The mrs and I are planning a romantic week (within next 2 months hopefully) around the whitsundays, got some diving planned and of course kiting is my next thought. We are thinking about camping at northern end of Hook Island; can anyone suggest a good spot for some flat water for me to enjoy whilst the other half goes bushwalking or reads or whatever. Alternatively, is there a better place to go camping where I get best of both worlds (less crowd and nice wind on flat water) preferably with somewhere to snorkel.
From Hook Island head directly west till you get to the other side of Australia.Not a joke.
im going to be there from the 5th of oct for a couple of weeks. is there usually any wind? and what size kite should i be taking?
Hey mate,
Im a charter boat captain up here and can give you a good heads up, FIRSTLY DO NOT CAMP at the north hook camping spot, there is no bush walks and the mosquito and midgey problem is massive, Most boaties anchor well away from the land and on a calm night still get attacked, secondly your camped in whats known as the narrows passage and even in a howling 50 kn is calm.
If your hearts set on camping go for the south whitehaven spot, at least then you have access to a stunning beach and if there is wind you can walk to the north end of the beach(whitehaven inlet) and kite your arse off. There is also a few new tracks which link the beach with the south bays and toilets, (however they are rebuilding them at the moment) The sand fly situation is still pretty bad but at least your in paradise. This winter we have had no wind, so october might be great, or it might not be.
Hope this helps.
have fun and enjoy yourself, I would highly recommend to use MV SCAMPA as your drop of vessel, its run by a highly skilled captain called warren and is good for a laugh.
Thanks Mike, heart not set on camping, so if you have a tip on where to book that would be great. We are just not into the whole resort commercialisation thing, prefer the natural settings. Thanks for the warning about nth Hook, we heard it is not crowded and great snorkeling so that is why we were considering it. Also, just found out our sailing / diving trip does not get to outer reef, any suggestions fora dive boat to get out there for 1 days diving?
Crayfish bay on hook island is good for snorkeling and bush walking, but not good for kiteboarding. Still, if you want an awesome camping experience, me and my girlfriend stayed there for 3 days last summer and we were finding new places to snorkel every day. Plenty of fun.
thanks Beersy, sounds like what put us onto Hook Island in the first place, you didnt have problems with the midges etc?
Na, no midges and mosquitos weren't bad either. There were Green ants though, but we just made sure all our food and scraps were sealed in eskys and didn't have a problem with them after the first day.
whitehaven fringing reef is actually a pretty good snorkel. hill inlet good kiting on northerly. only other place would be to stay at hayman and get dropped at the sand cays (for kiting) and a short courtesy boat ride to the northern part of hook which is the best snorkelling. There aren't lots of good places to kite and most of the camping spots are on the lee side of islands out of the wind and surrounded by mountains.
what boat did you book? the only boats that go out to reef on day trips are the cruise whitsunday or fantasea, otherwise id recommend anaconda 3 for an overnighter that goes to the reef, its either camping or resorts in the whitsundays with not much in between. good luck, Whitehaven inlet works well in a se too, if you get it at low tide its got some great little waves and kickers.
What beersy said about snorkeling in crayfish is spot on, the whole north end of hook is the best snorkeling in the whitsundays.
