INTRO

When you think of Queenslands Whitsunday Islands, pictures of cocktails on an island resort, sunset sailing aboard a tall ship or scuba diving the Great Barrier Reef may first come to mind. Pushing the mainstream aside, the Whitsunday Islands National Park offers some spectacular self supported nature based island packrafting and great bush camping for those more intrepid and inclined to explore some of this regions less frequented spots. With adequate route planning and trip preparation, a 5-7 day packrafting journey can be completed between the islands within the national park, camping along the route at various sunset beach campsites, with some pretty spectacular coral reef snorkling opportunities thrown in mix.

HOW TO GET THERE

The chain of islands which make up the Whitsunday Islands National Park lay approximately 25km offshore from the Queensland (party) town of Airlie Beach, QLD. Airlie is a good start/end point for your trip, with ample options for getting groceries, supplies, drinking water for your journey (possibly a hangover to boot if you’re that way inclined in the local backpacker scene).

Coming to the region from afar, you may need to fly into/out of Airlie Beach via the Whitsunday Coast/Proserpine Airport. Ample transport to/from the airport is available, along with various levels of accommodation for the first and last nights of your trip in Airlie Beach.

Given the islands lay some distance from the mainland, you’ll want to arrange boat transport to your start and end points within the national park. A local business in the region, Scamper run a great scheduled and charter boat drop-off/pick-up service to the various island campsites, and also offer camping equipment hire if necessary. You can also obtain drinking water jerry cans for your journey from Scamper too.

If you’re very well organised, you can skip visiting Airlie Beach entirely, and simply fly into/out of Hamilton Island which does offer various direct daily flight options from most major capital cities. Scamper do offer a direct Hamilton Island pickup with prior arrangement/additional cost, but keep in mind there are various factors, including weather, tides, charter capacity which do affect their daily schedule/travel times/pickup location which are accessible by Scamper’s special beach landing boat, so play it flexible and all will go well.

We would highly recommend allowing 1-2 additional days on either side of your Whitsunday packrafting journey to allow for variables with weather and transport.

Note: Scamper don’t run their island charter service during peak wet season, between 1st Feb through 10th March each year, so plan your trip outside this period. If planning a trip in the area during the wet season shoulder periods, we’d recommend bringing a group tarp to string up at the campsites to get some respite from the rain. It’s generally not cold, but the basic bush camps have little or no structured shelters so a tarp is a perfect addition to your kit. In the hotter summer periods, this can also provide some additional shade during the heat of the day.

WHERE TO GET SUPPLIES

If your journey starts in Airlie Beach, QLD there is a supermarket in the centre of town. There are a couple larger big box camping stores a bit out of town also near the Whitsunday Plaza.

If flying directly into Hamilton Island there is a surprisingly well stocked small IGA supermarket & bottle shop a short walk from the airport terminal/jetty. Check opening times.

Scamper hire out some pretty basic camping gear. You can also arrange grocery provisions to be dropped off to Scamper for your departure with prior arrangement through Whitsunday Provisioning

Paddling SECTIONS

• For a successful packrafting journey in the Whitsunday Islands, we generally recommend choosing a route less exposed to prevailing open ocean currents, wind and swell. Paddling with the direction of the prevailing winds (i.e. on your back) is also recommended. Prevailing trade winds of the region generally blow from the south east, so paddling from south to north is going to be a much more pleasant journey (we really wouldn’t recommend the reverse in most circumstances).

• The Pack Raft Australia crew recommend & completed the following route:

  • Whitsunday Island, hugging the western shore from Dugong Beach campsite drop off (within Cid Harbour, see note below) through to the northern tip of the island. A relatively short “open water” or “channel crossing” of ~500m or so from Cairn Beach campsite across to Hook Island, then paddling the south and western coast of Hook Island via Curlew Beach through and onto the beautiful Steen’s Beach campsite at the north of Hook Island.

  • Alternatively you could simply base camp at one of the campsites within the national park and punt around the nearby region in your packraft, laze on the beach sands and go snorkling from your raft. Have a chat with Scamper for recommendations for nice campsites and those campsites less frequented if going the base camp option. Certain areas/campsites do have higher visitation due to deeper water/ease of access for larger yachts.

• We highly recommend bring along some snorkling gear to checkout some great spots along your journey. Equally good fishing in various spots too.

  • Hook Island - various spots to checkout around Hook Islands west coastline and a couple spots a stones through from Curlew Beach campsite.

  • Butterfly Bay - Beautfiful snorkling over coral reef. Numerous tour operators do run large boat day trips out to Butterfly Bay from Airlie Beach. We paddled around from our campsite at Steen’s Beach and simply tethered our packrafts to us with some cord while snorkling. Allows for keeping water/supplies hand and also alerts other vessels you’re in the water

• Important Trip Notes:

  • Parks Queensland advise the following: “Dangerous sharks. Do not swim in Cid Harbour. Serious injury or death may occur from shark attack".”

  • When planning coastal and nearshore packrafting journey’s, additional trip planning resources should be obtained, including advanced weather forecasts, wind, swell and tide information. Proper understanding and interpretation of said information should also apply. If unsure, seek professional, qualified and/or local advice/knowledge applicable to the areas intending to paddle and explore.

  • Packrafts have a very shallow draft (i.e. they sit high on the water) and are also very light watercraft. This makes them easy to paddle, light and small for transport. This also makes them more susceptible to adverse influence from strong wind and tide/swell conditions in a coastal, nearshore or open water paddling type environments. Plan your trip accordingly and avoid crossing large open bodies of water with unfavourable or forecast unfavourable conditions, high swell or strong currents which may otherwise displace you from your intended course. Use common sense and paddle in areas/conditions within your abilities and those of your paddling companions. Paddling in swell/choppy waters may also induce sea sickness for some paddlers, so be aware of this, and trial paddle in similar conditions to see how susceptible you and others may be. Prolong seasickness can disrupt trip plans dramatically.

  • There are no consistent fresh water drinking supplies at the basic national park campsites. Sufficient drinking water for your entire trip should be brought from the mainline and carried throughout your entire journey. We found taking Dromedary style water bladders to work well in the context of paddling and packing our packrafts.

TRIP PLANNING RESOURCES

• Whitsunday Islands National Park - Parks QLD - Campsite bookings and park information

• Scamper will be your boat transport key to getting out to the islands. They are friendly, informative and knowledgable of the local area and conditions.

• Tides info over at Willy Weather here

• General info and times to visit (3 distinct seasons) here

• Need advice on a suitable packraft option for a trip like the Whitsunday Islands, give the team at Pack Raft Australia a call on (03) 9039 6224 and we’ll be more than happy to give some advice and run through the Alpacka Raft packrafts which suit a trip like the Whitsundays.