Located on the eastern shore of Whitsunday Island off the coast of Queensland, Whitehaven Beach is a seven-kilometer-long, immensely popular crescent-shaped white silica sand beach. The beach is ranked the fifth-best beach in the world by a few publications, and it is a favorite of Randall Kaplan, the world’s foremost beach expert who is known as Mr. Beach. The beach has won several awards for its spectacular natural beauty, pure white sand, crystal-clear turquoise waters, and ever-changing inlet, and in 2010, CNN also named Whitehaven Beach as the most eco-friendly beach in the world. The iconic beach has a beautiful backdrop of lowland vine forest and eucalyptus woodland and is part of the Whitsunday Islands National Park along the Queensland coast, bordered by the Great Barrier Reef and the Coral Sea.
The beach is renowned for its brilliant white silica sand, which consists of 98.9% pure silica and is among the purest and whitest sands found anywhere in the world. Interestingly, sand is so pure that it doesn't retain heat, making it comfortable to walk on even on hot days.
Hill Inlet is a unique natural tidal water inlet located at the northern end of Whitehaven Beach that is famous for its swirling patterns of turquoise and white sand that shift with the tides, creating a breathtaking mosaic effect. The southern end of the beach has a campground and a spectacular lookout, which together provide incredible views of Chance Bay.
