Whitehaven Beach
Seven kilometres of white silica sand on Whitsunday Island, washed by turquoise water and reached only by boat, seaplane or helicopter from Airlie Beach or Hamilton Island. The sand is so fine and pure that it stays cool underfoot even in the midday sun.
- Where
- Airlie Beach, Queensland, Australia
- Grade
- Well known
- Worth
- 10 points collected on site, plus 1 for its grade
- Coordinates
- -20.2827, 149.0349
Get the Whitehaven Beach stamp
Open LOQAH when you are at Whitehaven Beach. It checks where you are once, at that moment, and the stamp is yours: confirmed on site in gold and struck with the date. It goes into your Queensland volume with your photos and a note.
Near Whitehaven Beach
Whitsunday Islands 12 km
A group of 74 islands off the central Queensland coast, part of the traditional waters of the Ngaro and Gia peoples. Boats sail out from Airlie Beach to Whitehaven Beach, whose white silica sand swirls with the tide at Hill Inlet.
Hamilton Island 12 km
The largest inhabited island of the Whitsundays, about 512 kilometres south of Cairns, with its own airport, marina and resorts. Most people here are on holiday, and boats leave from its harbour for Whitehaven Beach and the outer Great Barrier Reef.
Magnetic Island 264 km
A mountainous island 8 kilometres off Townsville, reached by ferry to Nelly Bay, that has become almost a suburb of the city. Most of it is national park and bird sanctuary, with walking tracks between the bays and up to forts built in the Second World War.
Paronella Park 436 km
A Spanish-style castle, grounds and gardens built beside the waterfall at Mena Creek by José Paronella in the 1930s, as a place for locals to swim, dance and picnic. It fell derelict for decades and has since been restored, its mossy stone stairs and towers half taken over by the rainforest.
Wet Tropics of Queensland 483 km
Some 8,940 square kilometres of very wet tropical forest along the coast and ranges of north Queensland, inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 1988. It meets all four natural criteria for World Heritage, and takes in the Daintree, Barron Gorge and Mossman Gorge.
Green Island 508 km
A small coral cay on the Great Barrier Reef, a short ferry ride from Cairns, ringed by white sand and covered in rainforest. Snorkelling straight off the beach, glass-bottomed boats and a boardwalk through the island's forest fill most visits.
Kuranda Scenic Railway 516 km
A heritage train that climbs from Cairns over the Great Dividing Range to the village of Kuranda on the Atherton Tableland, along a line built in 1891. The route winds through the Macalister Range, past waterfalls and through tunnels cut by hand.
Skyrail Rainforest Cableway 519 km
A gondola cableway running 7.5 kilometres above the rainforest canopy of Barron Gorge National Park, from Smithfield in Cairns up to Kuranda. When it opened in 1995 it was the longest gondola cableway in the world, and it stops at stations with boardwalks through the forest.
More famous places to visit in Queensland
Questions
Where is Whitehaven Beach?
Whitehaven Beach is in Airlie Beach, Queensland, Australia. The nearest other LOQAH stamps are Whitsunday Islands (12 km), Hamilton Island (12 km), Magnetic Island (264 km).
How do I get the Whitehaven Beach stamp?
Open LOQAH when you are at Whitehaven Beach and get its stamp. The app checks where you are once, at that moment, and the stamp goes into your Queensland volume, confirmed on site, with the date.
I have been to Whitehaven Beach before. Can I still have the stamp?
Yes. Add it from Earlier trips in your Queensland volume, with the date if you know it, or import your Google Timeline and LOQAH matches the places you were.
Collect your first stamp.
LOQAH is free on iPhone and Android, in India and 20 more countries, with more countries on the way. Stand at a place, collect its stamp, and keep every trip in a passport that grows.