Go on, spoil yourself and indulge. Only eight guests in four private queen cabins all fully air-conditioned with ensuites.
Snorkel over spectacular fringing coral reefs, admire stunning beaches, tranquil anchorages, and the legendary Whitsunday Islands. Climb aboard and cruise the crystal blue waters of the Great Barrier Reef in comfort and style.
Private charters available. See "Join Tour" for prices.
Days
- 3 days, 2 nights
Group size
- Max 8
Start / finish
- Airlie Beach / Airlie Beach
- Airlie Beach, 1pm on day 3
Return
- Airlie Beach, 1pm on day 3
Accommodation
- 2 nights on board in private cabins, each with an ensuite and its own air conditioning, at anchor in a quiet bay each night.
Transport
- Whitsunday Getaway, a 13 metre Lagoon 440 sailing catamaran crewed by a skipper and hostess and carrying only 8. She has a big deck and a cushioned forward seating area, and is Advanced Eco Certified. Board at Coral Sea Marina South, Meeting Point C, at 2:30pm.
Meals
- All meals are cooked on board from fresh local seasonal produce — reef fish in coconut and lime, barbecue steaks, meat platters, and croissant or pancake breakfasts, with sunset platters and desserts. Fresh fruit and cookies are out all day. Alcohol is bring your own, and glass bottles and red wine are allowed.
Route
Included experiences
- Whitehaven Beach — a few hours on the purest silica sand, then a guided walk with your hostess
- Northern Whitsunday Islands — snorkelling a reef full of colour on day 2
- Quiet anchorages — the small group means the least crowded beaches and bays
- Stand-up paddleboarding on the last morning
- Sunset snacks on deck before dinner each evening
- Sailing a catamaran through the island scenery, with the crew doing the work
Reviews
4.9
Based on 11 reviews
Verified from
Real reviews from travellers who've done this tour, gathered from around the web and paraphrased.
AI summary of 11 reviews
Travellers consistently praise the crew, describing them as attentive, hospitable and knowledgeable, and frequently commend the quality and quantity of the homemade food prepared on board. The snorkelling features prominently, with many noting the abundant sea life including fish, coral, turtles, whales and dolphins, alongside visits to Whitehaven Beach, paddle boarding and swimming. The small group size, typically around eight guests or four couples, is repeatedly highlighted as fostering a sociable atmosphere, and reviewers found the catamaran comfortable and well maintained. The most common caveat concerns the small cabins and noise at night from the generator and wind, with some recommending ear plugs, while one reviewer reported stressful paperwork issues at the office regarding the requirement to bring the same payment card used for booking.
How we collect and publish reviews
Where they come from. Our reviews are gathered from independent review sites and from guests who share feedback with us directly after their trip. They come from people who have actually travelled on the tour.
Why some are edited. Many of our guests travel in their second or third language. Where a review is hard to read, we lightly edit spelling, grammar and punctuation, or paraphrase a sentence for clarity. We never change the rating, the meaning or the sentiment, and we never write a review on a guest's behalf.
Reading the originals. Reviews sourced from public review sites appear there in their original form, and can be read in full at their original source at any time.
“5 Stars”
We thought that this would be a relaxed way to see as much as possible of the Whitsundays, and this trip didn't disappoint.
Phil and Bec were just wonderful, they had a daily smile on their faces and their passion and professionalism just oozed out of them. They 100% looked after our every need, with some great snorkelling for the people that loved it and some great food for us foodies. Thanks for making our trip so enjoyable and for giving us some wonderful memories..
“Amazing Whitsundays - Great Crew”
My husband and I did this 2 night sail near the start of our 3 weeks in Australia and we loved it! One of the highlights of our trip - the Whitsundays are fabulous and it was the perfect way to experience them. We had all types of weather which gave us the full sailing experience and our skipper Shane was talented and entertaining. He and our hostess Jas took exceptional care of us and made the trip one to remember.
The sailing was relaxing and we got to see a great sunset, snorkel 2 different beautiful areas, swim and paddle board along with a visit to Whitehaven Beach. Really it couldn't have been much better. We experienced a bit of everything at an unhurried pace.
We had been a bit concerned about space as my husband is 6'7" tall and although certainly their are lots of places to trip up or knock yourself out, he did great and our cabin although mainly a bed, was just perfect for us. The catamaran is the perfect size for a group of 8, plenty of places to hang out together or sneak away to your own corner.
Thank you Shane and Jas! and to our other sailing couples!
“Excellent, can't fault it.”
Staff at the office were great and thorough with loads of advice. Absolutely loved our time on the Getaway II. Capt Jimmy & Bec were fabulous and attended to everything we could have wanted. The boat itself is well appointed and comfortable with each room having windows and an en-suite. Food was great and plentiful, we couldn’t have been happier. Small number, only 8 guests made it comfortable. Had drinks and music but not late or rowdy, just sociable. Would not hesitate to recommend and will certainly return one day.
“Best birthday yet - sailing with friends in the Whitsundays”
This trip was the highlight of our 5-day trip to the tropical north and my best birthday yet (I've had quite a few to compare). Travelling with my husband, and 4 friends from overseas, we loved every minute of the experience. We and our guests were blissed-out within the first couple of hours on board. The vessel is comfortable and well maintained, with enough space for everyone and enough spaces for variety. The itinerary was well-paced, and took in some wonderful places for relaxing and snorkeling - the last morning, we spent 2 hours in the water that went by in a flash - there was such an amazing variety of sea life. Perhaps the best part of the trip was the crew. Captain Jimmy, who oozed confidence and was always watching out for our safety. And Becca, who tirelessly and graciously cared for our comfort. Both were delightful company as well.
