Airlie Beach, AU

Airlie's loudest, longest-running seafood pub — battered local reef fish, garlic prawns, and a rum list that runs to 500-plus bottles. The dining room and the rum bar share the same kitchen but very different energies; pick your room before you book.

The chef-hatted fine-diner out on the point at Coral Sea Marina South — modern Australian plates built around local seafood and oysters, framed by one of the best sunset outlooks in town. One of only two hatted restaurants in Airlie, and the marina's special-occasion booking.

The upmarket Italian end of the marina precinct — handmade pasta, wood-fired pizza and a wine list that takes itself a touch more seriously than the neighbours. Linen napkins, marina view, and the spot locals book for anniversaries.

Cannonvale Beach cafe a few minutes west of the centre — sand under the tables, Boathaven Bay out front, and an all-day brunch menu that runs from acai bowls to mud crab omelettes. Where locals go when the main strip feels too touristy.

Members-and-visitors sailing club at the eastern end of the boardwalk — bistro pricing, full bay view, and the cheapest plate of fresh local prawns in town. Sign in at the door as a visitor and walk straight upstairs to the deck.

Out at Woodwark Bay, a 10-minute drive (or free courtesy shuttle) from town — a sand-floored beach bar with a long jetty, fish-and-chips off the grill, and the only westerly sunset view in the Whitsundays. Worth the trip out of town once.

The family-run Italian at Port of Airlie, overlooking the marina on Port Drive — handmade pasta and gnocchi, wood-fired pizza, risotto and house meatballs from a menu it's barely changed since 2016. A calmer, more local dinner than the Coral Sea Marina strip across the bay.

Family-run bottle-shop-meets-bar down at Port of Airlie — close to 400 beers and ciders from around the world that you can drink in for a small corkage or take away, plus deli boards and pizzas. The off-tourist-radar local hangout, a few minutes round from the main strip.

Upstairs late-night bar above the main strip — burgers, share boards, cocktails and a balcony over the main intersection. More drink than dinner, more party than restaurant, but the kitchen runs til 10pm and that matters in this town.

All-day cafe, restaurant and bar on the main strip opposite Woolworths — breakfast from 7.30am through to dinner, seven days, with a kitchen that doesn't close in between. A reliable, unfussy fuel stop before or after a day on the water.

A small, well-reviewed Korean-and-Vietnamese kitchen just off the main strip on Waterson Way — Vietnamese noodle soups and rice-paper rolls on one hand, Korean-style barbecue and grill on the other. The town's go-to when the answer to dinner isn't seafood or pizza.

The 30km multi-day track through Conway National Park rainforest, with three bush-camp nodes and a continuous tree canopy almost the whole way. Most visitors walk it as overnight or day sections out of the Brandy Creek trailhead rather than end-to-end.

A 5km return climb out of the Conway day-use area to a ridge lookout over Pioneer Bay and the islands. Steady uphill the first half, flat ridge the second, and the best of-its-effort view in the park.

A 5.6km return walk from the Coral Beach carpark on Shute Harbour Road, climbing through coastal dry vine scrub to a wooden platform with a 180-degree view of the Molle Islands group. The most photographed mainland viewpoint after the boardwalk.

A short, shaded 2km return creek walk that starts behind the cemetery on Begley Street and follows Airlie Creek into the rainforest fringe. Mostly flat, with rock-hops at two creek crossings and a quiet finishing pool.

The short 1.2km return climb from Tongue Bay beach to the famous Hill Inlet swirl viewpoint on Whitsunday Island. Boardwalk and stairs the whole way, no shade at the top, and only reachable on a tour boat that anchors in the bay.

The short walk from the carpark down through palms to the tannin pool and swimming hole below Cedar Creek Falls. The access road in is now fully sealed, there are toilets and BBQs at the trailhead, and it's the easiest waterfall payoff in the region.

The 1.5km flat coastal boardwalk from the eastern end of town through mangroves and small bays to Coral Sea Marina. Not really a hike, more the town's morning-walk loop, but it's the most-walked path on this coast.

The big-boat Great Barrier Reef day trip out to the Heart Pontoon at Hardy Reef on the outer reef — snorkelling, a semi-sub, an underwater observatory and a buffet lunch. Cruise Whitsundays refurbished this pontoon and moved the day trips here in April 2026, after the older Reefworld pontoon switched to overnight-only Reefsleep and Reefsuites stays. Still the easiest way to reach real outer-reef coral without a dive ticket or a small, rough boat.

Half-day rigid-hull inflatable trip out to Whitehaven Beach and the Hill Inlet lookout — faster, smaller boats than the catamarans, and the only operator permitted to run inside Hill Inlet's swirling sands. You reach the lookout before the big-boat hordes; the Whitsundays day-trip locals book their own visitors onto.

