How to camp on Whitehaven Beach in the Whitsunday Islands, Queensland

Camping on Whitehaven Beach in the Whitsundays is an incredible experience you can have in these beautiful Queensland islands. Instead of searching for Whitsundays holiday packages and Whitehaven Beach tours why not try camping in the Whitsundays instead?  It’s super easy, absolutely beautiful and so cheap! It’s perfect for a Whitsundays family holiday or a Queensland island getaway with friends, it’s relatively private (there are only a few Whitehaven campsites) and quiet, and the water and white sand is just stunning.

Plus, you have Whitehaven Beach all to yourselves when the day trippers go home. It’s divine. The Whitsundays weather is spectacular all year round, but do be mindful of stinger season between November to May where you should wear a stinger suit (you can hire them from Airlie Beach) to protect you from the deadly irukandji.

Around the Whitsundays

If you’re keen to take a Whitsundays tour or organised sailing trip there are so many to choose from and you won’t be disappointed.

We did this Whitehaven daytrip with Ocean Rafting and LOVED it, it had snorkelling and lunch at Hill Inlet. It was more affordable than the other options and we had so much FUN. And you can also stay at incredible resorts throughout the Whitsundays including Airlie Beach – our favourite is the Coral Sea Marina Resort if you’re after a bit of lux and floating the pool with cocktails, and BASE which is a backpackers the heart of Airlie and it’s awesome if you need something cheap but still fab to stay at. Find other awesome accommodation at beautiful Hamilton Island (an excellent spot for daytrips), Hayman Island and Daydream Island

But camping on Whitehaven beach is such a unique and special experience I really encourage you to give it a go.

Where is Whitehaven Beach?

 Whitehaven Beach is a seven kilometre stretch of white sand beach and one of the 74 islands in Australia’s Whitsundays on the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland. It’s been named one of the most beautiful beaches in the world multiple times and it’s right next to Hill Inlet, the gorgeous stretch of blues and whites you would have seen in all the Whitsundays photographs. It’s only a 90 minute kayak or one hour walk to this famous inlet and you can get there before the crowds.

If you’re wondering why Whitehaven Beach is so white it’s because almost 99% of it is pure silica which makes it almost blindingly white and fine. It’s really beautiful but being so fine means it will get into every bag and crevice you bring with you – so be warned!

At Whitehaven the water is crystal clear, the beach is fringed with lush bushland and there is really pretty snorkelling just off the beach. You can take a number of hikes or kayak around to other bays and beaches – or just lay on Whitehaven Beach and enjoy your Whitsundays holiday.

 

Sites and facilities at Whitehaven Beach campground

You can book individual sites – there are six individual campsites– or if you’re traveling with a group book the big group site.  You can stay for up to 100 days!

Each site is quite private and has a small elevated wooden table for food boxes and cooking – if you dare. Due to the goannas prowling around for scraps, we cooked at the common area so we didn’t have any food near our tent (and deiinitely not IN our tent).

There’s also two covered tables for preparing food and eating. There weren’t many people camping so I put our food box here too so the goannas stayed away from our site.

There are two drop toilets – a bit smelly but fine. Remember to shut the lid and crank the handle when you finish otherwise it’s so smelly for other people.

 

Here’s how to camp in the Whitsundays at Whitehaven Beach campground.

1. Book your campsite through the Queensland National Parks website.
   

   It’s crazy how cheap it is – $6.50 per person per night for a slice of heaven. Just go to the Queensland Parks website and put in your campsite details and book. Note that you need to organise to be dropped off at the beach so I checked there were sites left and then made sure the water taxi had room for us before I confirmed.Note that you can cancel your booking and the National Parks will refund up to 48 hours before your booking starts so it it’s a popular time just grab it and hope you can get the water taxi booking. National parks will also refund if the weather conditions are too bad to camp – eg gale force winds like we had (we just rescheduled to two days later)

   Once you’ve booked you will receive a camping permit over email so print it out and take it in a ziplock bag. You will need to attach it to your tent (I poke a hole through the bag with twine and tie it to the tent rope) so rangers can see you’re legally camping when they come around.

2. Book your transport
   

   This part is a little expensive. The transfer to the campsite costs around $160 per person in a water taxi. We used Scamper https://www.whitsundaycamping.com.au but be aware they have multiple pick up s and drop offs. It took almost three hours to get there and the water was SO rough, but the trip on the way back was about 90 minutes and so much better. Scamper gives you water for your stay which is super helpful and you can also hire camping gear from them (but the people we saw who hired it had broken tent poles and only yoga mats to sleep on so I would not suggest this – take your own if you can).

   Setting off to Whitehaven Beach

    

3. OR hire your own Whitsundays cataraman or small boat
   

   If you set off on your own Whitsundays sailing adventure you can moor off the beach here at Whitehaven, and if you are on a small boat book a campsite and sleep on Whitehaven Beach and explore on the water during the day. Click here for Whitsundays boat charters.

