Whitsunday Islands National Park

Explore one of the seven wonders of the world, the Great Barrier Reef, by visiting one of the national parks in the Whitsundays. Here you can see fringing coral reefs, migrating seabirds, whales, secluded bays and beautiful beaches. On some islands there's even dry rainforest to explore.

Altogether, more than 25 000ha of wooded hills, rocky headlands and sand and shingle beaches in the Whitsundays have been set aside for their scenic and scientific worth. And most of the surrounding waters are protected by marine parks. The generally mild climate and the exceptional natural beauty of the Whitsunday islands and seascapes makes them a popular tourist destination.

The Whitsundays is a name people use locally to refer to more than 70 islands off the Queensland coast east of Proserpine. The islands are peaks of past mountain ranges separated by rising sea levels more than 10 000 years ago. Most of them are protected they include:

Arkhurst, Bird, Black, Border, Buddibuddi, Cid, Deloraine, Dumbell, Dungurra, Edward, Esk, Gungwiya, Harold, Haslewood, Henning, Hook, Ireby, Langford, Lupton, Nicolson, Nunga, Perseverance, Plum Pudding, Sillago, Surprise Rock, Teague, Whitsunday, Wirrainbeia, Workington, Yerumbinna and Yiundalla Islands.