Whitsundays by Plane

You can fly into the Whitsunday Coast Airport (26 kilometres west) and transfer by Whitsunday Transit coach to your mainland accommodation. Keep in mind when booking that Virgin Blue and Jetstar call the airport Whitsunday Coast while Qantas call it Proserpine.

Whitsunday Transit, operates a transfer service to and from the Whitsunday Coast Airport, meeting every flight. Look for the Whitsunday Transit checkin desk at the Whitsunday Coast Airport when you arrive on your flight. Passengers leaving the beautiful Whitsundays must contact Whitsunday Transit for a pick-up time.

Alternatively, you can fly into Hamilton Island airport and transfer to your island or mainland destination by Fantasea Ferries. A smaller airport at Shute Harbour provides light aircraft connections from the mainland to the islands daily.

Airlines servicing the Whitsundays are:

It's a total waste of time printing a flight schedule here as the airlines change their scedule every now and then.

Whitsundays by Bus or Coach

Several major bus companies set down at Airlie Beach numerous times daily. Contact us or your local or Australian travel agent for tickets.

Whitsundays by Rail

There are several trains that run up the coast from Brisbane, and down from Cairns. They stop at Proserpine, and every rail service is met Whitsunday Transit. The rail services include:

Whitsundays by Car

The Whitsundays are about 1,100 kilometres north of Brisbane and about 700 kilometres south of Cairns. Approimate travel times:

Whitsundays by Sailing
If you are sailing from the south keep Australia on your left.
If you are sailing from the north keep Australia on your right

Getting Around the Whitsundays
Shute Harbour is 11 kilometres from Airlie Beach and is the gateway for ferry services to island resorts and the Great Barrier Reef. On the other side of Airlie Beach, only one kilometre away, is Able Point Marina, which is the gateway to many charter vessels that visit the islands and the reef. Almost without exception, if you are getting on a vessel in the Whitsundays, you will board at either Able Point Marina, or at Shute Harbour.

There is a regular bus service, taxis, shuttles and limousines that all operate in the Airlie Beach and Shute H-arbour areas. There is a nice 10 minute walk around the foreshore from the marina to the lagoon at Airlie Beach.