Airlie Beach is the main town of the Whitsundays and Airlie Beach is a colorful, cosmopolitan and attractive holiday town lying on the shores of a palm fringed beach and overlooking the calm waters of Pioneer Bay. A favorite anchorage for cruising yachts, Airlie is part of a picturesque peninsula that reaches out to the Whitsunday Passage and provides the ideal mainland base for holiday fun, sailing, diving and cruising in the Whitsunday Islands and Great Barrier Reef.
As you drive into Airlie Beach through the neighboring community of Cannon vale the road climbs above Abel Point Marina, providing expansive views of the indented coastline, the crystal blue sea and the shapes of distant islands on the horizon (see slideshow). You are immediately captured by a powerful holiday feeling of relaxed tropical ambience as you wander around the village streets and down to the picturesque swimming lagoon. Set in landscaped parkland overlooking the bay, Airlie Lagoon provides stinger free swimming with lifeguard attendants and a children's pool.

Airlie Beach offers visitors a broad array of accommodation from stylish resort hotels on the water's edge and apartments on the hillside overlooking the panorama of beach, bay and islands, to bed and breakfast options, motels, camping and caravan parks as well as a host of backpacker accommodation. Airlie provides many of the essential services for travelers in the region and the town's shopping areas are open seven days a week. Every Saturday the foreshore parkland turns into a bustling market with stalls selling fresh fruit and veggies, local arts and crafts and all manner of goods under the shade of coconut palms.

The mainland's dining and entertainment options centre around Airlie Beach, ranging from silver service resort dining to al fresco cafes and cheap eats, while Airlie's clubs and bars provide plenty of entertainment well into the night

Premier Great Barrier Reef Dive Trips

The very best dive trips on the Great Barrier Reef. Diverse locations, diving, and dive conditions. Choose amongst specialty dives with whales, sharks, and coral spawning and heli diving. Choose from world class dive locations, including Cod Hole, the Ribbon Reefs, Coral Sea Reefs, Far Northern Reefs and the Yongala Wreck.

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Dive Cod Hole and the Ribbon Reefs
Remote reefs, but easily accessed, Big fish, up close and personal,  Great visibility year-round, Varied Diving; walls, flats, and pinnacles, 3 to 5-day trips
 

Dive The Coral Sea Reefs
Remote Reefs, 90km offshore, Amazing visibility, 30-50 meters, Lots of large pelagic fish, Bonus diving on the Ribbon Reefs,  4 to 8-day trips

Dive with Sharks
Close-up, in-water encounters, Amazing visibility, 30-50 meters, Great Coral Sea diving, Lots of large pelagic fish, 4 to 8-day trips

Compass Cruises - Heli Diving
15-minute helicopter ride to the Great Barrier Reef, Live aboard and 1-day options, Great diving, and no long boat trips, 1/2 to 4-day trips

Dive with Minke Whales
Close-up,in-water encounters, Encounters lasting hours, Pristine diving, For divers and snorkelers, Bonus diving on the Ribbon Reefs, 3 to 7-day trips

Dive the Yongala Wreck
The Great Barrier Reef's best wreck dive, Huge 100 year old wreck, Lots of large pelagic fish, Lots of big pelagic fish, 1 to 8-day trips

Wet Image - Coral Spawning Dives
Synchonized mass spawning of hard corals, Once a year phenomena, Rarely witnessed by divers,2 to 7-day trips

Dive the Far Northern Reefs
Australia's Ocean Outback, rarely visited, Pristine exploratory diving, Diverse dive sites, Amazing and unique dive adventure, 8 to 12-day trips
 

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