Whitsundays camping/fishing info

[TJ Bear]

G'day

Myself and a couple of mates are planning a trip to the Whitsundays to do some camping and fishing. We want to camp on an island with suitable achorage for 2 5.5m trailer boats, set up camp and fish the area each day. Can anybody give some advice as to good islands to camp that are close to good fishing?

[BobbyJ123]

G'day mate. Plenty of places to camp and fish, but check in with National Parks first for permission to camp. There are a number of "Green Zones" , so this should help you.
http://www.gbrmpa.gov.au/corp_site/m...ning_maps.html

Have a look at the west side of Hook Island, towards Hayman Is. Plenty of bommies fringing the island. The Whitsunday Passage can be quite an experience crossing; currents and wind patterns can raise the seas to 3 metres, so be careful.

[CT]

We did it a few years back in 5m Cruise Craft.

We started up where Bobby mentioned, anchoring in Stonehaven anchorage, but the shore access wasn't great.

Spent a few nights on Henning Island (west and Hammo and north of Dent) but the anchorage was very poor, dragging anchor etc. Made for a few sleepless nights on the beach!

The best spot we camped was Cid harbour. The camp site is excellent, the anchorage is great. We camped at Sawmill beach which is protected in anything without a westerly component.

Grab a copy of 100 magic miles. This is the authority on the islands with all the charts and anchorage info you could want.

I also did the trip again last year but left the speedy at home. Rented a 34ft yatch for our honeymoon. Beats camping!

Cheers
Craig

[Daamu]

G'day Tj Bear,
A mate went there last year i think he camped on Whitsunday Island at Sawmill Beach with a 5 m boat. There is some good fishing around hook island and is only a stones throw from Whitsunday. He said you should be able to do all of your bookings from this link. Click on the Island Camping in the whitsundays camping guide link for more info on the different campsites and facilities.
Hope this helps.
http://www.epa.qld.gov.au/projects/p...ck=1&parkid=11

[Clint06]

access to a lot of the camping sites is made difficult by shallow reefs in close to the islands. Took a 7m boat up there last year and booked camp sites but ended up staying on the boat each night- too much hassle to get in to the camp sites. Fishing in hook passage can be ok. I found the eastern side of whitsunday island to be reasonable fishing. Get out to the barrier reef if the weather allows as the fishing is way better than around the islands.

[NAGG]

TJ .... The islands have some great camping ! with good fishing near by.
The 3 places I've camped are Armit Island ( north of Airlie) , Butterfly bay ( Hook Is opposite Hayman) & Sawmill Beach (Whitsunday Is).

I've included some pics ..... sorry about the quality as they are pics of pics

Armit Is is my pick ..... Its remote being around 12NM north .... Its bare camping ( bring everything) .... but we did it in a 5.35CC!.... It is a magic spot which you can run up a boat at most tides onto a nice coral pebble beach safely specially in a glass boat Armit Is.jpg ( Its sheltered from all bar a W or SW windArmit Is 2.jpg . The fishing around the Island can be pretty good for pelagics & reefies around the bommies to the north ..... Fish Double cone IsDouble Is.jpg ( 3 NM to the East) for reefies ...... Its a spot you can enjoy for 3-4 days then go back to Airlie to resupply & head to another spot.

Sawmill Beach .... Forget it Attachment 19742( You need to go in at high tide & you are stuck there ...... or your boat is anchored a long way off)

Butterfly bay is good too ( great snorkeling) .... but is exposed in a N or NE wind which if you are not anchored fore & aft a decent distance off the beach ... when the tide falls you can destroy the boat ( we nearly holed the CC .... when we had a Northerly wind change late one afternoon .... The water went from calm to a 1 M break .... & the boat was not in deep enough water) .
Aside from that point .... the bay is in the green zone but the areas east around the Island is pretty damn good fishing wise.
There are many other camping area with good access to some great reef & pelagic fishing ...... Just remember you need to bring everything with you ( Food, water , fuel etc)
Do your homework , buy a copy of 100 Magic miles (by David Colfelt) ..... & have a ball

Nagg

[BobbyJ123]

TJ .... The islands have some great camping ! with good fishing near by.
The 3 places I've camped are Armit Island ( north of Airlie) , Butterfly bay ( Hook Is opposite Hayman) & Sawmill Beach (Whitsunday Is).

I've included some pics ..... sorry about the quality as they are pics of pics

Armit Is is my pick ..... Its remote being around 12NM north .... Its bare camping ( bring everything) .... but we did it in a 5.35CC!.... It is a magic spot which you can run up a boat at most tides onto a nice coral pebble beach safely specially in a glass boat ( Its sheltered from all bar a W or SW wind . The fishing around the Island can be pretty good for pelagics & reefies around the bommies to the north ..... Fish Double cone Is ( 3 NM to the East) for reefies ...... Its a spot you can enjoy for 3-4 days then go back to Airlie to resupply & head to another spot.

Sawmill Beach .... Forget it ( You need to go in at high tide & you are stuck there ...... or your boat is anchored a long way off)

Butterfly bay is good too ( great snorkeling) .... but is exposed in a N or NE wind which if you are not anchored fore & aft a decent distance off the beach ... when the tide falls you can destroy the boat ( we nearly holed the CC .... when we had a Northerly wind change late one afternoon .... The water went from calm to a 1 M break .... & the boat was not in deep enough water) .
Aside from that point .... the bay is in the green zone but the areas east around the Island is pretty damn good fishing wise.
There are many other camping area with good access to some great reef & pelagic fishing ...... Just remember you need to bring everything with you ( Food, water , fuel etc)
Do your homework , buy a copy of 100 Magic miles (by David Colfelt) ..... & have a ball

Nagg

Sorry, mate but Armit is GREEN ZONE, Double Cone Is. is YELLOW ZONE as is all the southern half of Whitsunday Is.

[NAGG]

Sorry, mate but Armit is GREEN ZONE, Double Cone Is. is YELLOW ZONE as is all the southern half of Whitsunday Is.

Thanks Bobby
It must have come in the last few years ...... Anyhow the fishing was better around double cone
But Armit is still a magic spot regardless as a base
Nagg

[Guido]

Ahh finally a thread i know a little about. We've been going camping in trailer boats to the Whitsundays since i was a kid. Looks like everyone beat me to mentioning the hot spots though! There's a number of good camping locations in Cid Harbour, that's my pick.

Be careful of the weather. Anything 20knots and over really limits the fishing possibilities. Like said earlier, Whitsunday passage, and often unexpectedly Molle Passage can get quite hazardous. I'll leave my experience of 3-4m swells in a 15ft tinny for another day! Strong wind warning = forget about it.

My advice is travel across when the tide is with the wind as it flattens the wave, and each day you've over there, poke your nose out to see at what time/tide it comes down. You will notice the difference.

Fishing wise, the east side of Whitsunday is the go. Also weather dependant. Don't write off lures for trout around shallow rocky outcrops also. Good fun and quite productive.

Alright that's it for now, any more Q's and i'll be happy to answer.
Guido

PS. CT you may have been over there while we were there few years ago, i remember dad talking to someone about his 500 CC Explorer because we were looking at getting one.

[bustastu]

Get of copy of the bible - "100 Magic Miles of the Great Barrier Reef, the Whitsunday Islands" by David Colfelt. We take our 5.8 m Haines up there each year and with this book and a gps, you can't go wrong. Its only $60 that is very well worth it. Enjoy.....