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AIR-12 | Airlie Beach Jet Boat Ride | 1.00 hrs
Ride around Airlie Beach at full speed. Perform 360s, 180s, drifts, power stops and nosedives. What a thrlling way to experience the magnificent views of the Whitsunday Islands.
AIR-13 | Airlie Beach Glass Bottom Boat Tour | 1.00 hrs
Our glass bottom Boat discovery tour allows you to immerse yourself in the spectacular underwater world, without getting wet! This tour is suited for all age groups, perfect for family and friends. Get up close and personal with an array of coral diversity, our shaded vessels are custom made for coral viewing.
Airlie Beach is one of many departure points for the Great Barrier Reef. Cruise ships visit the area, anchoring offshore while passengers are transported via ship's tender to the marina. Near latitude 20 degrees south, Airlie Beach, Proserpine and the nearby Whitsunday Islands enjoy a tropical climate and lifestyle.
Each year the residents of Airlie Beach celebrate The Blessing of the Fleet on Whit Sunday or Pentecost Sunday.
The name derived from the former town of Airlie and unbounded locality of Airlie Beach. Airlie was named following a request by the Lands Department in December 1935 for the Proserpine Shire Council to provide a name for a new sub-division on the coast. It is almost certain that the town was named for the parish of Airlie, in Scotland, as the name was suggested by the chairman of the former Proserpine Shire Council, Robert Shepherd, who was born in nearby Montrose, Scotland.
Airlie Beach has a population of 1,208, with 50.9% of people were born in Australia.
An early European settler in the area, Thomas Abell, took up land in 1904 for growing vegetables and tropical fruit. His family also had timber leases on some of the offshore islands. When a post office was opened in 1959 it was recorded that Airlie Beach had 83 residences, 59 permanently occupied. Most families were engaged in farming.
The Bruce Highway from Brisbane to Cairns was in the course of construction at this time and Proserpine business interests turned their attention to prospects for Whitsunday tourism. There was already a campaign afoot to create a harbour for Proserpine sugar, and the loss of the Cannonvale jetty to cyclone damage brought the sugar and nascent tourism industries together in a push for appropriate facilities. The result of this joint effort was Shute Harbour, opened in 1961. Ten kilometres east of Airlie Beach, Shute Harbour was devoted exclusively to tourism after sugar was transferred to bulk handling facilities at Mackay.
Airlie Beach has a marina, a sailing club, numerous restaurants, shops and is Whitsunday's entertainment centre. The town offers a range of budget accommodation options, including caravan parks in Cannonvale and Jubilee Pocket, backpacker hostels and holiday flats. Resort hotel complexes are more recent additions, with waterfront views out to the islands. Airlie Beach lagoon, with three stinger-free swimming pools, was opened in 2001. Each year about 3000 high school leavers or 'schoolies' choose Airlie Beach for a week's holiday.
Between Airlie Beach and Shute Harbour there is the Conway National Park (22,500 ha, 1982) part of a densely forested range that ends with Cape Conway, which was named by Lieutenant James Cook in 1770.
The main street of Airlie Beach is the hub for shopping. You'll find everything including souvenirs, art galleries and swimwear by Australian companies including Rip Curl and Billabong. The Airlie Beach markets are held every Saturday morning on the esplanade for locally made jewellery, clothes and crafts.
