Salt, Sun, and Stinger Nets, Your Ultimate Guide to Airlie Beach

A holiday in Airlie Beach sticks to you like salt on your skin and sand in your shoes. The water is so perfect it’s like it was added in post production and the people are here to get lost in it all, some for a weekend, some forever.

You go to Airlie to throw yourself into warm waters, experience the magnificent Barrier Reef, trek through ancient rainforests, and to get as far offline as possible. Whether you’re here to party, paddle, or press pause, here are the absolute best things to do in Airlie Beach.

Smack-dab in the center of town, Airlie Beach Lagoon is a 4,300-square-metre pool of freshwater where the sweaty, sunburned masses come to cool off, kick back, and slow down. Irukandji, box jellyfish, and bluebottles tend to thrive in Airlie's tropical waters, so this man-made lagoon offers a lifeguard patrolled safe-space.

With free entry for all, there’s a toddler wading pool, a good-sized children's pool and a larger deep pool with separate swimming lanes for laps and accessible entrance for all. Less than ten minutes totter from the lagoon is the Whitsundays Adventure Playground, which has three mega slides, a massive skywalk and geometrical spider webs that make the whole thing look like an abstract art project.

Further afield the Whitsunday Crocodile Safari takes you deep into the murky waterways of the Proserpine River, home to some of Australia’s heftiest saltwater crocodiles. You’ll cruise past mangroves teeming with wildlife (and mosquitoes - repellent is essential) spotting crocs sunbathing on the banks or lurking just beneath the surface. Guides share fascinating insights into the region’s ecosystems and Indigenous heritage, and it’s an exhilarating reminder that the Whitsundays isn’t all sun and sand.

Beaches can be tricky in Airlie because while they all look incredible, they often do have the aforementioned stingy things, however if you’re there between June and October then the white sands of Boathaven Beach are brilliant for young children. With no big waves, it also has a large stinger net but those mean little suckers still sometimes get through in the high season.

Pro Tip: Mantra Club Croc Airlie Beach is excellent for large family groups with spacious, interconnecting rooms, huge tropical garden and lagoon style pool.

Address: Mantra Club Croc Airlie Beach, 240 Shute Harbour Road, Cannonvale QLD 4802

Perfectly choreographed boat tours whisk snorkel and scuba divers between the Whitsundays’ constellation of 74 islands all day long, with Whitehaven Beach often stealing the show. Its seven kilometres of pristine white silica sand and crystal-clear waters make it one of the world's most photographed beaches.

A strong second, Heart Reef is about a three hour boat ride from Airlie Beach to the outer Great Barrier Reef, but only 60 minutes by helicopter or small plane. This iconic coral formation is best appreciated from the sky anyway, and several operators offer scenic flights.

For younger kids, or people who just want to see what lies beneath the surface without zipping into a wetsuit, glass-bottom boat tours are the best underwater safari you can have with dry feet. Peering through the glass, you’ll see hyper-coloured coral gardens, schools of iridescent fish darting like rush hour traffic in Bangkok, cute little reef sharks and probably a sea turtle or two. No fins, no fuss.

From high-speed ocean rafting that gets your adrenaline pumping to leisurely overnight trips on the reef by way of handsome catamaran, there's a tour tailored for every traveller - just ask your concierge.

Pro Tip: If the dazzling waters that will forever redefine the colour blue for you aren't enough, you can turn things up to 11 and jump out of a plane directly over the perfect waters and sparkling white sands.

Address: Skydive Airlie Beach, 4/1 Airlie Esplanade, Airlie Beach QLD 4802

A budget doesn't mean missing out on the best of Airlie Beach. Bicentennial Walkway lets you explore four kilometres of coastline, with views of the Coral Sea and islands, past parklands and winding up at a cute beach at Cannonvale.

Or for something totally new, every Wednesday the Whitsunday Sailing Club throws open their hatches and let just about anyone join their Twilight Yacht Racing. No glossy brochures, no superyacht price tags, you just need to be punctual - show up at the club before 3pm - and it doesn’t matter if you’ve never set foot on a boat before because they’ll show you the ropes. Literally.

A stone's throw (or 30 minute drive) from Airlie Beach is Conway National Park, a gorgeous mass of tropical rainforest, rugged cliffs, and secluded beaches. The park has a network of trails suitable for all hiking levels, from the challenging Conway Circuit to shorter walks like the Honeyeater Lookout. It's a haven for birdwatchers, with the chance to spy both the Wompoo fruit-dove or the Orange-footed scrubfowl.

Then, every Saturday between 7am and 1pm, the Whitsunday Markets are open to all and you can enjoy live music, browse handmade goods, and indulge in a modestly priced bakery treat. Even the parking is free.

Pro Tip: The Whitsundays don’t stay perfect by accident. Eco Barge Clean Seas keeps this paradise from drowning in trash and you can volunteer to help out. You’ll hop on a boat, cruise past those picture-perfect beaches, and get your hands dirty picking up the marine debris that threatens this tropical wonderland.

Address: Halfway Down, Jubilee Pocket, Boatyard Road, Jubilee Pocket QLD 4802

Airlie Beach hasn’t always had the best culinary reputation, but that is finally changing with some quality restaurants that don’t just rest on their killer views. Because honestly, the one thing you can rely on in Airlie is that you’ll have a great view, it’s like rain in Melbourne or never finding a car park in Sydney - a given.

For breakfast, Airlie Beach Treehouse is set up right next to the lagoon and has a big breakfast that is legendary among the locals, and tiny gem, Le Shack, is generally considered to have the best coffee slingers in town.

Book a table at Paradiso for a long lunch and tuck into chili prawns, fresh caught barramundi, and risotto alla Pescatora. The open air layout is the perfect place to catch a breeze on a warm day, and most days in Airlie are.

La tabella has sittings for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, with the latter as a preference for the sunset. Nurse a glass of prosecco while watching the sky turn from gold to blood orange, and indulge in a round of pacific oysters dressed in sambuca and kingfish caviar.

Drive a little north to Northerlies Beach Bar and Grill, a beachside paradise beauty surrounded by tropical greenery. Plates of Whitsundays wild prawns or Bakers Creek pork, a cocktail (or three), live music and big ‘Byron in the early 2000s’ energy.

Pro Tip: For cocktails and a night out Anchor Bar wins (and there is fierce competition in a backpacker haven like Airlie) simply because they have their own pool with ocean views and excellent tacos.

Address: Anchor Bar, 5 Golden Orchid Drive, Airlie Beach QLD 4802

Airlie is where families and backpackers rub shoulders with yachties chasing an eternal summer. Where crocs lurk in the mangroves and stinger nets keep you guessing, but also where sunsets turn the sky molten gold. From the wild waters of the Proserpine River to the impossibly blue stretches of Whitehaven Beach, Airlie Beach knows how to keep us coming back.