10 Exclusive Whitehaven Beach Facts

 10 Interesting Whitehaven Beach Facts

1. The Sand

Pure white and blindingly breathtaking. This sand is made up of 98.9% pure silica and is the whitest sand you will find anywhere on earth. It has the consistency of a very fine powder, which unfortunately is not great for your electronics, but feels so good between the toes! Don’t be surprised if you have the urge to start rolling around in it doing sand angels…it has that effect on people.

2. Natures exfoliation

The fine powdery sand is a wonderful exfoliant and polisher. They say if you scrub your face and body with the wet sand, say “I love Whitehaven Beach” 3 times and dive into the water, you’ll come up looking 10 years younger! Works a charm. The sand is also perfect for polishing your jewellery, don’t forget to hold on tight though, giving it a polish will make it shine like new. Keep in mind that it will strip the plating off fake jewellery though.

3. Sand + hot sunny day + bare feet = bliss!

It wouldn’t be a Whitehaven Beach facts list without this rare piece of information: It is a wonderful thought knowing that no matter how hot the day is, you can confidently dig your feet into the sand knowing that they will never burn. The sand simply doesn’t heat up, ever. If only every beach was the same! It would save us doing the classic hot sand barefoot dance. You know the one. For most of the year the Whitehaven Beach weather is warm and sunny.

4. Award-winning beach

Yep! Our beloved Whitehaven has been a multi-award winner for quite a long time, featuring in many a list and many an article, and as of 2021, it was voted number 1 beach in the world by TripAdvisor. Yay! It is also the most photographed beach in the world, so don’t forget your camera so you can get the perfect shot for your socials. see our Satellite view of a Whitehaven Beach Map here 

5. The Ngaro people

Calling the Whitsundays home for over 8,000 years, the Ngaro people are the traditional owners of this land and the original inhabitants. They were seafaring people, living a peaceful life and thriving from the Whitsunday Islands rich resources. Their domain was the sea, hunting large marine animals from their sturdy three-piece bark canoes. Hook island, the second largest island in the Whitsundays, is home to once hidden caves where the Ngaro decorated the walls of the caves with their unique art. This site has been noted as the oldest indigenous site on the Australian East Coast.

6. Whitehaven beach southern lookout

Out of all the Whitehaven Beach Facts, this holds a place in our hearts.
Access to the lookout starts from the southern end of Whitehaven Beach, past the designated lunch area. The walking track is for the moderately fit, approximately 1km long and a total of 751 steps (yes, we counted). At the top, you get a view of the full length of Whitehaven, the stunning national park of Whitsunday Island and the pure eye candy that is Sol Bay. Along the track, you get to admire the local wildlife, including our beloved Lace monitors. see more information here for the new South Whitehaven Lookout 

7. Hill Inlet 

When you think of Whitehaven Beach you will most likely picture the beautiful swirling sands that is known as Hill Inlet. Featured on many posters, postcards and websites, Hill Inlet is at the Northern end of Whitehaven and showcases one of nature’s breathtaking phenomena. As the tide changes, the white sand and clear turquoise waters merge to create a swirling pattern of angelic artistry. The Ngaro people have a Dreamtime Legend of how the swirling sands came about. They say the Rainbow Serpent passed through the vast blue sea laying her eggs, which are the islands of the Whitsundays, and slithered up the white sand, leaving behind the beautiful swirling pattern.

8. Lights, sand, action!

Whitehaven Beach is in fact a movie star, having featured in Fools Gold (With Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey) and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead man Tells No Tales. A fun fact about the scene shot in Pirates is that they had to fly in their own palm trees, as they are not native to the island. Each Palm tree cost about $4,000, and once they were finished they had to dig up the trees and fly them out again

9. Where did the sand come from?

Where did you come from, where did you go, where did you come from… white silica sand. No one really knows exactly how the sand came to settle here, as the rocks on the island don’t contain any quartz. Our best guess, unless we put it down to magic, is that because of its position among the islands, it formed over millions of years from the ever-changing currents, tides and weather, carried down from the northern coast.

10. You shall not pass!

Okay, you shall pass. The Whitsunday islands and water surrounding it, including Whitehaven Beach, is a protected national and marine park, so we must show it the respect it deserves now to preserve it for the future. This is where the classic saying comes into play: leave nothing but footprints, take nothing but photos. 

Whitehaven Beach is to be admired and enjoyed by all, from the land or the sky. It has an otherworldly feel and a deep pull to be respected and looked after. Whitehaven can be accessed by personal vessels, many charters and planes of all types leaving from Airlie Beach and Hamilton Island, most of these scenic flights include a trip to Heart Reef Whitsundays as well. So please, go forward and enjoy, but more importantly, have fun! We hope you have increased your knowledge from our Whitehaven beach facts top 10

ZigZag Whitsundays Whitehaven Tour

Dynamic Ticket Pricing Instant Bookings

ZigZag’s Whitsundays Day Tour is the same as airlines—Book Early And Save! Our dynamic online pricing is the first of its kind in the Whitsundays. Here is why…

There is no difference between the ticket price and which seat you get on the boat, Like airlines, the price increases as the boat fills up. The earlier you book, the cheaper the ticket.

What’s Included In the Tour Ticket Price?

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