaking down your own perceived boundaries. If you don’t follow through, the opposite will happen. Your world becomes smaller. You’ll lose faith in yourself. A little piece of you dies, and regret grows in its place.

And really, isn’t that a hell of a lot more scary than whatever it is that’s holding you back?

What’s next for you?
I haven’t figured that out yet! I’m so focused on trying to get through this wild adventure of writing and publishing a book that I haven’t yet had a chance to plot out my next moves.

As far as writing goes, I would love to attempt fiction next.

For more of Torre, you can visit her website, Fearful Adventurer, and you can get her book on Amazon or in your local book store (I highly recommend it!). There’s also her witty tweets on Twitter.