There’s so much to do and see in and around Airlie Beach and the best way to see all the region has to offer is on tours which range from a one hour boat trip to full day waterfall tours…

Airlie Beach – located halfway between Brisbane and Cairns on Queensland’s picturesque northern coastline – is one of the most iconic tourist towns anywhere in Australia. It’s also the launching spot to the Whitsunday Islands – 74 islands that create one of Earth’s best marine playgrounds.

With so much to experience, the best way to ensure you don’t miss a thing on your holiday is by taking tours which showcase the magic of what’s up here. Here are the best ones to choose…

1. Take a very quiet turtle tour

Choose between a one-hour sightseeing tour – or a 90-minute sunset tour – in the region’s only electric boat. You’ll cruise in absolute silence with no fumes looking for endangered loggerhead and green sea turtles with Whisper Cruises.

With room for a maximum of eight passengers, you’ll have an intimate tour past the superyachts of the Coral Sea Marina into bays and around islands where turtles like to feed. You’ll be aboard a comfortable 22-foot Duffy electric boat (called Tallulah), enjoying the silence and the views as turtles bob up and down around you.

2. Take a fast boat to paradise

Choose between two all-day tours aboard a thrilling semi-rigid inflatable boat that’ll take you out to the very best areas of the Whitsunday Islands with Ocean Rafting.

Both tours will get you to beautiful Whitehaven Beach and Hill Inlet where you’ll have lunch by the beach and get to spend hours on one of the world’s top-rated beaches.

The boat is driven by 700 horsepower engines and is capable of up to 30 knots of speed, you’ll see a lot in a day, including having time to snorkel pristine reefs in hard-to-get-to bays on Hook Island and the Whitsunday Islands.

3. Catch the fish of your life

There are over 1300 different species of fish within the waters off Airlie Beach and you have a chance to catch them with the best fishing charters in the region: Airlie Beach Fishing Charters.

Book either a half or full-day charter and you’ll ride aboard their custom-built nine-metre aluminium plate boat powered by two 300-horsepower engines to where the fish are biting.

You’ll be mostly reef fishing and bottom bashing, looking for everything from giant trevally to sweet lip, coral trout and bigger species of fish too, like dogtooth and yellowfin tuna. Choose between private or shared charters.

4. Explore one of the world’s top marine sanctuaries

Cruise Whitsundays offer everything from island escape cruises aboard their motor catamaran to two Whitsundays icons in a day – Hamilton Island and Whitehaven Beach – to scenic cruises all around the islands where you don’t have to get off at all.

Or you could take a day cruise aboard their 85-foot sailing catamaran, Camira, for a BBQ lunch on Whitehaven Beach and a guided hike to a lookout above where traditional owners, the Ngaro people, used to walk. The tour also includes snorkelling on the fringing reef.

5. Go chasing waterfalls

For a total change of pace – to extremely chilled out – take a tour to a waterfall 30 minutes beyond Airlie Beach with Falls To Paradise. Swim in the rockpools of Cedar Creek Falls and relax for a few hours amongst white cedars, Alexandra palms, wild orchids, butterflies and tropical bird species.

Then drive back to a huge isolated bay north of Airlie Beach to relax with drinks and a meal at the region’s best beach bar and restaurant, Northerlies Beach Bar and Grill.

There’s an open-plan restaurant and picnic tables under coconut trees (with hammocks attached) where you’ll have a great view of the northern Whitsunday Islands.

6. Snorkel and experience Whitehaven Beach

Take a trip to Whitehaven Beach on one of the fastest boats in the Whitsundays region with Thundercat Whitehaven Full Day Eco-Cruise (it also has the highest level of ECO certification in Australia).

You’ll spend two hours on the beach famous for its silica-smooth white sands, and walk above the beach to see all seven kilometres of it spread out below at a look-out above Littoral Rainforest.

Because the boat’s so fast, you’ll easily be able to access some of the region’s most pristine beaches and bays along the northern coast of Hook Island where there are underwater valleys and caves among colourful coral surrounded by hundreds of species of marine animals.

Now check out the best things to do in Airlie Beach.