We set sail early in the morning for Whitehaven beach! Whitehaven beach is located on the largest island of the Whitsundays - Whitsunday Island. The islands were formed 100,000 years ago and 10,000 years ago they were formed into continental islands. The island is a national park so there are no resorts allowed on it. Therefore, it can only be accessed during the day by boat or seaplane. We were going by boat which took us the full day.
Today we were sailing in a purple catamaran boat. It had one giant sail in the middle but not too many seats. I sat in the front of the boat on the tarp that was laid out. I had taken Dramamine but the motion was still a lot and found I had to lay down if I wanted to survive. The boat ride to the snorkeling spot took a couple hours of rocking back and forth on the waves.
When we arrived at the snorkeling spot we all put on our sexy stinger suits and grabbed our snorkeling gear. From the big boat we boarded a smaller boat that took us closer to the reef since the big boat would not be able to go that close to the reef. We jumped off and had about an hour to snorkel. Compared to yesterday at least there were fish!
The water was a bit murky and I tried out my underwater phone camera with little success. One of my first snorkeling memories in Hawaii was how bright and vivid the algae is. I have yet to see coral that bright but I think I definitely will on this trip. Coral gets color from algae it eats. They are naturally transparent, so it takes the color from what it eats. I saw all colors of coral - green, red, orange, purple, white, and even blue! The blue coral was by far the most striking as it looked like a Smurf had puked all over it. I saw many fish too! There were lots of striped fish, big rainbow fish, black fish, and so many other small fish. Even though we were in deeper water, swimming with the fins was easy as it kept me afloat. I could have easily swam so far in distance but we were confined to a space near the shore so that the lifeguard seated on a surfboard could keep an eye on us. The small boat was also transporting people as they finished snorkeling.
I was very hungry following snorkeling so I am glad they had a large assortment of snacks back aboard. Our next destination was about another hour away and was the famous Whitehaven beach. I knew any view we got from the land today would not match the epic views I got of the beach from above yesterday but I did want to see it from a new perspective.
It was sweltering hot at Whitehaven beach at around noon when we arrived. We had to take the small boat to get there again as the sand came so far back that large boats cannot access the beach. We first went on a short walk to get to a viewpoint. Along the way the guide pointed out these red ants with green bums. He said that the bums are filled with a lime flavor that was used by the Aboriginal people as medicine. They would shake the ants into a pot of water and make a tea from the flavor in the bum of an ant. The guide told us that we could grab an ant and lick the bum if we wanted to taste lime. I didn't do it but the few people who did said the line was very potent.
The viewpoints for Whitehaven beach were absolutely gorgeous. You could look out and see the white 98% silica sand that is made from a material similar to pure quartz. Apparently lots of people try to take the sand and the Australian government is always looking out for little white packets in luggage. Apparently when Oprah visited the island she attempted to take some but was stopped at the border.
Whitehaven beach is also the backdrop where Pirates of the Caribbean number 5 Dead Man's Tale was filmed. In the process, Disney violated so many rules and regulations of the national park they had to pay such hefty fees. As an apology they built the scenic walkway to the viewpoint and to the beach. They even had non-native palm trees they kept planting in the ground the day of that was a cause for huge fines. In the end all that was for exactly 7 seconds in which the island is featured in the film.
From above the beach was stunning. You could see the various hues of turquoise and blue as well as the different sandbank patterns. It was not the same view from the flight yesterday but it was amazing to be able to see it up close. The sandbank changes every time the tide comes in so it never looks the same as the day prior. Pretty amazing!
We made our way down to the beach to hit the water to cool us down a little. The water was actually very hot and shallow. It was like bath water and you had to sit down to be fully in it. It was insanely clear and I was able to see a stingray and a couple of fish! I didn't see the small sharks but some people reported back that they were lurking in the water.
Swimming in the water cooled us off to an extent before we headed back for our barbecue lunch on the boat.
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