4. Pick up with Scamper is at the lookout around at Shute Harbour.
   

   You can park your car there if you like – most people do. We left ours where we stayed at Base Backpackers at Airlie Beach to keep it safe. After being robbed of everything when our car was broken into in Spain we are pretty careful now. You will load everything into their trailer and then walk to the boat ramp where you’ll load the boat with your gear (plus kayaks if you’ve hired them) and set off.

5. Hire kayaks
   

   You can kayak around to little bays and islands and all the way over to the amazing Hill Inet from Whitehaven Beach. Hire from Salty Dog for around $60 a day, and Scamper will take them on their boat for you. Their offices are next to each other so super easy to organise. They’ll give you life jackets, emergency beacons, and a map. Make sure to tie your kayaks right up the top of the beach as you don’t want the high tide to take them away.

6. Choose your site when you arrive
   

   Individual sites aren’t bookable so you need to select yours when you arrive. WE took the front right site right on the beach – tbh it was pretty sandy, but we loved the position. Every site is close to the beach so don’t stress, whatever you get will be fine.

What to do on Whitehaven Beach:

Snorkel
Just off the shore to the right are some clumps of amazingly colourful coral and lots of fish. It’s a great snorkel.

Hike
From Whitehaven Beach you can hike up to the new Whitehaven lookout and a few other lookouts off the same path. You can also take the 2.3km each way walk to Chance Bay and snorkel at this quiet beach, or walk over to Hill Inlet – although you won’t be able to cross the channel to the lookout.

Kayak
Hire kayaks from Salty Dog, they come with life jackets, a map and flares if you get into trouble. Remember to tie them up at the top of the beach overnight so they don’t float off.

Visit Hill Inlet

Walk the 7kms up the beach to Hill Inlet – you will only be able to cross over if you have a kayak. Kayaking takes around 90 minutes to two hours and make sure to check tide times before you go so you can get back without getting too tired of having to pull the kayak behind you.

Swim and play

Perfection!

What to take:

• Sun shade.
  This is a MUST. There’s no shade on the beach and if the weather is hot and sunny you will fry. We were lucky that it was overcast for a good part of each day we were there, but you just can’t sit in the sun all day here. Make sure to take a shade plus all the usual sun protection – sunscreen, hat, long sleeves (especially if you’re kayaking). We have a XXXXXX and we didn’t take it. I wish we did.
• Mask and snorkel
  There is really nice snorkeling just off the beach to the right – just look for the dark patch in the water
• Bug spray
  Bug spray, mosquito coils and anything to help keep the mozzies and midges off you. They are pretty brutal – it may have been worse for us as we were in the sand at the beachfront – but I’m pretty sure they are everywhere in the evening. You will need protection, we are still covered in bites four days after getting off the beach.
• Cooker
  While you can’t have open fires you can use a gas cooker in the cooking area or at your campsite. We got ours from Kmart for about $20 and it’s awesome.
• All your food
  There is nothing there so you need to take everything you’re planning on eating – Scamper gave us water so if you’re using a different taxi service check if they will give you water. Otherwise you can buy 5L and 10L bottles at Woolworths. The recommended amount of water to take is 2.5L per person per day.
• Power
  Charge up everything before you and take your batteries, back up batteries and power packs for devices. We saw other campers had small solar chargers which we are going to look into as that would be super handy.
• Lights
  Take your torch, headlamps and a lantern
  

  You will love it

• Tent gear
  You’ll need a a minimum your tent, a blow up mattress and self-inflating mattress, a dustpan and a brush for the sand. We have the BlackWolf four person dime tent.
• Beach towel, chairs
  We took chairs and they weren’t really necessary – I would take a shade more than the chairs.
• Phone service
  The only reception is with Telstra at the top of the lookout. We were with Optus so had nothing – which was fine with us!
• Lots of books and downloaded podcasts etcThere’s no reception so it’s a great time to catch up on your reading. I read two books and a National Geographic mag, it’s amazing how much reading you can get done when you’re not distracted by devices.
  

• Dustpan to brush up all the sand from your tent
• Beach Games
• Camera gear and drone

You can drone here – (but be aware of the restrictions), and there are so many beautiful photo opps, make sure to take your gear with you. I use the Mavic Air 2, and recommend getting the FlyMore pack. You can find it here on Amazon or I’ve bought mine at JB Hifi before too.

Other tips:

Take your food in hard tubs, it needs to be locked so the goannas can’t get in. Many people cook and eat at their campsite but we were super careful and kept our food in tubs at the picnic area in the centre of camp.

In case of emergency:

If you’re not with Telstra and it’s an emergency use a kayak or swim to a boat – there’s always some moored in the bay. They will have a radio they can use.

And that’s about it! Have a great time.

 

And if you’re feeling nervous about travelling check out our comprehensive family travel safety guide HOLIDAY SAFE: The complete guide to staying safe when traveling with kids It has everything you need to know about traveling safely on our family holiday or extended trip.