Whitsundays Tall Ship Sailing

I have been looking forward to this particular trip for so long! We booked this with Gap 360 before we left, however our three other travelling companions only realised they wanted to do the Whitsunday islands also once in Australia, so the 5 of us ended up on three different boats which meant we got to compare our trips. (mine and nai’s was definitely the best!)

Now, the whole trip had so many amazing aspects- beautiful fish surrounding you while you snorkel, absolute calm while sunbathing on the ropes of the boat; under the sun and over the running sea, and this was all spectacular! …But I have to give a special shout out to the food – backpacking life has taught my friends and I to appreciate and make the most of any good meal – and I can assure you, I was anything but hungry on this trip! Breakfasts of fresh fruit and toast and cereals, fresh fruit and cakes for mid mornings snacks, quiches, pasta bakes, sandwiches, gourmet salads, sausages for lunches, nachos, fruit and biscuits for afternoon teas and soups, curries and roast dinners! Yum!

Back to what we actually did other than eat…
Day one on the boat started perfectly- the sun came out for a sail to Whitehaven Beach where we swam with stingers and lemon sharks, cleansed with the silicone sands and just chilled out on the whitest beach with the bluest waters I’ve ever seen!
This awesome start to the morning pretty much set the tone for the rest of the day… And two days after that. Sail through the islands to go snorkelling around Hook Island where we saw a turtle! Back on the boat… Time for the rope swing! So cool- people somersaulting and belly flopping off the giant rope swing into the clear waters. Wind down from the rope swing adrenalin high with laying in the giant net hammock on the front of the boat whilst sailing to the final spot for the evening- best reading spot ever (so long as you don’t drop your book in the water!

Day two and three followed suit- smooth cruising with all the sails down, we even got to pull up one of the sails!… Easier said than done! More snorkelling with beautifully vibrant fish, held a jelly fish! (A big fat harmless one of course) sunbathing time on the top of the boat, more rope swinging, even a rainforest walk on day three- ate an ant! It was surprisingly nice, lime flavoured.

It did rain a bit on day three… But that is when Nai and I became smug that we were on our boat not our friends ones! We had comfy beds kept completely under deck so didn’t get a drop wet when it rained like the little boats do and we had showers unlike some boats. Not to mention the super sexy bright yellow rain coats we got for the rainforest walk!

All in all, the most beautiful and relaxed 3 days of my travels so far. Great people on the boat to talk to, amazing crew, chilled drinks in the evening, awesome snorkelling and diving during the days, simply everything taken care of for you and nothing to worry about other than putting on enough sun cream!
Couldn’t be happier, best money spent all trip!