Whitsunday Islands

The Whitsunday Islands is a collection of continental islands of various sizes off the central coast of Queensland, Australia, approximately 900 kilometres (560 miles) north of Brisbane. The northernmost of the islands are situated off the coast by the town of Bowen while the southernmost islands are off the coast by Mackay. The island group is centred on Whitsunday Island, while the group's commercial centre is Hamilton Island. The traditional owners of the area are the Ngaro People and the Gia People (Birri Gubba language group) whose Juru Clan has the only legally recognised native title in the region.

Naming

The term is a misnomer as it is based on Captain Cook’s date for the naming of Whitsunday Passage, or as Cook spelled it in his HMS Endeavour journal, Whitsunday’s Passage. Based on his journal date, Cook believed that the passage was discovered on Whitsunday, the Sunday of the feast of Whitsun—Pentecost in the Christian liturgical year—which is observed 7 weeks after Easter. As the International Date Line had not yet been established, the day of discovery was actually Whit Monday.

Contention has existed as to exactly what islands are within the informally named Whitsunday Islands, in particular as to the southern extremity and the inclusions to the west. What is certain is that they lie within the chain named Cumberland Isles by Captain Cook (now officially approved as the Cumberland Islands) and a reasonably defined section of that chain and surrounding waters have become known worldwide as The Whitsundays based on a contraction of the Whitsunday Islands designation.

Tourism

The Whitsunday islands are a popular tourist destination for travellers to Queensland and the Great Barrier Reef with the area being one of the most popular yachting destinations in the Southern Hemisphere. The island received about 700,000 visitors between March 2008 and March 2009.

The Ngaro Sea Trail Great Walk is a mix of seaways and short walks, crossing South Molle, Hook and Whitsunday islands. The tracks across the islands are linked by seaways suited to kayaking, sailing or powerboating. Camping is available at eight camping areas on the three islands. Several islands have large resorts, offering a wide variety of accommodation and activities.

Components

There are a total of 74 islands and islets among all the groups in the Whitsundays.

Whitsunday group

The most notable islands in the main Whitsunday group are named Dent, Hamilton, Hayman, Hook and Whitsunday which features the white sands of Whitehaven Beach.

Lindeman group

The most notable island in the Lindeman group is its namesake Lindeman Island.

Molle group

The most notable islands in the Molle group are Daydream Island (formerly West Molle Island), Long Island and South Molle Island.

Northern group

Some of the islands in the Northern group are Armit, Gloucester and Saddleback.

Table of islands

Listed below are islands of The Whitsundays, divided by group locality. Named rocks and islets can be found listed within the entry for the nearest island to that feature.