Red Cat's award-winning Thundercat day tour — a fast catamaran out of Coral Sea Marina to Whitehaven Beach, the Hill Inlet lookout and two snorkel stops on the fringing reef, covering both north and south Whitsundays in a day. More energy than the big sailing cats, more polish than the rafts.

The 60-minute Cruise Whitsundays ferry from Port of Airlie to Hamilton Island for a self-guided day — buggy hire, beach club, One Tree Hill sunset bar, and the only resort island with a working airport in the group. Easy day out when you've had enough boat tours.

The closest island to Airlie — 30 minutes by ferry — and the easiest half-day reset. Living Reef lagoon walks, pool access, day-spa, and a beach side that gets the afternoon shade. Good rainy-day or recovery-day option after big tours.

Sixty-minute fixed-wing scenic — run by Air Whitsunday, the operator formerly known as GSL Aviation — out of Whitsunday Coast Airport (Proserpine) over Heart Reef, Hill Inlet and the outer reef. The shorter, cheaper alternative to the helicopter flights: much the same views, roughly two-thirds the price, a little more height off the water.

Guided jetski convoys on Sea-Doo skis out of Coral Sea Marina South, around Pioneer Bay and the Molle Islands, with runs across to South Molle and Daydream for snorkel and beach stops. Two-up or solo, three-hour and half-day options, and a route the crew change daily for conditions.

Half-day Proserpine River wetlands tour — flat-bottomed boat, mangrove channels, saltwater crocs in the wild, and a billy-tea-and-damper bush lunch in a paperbark grove. The Whitsundays day-trip that has nothing to do with boats or reef.

An hour up the highway, Bowen is the old fishing-town neighbour — the giant Big Mango, the headland walks, and Horseshoe Bay, the postcard cove most Airlie visitors never bother to drive to. A self-drive day, no tour required.

A full day under sail on Camira, the bright-purple 85-foot catamaran that's been the harbour's poster boat for two decades — and one of the world's fastest sailing cats. Out of Port of Airlie to Whitehaven Beach, a walk up to Hill Inlet, an inner-reef snorkel and a barbecue lunch, with all drinks (beer and wine included) part of the fare.

Tandem skydives from up to 15,000 feet — freefall over the reef and islands, then a beach landing, the only one on offer in the Whitsundays. Landings are on the beaches down around Midge Point and Laguna Quays depending on the day's wind, with free transfers from Airlie Beach.

The free, council-run swimming lagoon on the foreshore — built because the bay itself is off-limits to swimmers through stinger season. Patrolled by lifeguards, ringed by lawn and BBQs, and the de facto town living room from sunrise laps to sunset beers on the grass.

The flat coastal timber walk linking the lagoon to Abell Point Marina past mangroves, tidal flats and a few quiet swimming bays. Bookended by cafes at one end and the marina bars at the other, it's the route locals use to skip the Shute Harbour Road traffic.

The big working marina on Shingley Drive — the renamed Abell Point — where most reef and sailing day-boats berth and a waterfront dining strip (Hemingway's, Sorrento) looks over the water. Two precincts, North and South, joined by a boardwalk of bars and tour kiosks worth a wander even without a booking.

Seven kilometres of 98% pure silica sand on the eastern side of Whitsunday Island, regularly voted Australia's best beach. Accessed only by boat or seaplane from Airlie — half-day rafts, full-day catamarans, or splurge scenic flights with a beach landing.

The swirling sand-and-turquoise view that fronts every Whitsundays brochure — a short bush climb from Tongue Bay on Whitsunday Island. There's no road in; every visitor arrives on a tour boat that anchors in the bay and walks the 600m track up.

The short uphill spur off the boardwalk that climbs to a bench-and-railing lookout over Pioneer Bay, the marina and the islands. Quick payoff for ten minutes of effort and the town's go-to spot for a sunset that isn't packed shoulder-to-shoulder.

The forested ranges that wrap Airlie to the south and east — lowland rainforest, dry vine scrub and a network of walking tracks that drop to coastal lookouts. The trailheads are 10–15 minutes from town and several are sealed-road accessible.

The original ferry harbour 10km east of town, rebuilt after Cyclone Debbie and still the cheaper, lower-key departure for island day-trips and water-taxi runs. Quieter than Coral Sea Marina and the views back across to Conway Peak are the best on this coast.

A short rainforest walk to a tannin-dark pool below a rock-amphitheatre waterfall, about half an hour's drive south-west of Airlie and roughly halfway to Proserpine. Best after wet-season rain — by September it's often a trickle into a swimming hole rather than a roar.