Whitehaven Bay & Betty’s Beach
It’s worth noting that the Whitsundays Thundercat boat doesn’t actually take you to Whitehaven Beach. Instead, you visit Betty’s Beach on the opposite side of the bay. This is the same with the main competitors, Ocean Rafting.
Once we’d headed down the beach path, the skies were beginning to darken, but it didn’t dim our excitement as we set our feet on some of the softest sand to wind its way around my toes. Despite there being other groups on the beach, it didn’t feel overcrowded due to the vast sand banks, and we even took a dip in the water. Which, sadly, didn’t feel as warm as it looked!
We had two hours in total to spend at the lookout and on the beach, before heading back to the boat. It’s a great amount of time to look around, relax, and take a dip, without compromising time for the rest of the day’s snorkelling activities.
Due to the tides, the main vessel isn’t able to pick up from the shoreline, so we lined up at the edge of the beach to hop aboard the dinghy to make the short hop to the boat. Which is precisely when the heavens decided to open, hard. Luckily, Jared made quick work of getting us all to the boat quickly and safely. Unfortunately, we’d left our bags in the open so we had some wet towels, but we were able to sit further back to stop our lunch getting soggy at least!
The one negative I’d point out with our Whitsundays Thundercat experience is there was nowhere dry offered to put our bags when it rained. The front seats are completely uncovered, so everything we had got soaked. There’s a small amount of space for tiny bags (talking bumbag size) but I’d recommend considering taking a dry bag to keep your towels and clothes from getting wet.
