Sarah suggested we check out one of the islands just off the coast of Airlie Beach, so we hooked up with Cruise Whitsundays to catch a $40 ferry to Daydream Island, about 30 minutes away.
Mermaids beckon just off the beach at Daydream Island… but don’t be fooled! It’s stinger season!
Daydream Island is one of 74 islands in the Whitsundays, and its the home of, you guessed it, Daydream Island Resort & Spa. Via the Cruise Whitsundays boat, it’s one of the most easily reached islands on the Great Barrier Reef, especially if you’re based in Airlie Beach or nearby Cannonvale.
While you can stay overnight on Daydream Island if you like, a day trip was plenty of time for Sarah and I to take in the entire island. There are swimming pools dotted throughout the island, a living reef with animal interactions for kids, mini-golf, an outdoor movie screen and a pleasantly manageable hiking trail. Had it not been stinger season, I would have been snorkeling, jet-skiing and frolicking in the sea, but it wasn’t to be this time around.
Sarah & I vegged out at the pool for a bit, hiked the short path up the hill and across the island for lunch at a different pool. You couldn’t ask for a more relaxing afternoon, and given we’d been nerding out with our computers for the whole trip, it was nice (for 6 hours) not to have unlimited WiFi and laptops in tow.
Though I didn’t win the Best Job in the World two years ago, I did meet some great people – Sarah being one of my favorites. She is my social media-addicted counterpart, and I can’t wait to see how our paths cross in the future!
Up next… Cruising More of The Whitsundays