“Fantastic 2-Night Cruise”
My husband and I did the 2-night Whitsunday Getaway catamaran cruise and had a fantastic time! We were one of four couples on the boat, so it was a really nice size group! We are from the USA but everyone else was from different parts of Europe, so it was really cool to meet people from different countries. Although we were the youngest couple (30), everyone else was a blast and we had 2 nights of really fun "family style" dinners. We ended the trip with a WhatsApp group message!
The trip itself was really fun. We snorkeled, paddle boarded, visited White Haven beach, sunbathed on the trampoline, and watched for dolphins and sharks at night. Our captain was Brayden and our crew was Rebecca. Both were great and provided us with a perfect tour. The food was AWESOME. It's amazing what Rebecca could create in her small kitchen!
The cabins are very small - so don't expect lavish luxury. It is essentially a double bed, a small closet, and a very small bathroom (the sink faucet doubles as your shower head). It was perfectly fine for our purposes, but some people may not have enjoyed it if they were expecting more space. I was told (after the fact) that the cabins at the bow of the boat are larger, so request one of those if you can!
Sleeping was fine, but I recommend bringing ear plugs because between the sound of the generator (for air conditioning and power) and the wind (Summer is a VERY windy time in the Whitsundays) it can be pretty noisy. Nothing some wine can't fix though!
Thanks for a great trip!
“Amazing sailing cruise with amazing crew”
We've participated to a 2-day 2-night cruise with the awesome crew composed of Jessie as skipper and Siobhan as hostess. These guys were amazing in organizing and driving the cruise, always finding the right and quiet place to stay overnight, having set a perfect programme to match our wishes and always providing the good advices to benefit the most of our experience! This allowed us to spot whales, to snorkle close to the turtles, to swim with an amazing view on the coral and enjoy some fun on the paddle boards; and obviously to spend some time on whitehaven (at the best time before the crowd arrive!)
Besides the food on board was excellent!!
In summary, what an experience! I highly recommend for those that want smaller group than the usual boats and who look to enjoy some good discussion and sharing of experience with the crew!
“A Must Do”
Fabulous, amazing, adventurous, romantic, fun, relaxing, fun, different to my every day life, best experience ever. We spent 2 nights, 2 days on Getaway II with the amazingly talented and accommodating Siobhan (our hostess with the mostess ) and the very knowledgeable and skilled Jessie (our skipper). Snorkelling, swimming, eating. Saw heaps of beautiful fish and coral, majestic turtles, whales, dolphins, walked on pristine beaches, what more could one ask for? If you don’t do anything else this is a must do
“Very good”
Very nice crew and a very nice boat:-) the places we visited was very fine. And the snorkling were safa and we saw a lot of fish, even a mantaray.
“Excellent sailing experience”
We did a 2 night experience on Whitsundays Getaway . The sailing was amazing, the crew very hospitable, the food was excellent and we were very very thankful for the AC in our cabins otherwise I would have jumped overboard at night! Although this was about AU$750 per person, its actually pretty good value when I consider how much we were paying for a good hotel in Airlie beach, WITHOUT food included per night!
My only complaint was with the rather ‘dramatic’ paperwork problems experienced in the office at the start. Despite paying 3 months in advance, having valid IDs and credit cards to prove identity, they are steadfast that you need to bring the card you paid with. This is a BIG problem if you loose, change cards, banks etc or have closed accounts as in my case, with no internet access to that settled account. Beware, this is quite a stressful way to start what should be a very relaxing event!
Despite that I would certainly recommend, just make sure that you have the same card with same card number…
“Whitsunday Getaway”
We did the 2-night sail aboard the catamaran "Getaway" 12-14 Dec 2014. This was truly on of the highlights of our 6-week stay in Australia. Dillion, our captain, and Kim, his 1st mate, took amazing care of us and the other three couples that were aboard the boat. The weather was not the best the day we departed Airlie Beach, i.e., overcast with threatening rain and flukie winds so we motored to Hook Island where we had a sumptous dinner prepared by Kim and Dillion. We had a strong thunderstorm that night, but we hardly felt it because Dillion has us tucked back in Marcona Bay. The next morning the weather was much improved, but the winds still flukie so we motored to our first snorkling site. The coral and the fish were amazing. We then headed to Tongue Bay where we could walk to the Whitehaven Beach overlook and the beach itself. I have never seen sand that white or that fine - incredible. We were able to sail some on the way to Stonehaven Bay where we spent the night. The next morning we motored a short distance to the Caves for our second snorkling adventure, which was even better than the first. From there we were able to sail for a couple of hours before getting back to Airlie Beach. In retrospect, I wish we had done the longer 3-night sail. Dillion and Kim were great and we throughly enjoyed getting to know the other three couples that shared this incredible adventure with us.
“Paradise in the Whitsundays”
One word describes our two night sail on Whitsunday Getaway: Wow!
My wife and I booked our November sail back in August. From the second we embarked, our skipper (Dillon) and host (Kim) stole the show. We were welcomed with open arms, briefed on the boat's features and provided a general safety overview. From that point on, we experienced the adventure of a lifetime...beautiful sunsets, Whitehaven Beach and amazing snorkeling (colorful coral and tropical fish). If you're lucky like we were, you will forge new friendships with your boat mates! And if your concern is food, look for no further! Kim will blow you away with wonderful homemade meals. You WILL NOT go hungry on this boat.
I highly recommend Whitsunday Sailing Adventures and specifically the Whitsunday Getaway. There is no better way to experience the Whitsundays then to go out on this boat and let the crew treat you to the experience of a lifetime.
