“Welcome to f**king paradise! Isn’t it beautiful? I get to live here!”
Spoken by a tanned, older old guy in board shorts with a cig stuck behind his ear, those were the words that shattered my peace as I lay baking on the pavement at Airlie Beach’s port, and it’s that Aussie accent that will always echo in my mind when I reminisce about the week that followed. The enthusiastic local who settled down next to me as I snoozed in the midday sun wasn’t wrong – Airlie beach is a paradise, even in winter.
Airlie Beach was our most Northern stop on our East Coast Australia adventure, and our gateway to the utopia-like Whitsunday Islands. It may have been winter in Australia, but we still found plenty to do in Airlie Beach. It was colder further down the east coast; but there the sun shone, sun-kissed backpackers wandered the streets in swimwear and the sea beckoned.
Touching down at Airlie Beach airport was the beginning of the most surreal week of my life.
Visiting Airlie Beach during winter
Beach and lagoon
I’m not really sure why Airlie has ‘Beach’ in its name, because the beach there isn’t anything special; but we caught our first rays of sunshine of our five week backpacking adventure there.
Check out these Airlie Beach tours and activities
Markets
There was a craft market right next to the beach, and it got cool around 4pm so we went for a walk and took some photographs at a picturesque abandoned wedding altar. Doesn’t this look so perfect?
So many sunsets in so many locations and so little time!
Where to stay in Airlie Beach
We stayed at Nomads, and it was pretty much the perfect hostel. Clean, spacious rooms with a pool, hammocks and a volleyball net. I’ve never been to summer camp, but I imagine it would be exactly like Nomads.
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Where to party in Airlie Beach
There’s a strip of huge bars running through Airlie Beach that served as the perfect introduction to the Aussie drinking scene. Chilling in the sun with a happy hour jug on the benches, I was in backpacking heaven. Beaches Backpackers was my favourite; we watched the Lions vs Wallabies game there and ate most of our meals, because they had good deals.
Magnums is the other big bar in Airlie Beach with a hostel attached, and they had a free BBQ which went down brilliantly with a few beers. We played some pool and tried to figure out if the group of 12 guys dressed in Double Denim were in fancy dress or just seriously channelling the YMCA.
For late night drinking and dancing, you should head to Mama Africa.
Tours from Airlie Beach
We used Airlie Beach as a jumping off point for our three nights sailing around the Whitsunday Islands (you can book here), which was the best experience of my life. If you don’t have as much time, you could book a day cruise to Reefworld, a rafting tour to Whitehaven Beach or take it all in from above with a scenic flight over the reef and islands.
See more tours from Airlie Beach
Find cheap flights to Airlie Beach
If you’re travelling around Australia, I recommend the Lonely Planet guidebook. I used mine to find accommodation and things to do on this trip!
This post is super old now, but I’ve come back and updated it. It brings back so many memories! My next post is about Sailing the Whitsundays, which is probably still my top travelling experience to date.
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