Australia's Hidden Gem: Hamilton Island

Hamilton Island: Gateway to the Great Barrier Reef.

“ Everything about this place was stunning and beautiful”

Our first destination was an island named Hamilton, nestled away in the Whitsunday Islands, close to the Great Barrier Reef. Upon arrival, we were picked up by a shuttle bus and taken to our bungalow. After we dropped our bags off, we decided to head to the other side of the island to explore some of the local shops and restaurants and grab a bite to eat for dinner. The island is split into two main parts, the East Side and the West Side. Our bungalow was on the East side, along with many most of the other hotels and accommodations, while the west side was populated by the marina, restaurants, and shops. The two sides are separated by a large hill, which we climbed up and down multiple times every day. The first night we ate at a place called Tako, an interesting restaurant that mixed Mexican and Korean style cuisine. The food was great, but, like everything else on Hamilton Island, was very expensive. We were pretty jet lagged that first week, so we went to bed almost immediately after dinner.

The great part about going to bed so early, is that you wake up early too. We were up before sunrise, and being on the East side of the island, we decided to take a walk on the beach and watch the sun come up. It sounds more romantic than it really was, but still was really nice. Every morning we got breakfast at the hotel buffet, which was included in our room. Our second day on the island was mostly consumed with an excursion to Whitehaven Beach, which is probably, without exaggeration, the nicest beach we will ever visit. The sand on the beach is almost pure silica, and is incredibly fine. This means that it never retains much heat from the sun and won’t ever burn the bottom of your feet. After the beach, we came back and cleaned up, then headed back over to the West side to find a place to get a drink. We stumbled across a bar that had a ton of people in and around it, with everyone sitting on stairs and hanging out of windows to watch a giant TV in the street. You could say it got our attention. So we squeezed our way in, got a beer and a glass of wine, and found a spot to watch what we later found of was a Footie (Australian football) match. At first we thought they were just really into every game, because everyone watching was so intense and excited. We later found out that it was basically the footie super bowl, and the team that won hadn’t won the championship in over seventy years, and they just so happened to be the “home” team for the Hamilton Island locals. Needless to say, it was very exciting. Hannah broke her sunglasses earlier, so we also picked up a new pair. That evening we went to the grocery store and ended up cooking dinner at home, which we did most nights, because again it was very expensive here.

The next day we did an excursion out to the Great Barrier Reef, and did some snorkeling. This was very touristy, and while we thought it was a good introduction to the reef (since we were going diving the day after), it was something we probably could have done without. Upon returning to the island, we did what we do best – took a hike to find a secluded beach. The hike was pretty moderate, and the beach was really cool because we arrived at low tide. It’s amazing to see how the beach more than doubles in size like this every single day. Of course we ended up getting a couple drinks after that, which we found out were appropriately named sundowners.

Finally, our favorite day! The day we went scuba diving in the Great Barrier Reef! We spent a significant amount of time the past summer working on our scuba diving certifications, just so we could do this dive. The day consisted of two dives. The first attempt had some struggles, which included one of our team having a mental breakdown, causing us to surface, and a strong current that pushed us to the surface. Fortunately, our second dive was much more successful. It was beautiful, but not as gorgeous as we had expected. Part of this is due to a category five storm that damaged part of the reef earlier in the year, and part of it is due to the coral bleaching phenomenon that is associated with climate change. All in all we are very happy to have had this opportunity to see the GBR, as many future generations may not be able to do.

The following day was a free day for us, and because we loved Whitehaven Beach so much, we got another trip there booked. This time we took a 40+ foot catamaran, but the wind was shit so we used the motor pretty much the entire time. In addition to getting to spend some time at the beach, we also got to do some more snorkeling on this trip. We saw some tiny little clownfish (Nemo), and other cool little fish. It was fun. That evening we went out to eat, this time we got pizza, which was really spicy and delicious!

One of the last great things we did was a sunrise hike. We got up while it was dark and started the 2 hour hike at about 4 am, with our goal being at the top of Passage Peak (the highest point on the island) by the time the sun came up. Even at this early hour it was hot and muggy, and we were drenched in sweat by the time we got to the top. The view from the top was 100% worth every drop of sweat. We had to laugh, as we passed people on our way down they would ask “how far to the top?” in an out-of-breath sort of voice. “Ummm, you’re almost half way there,” we said in our most encouraging way.

Other things we did while on Hamilton Island included some things that were free with our room, including renting snorkeling gear, taking out a small Hobbie Cat, kayaking, and we spent a good amount of time just enjoying the view from our front porch. Overall, Hamilton Island was a great experience. Everything about this place was stunning and beautiful, and I would highly recommend anyone visiting Australia to make a stop here. However, the prices were extremely high. Everything from lodging, to food, to activities was all much more expensive than anywhere else we’ve been. Hamilton Island is definitely a place to visit for a week or two on vacation, but isn’t really conducive to long-term travel.