islands and reef system breaking the waves, beautiful scenery, plenty of safe inlets to moor overnight, and Australian icons such as Whitehaven Beach to visit. So the question should not be "should I go sailing in the Whitsundays" as the answer is a profound yes. The question should be "should I sail myself (bareboat) or go on a crewed sailing adventure". The answer to that depends on many things. Bareboat Sailing - there are many options in the Whitsundays to choose from if you want to go sailing on your own with just your friends and family. There are privately owned yachts and small and large companies that have many yachts to choose from. Whitsunday Rent a Yacht and Cumberland Yacht Charters are two very popular mainland bareboat companies and we also have Sunsail based on Hamilton Island.
You do not need to be an experienced sailor to hire a bareboat but I believe to enjoy yourself you should have the basic skills. The Whitsunday region is a relatively safe place to sail as it is quite protected but I believe it's much better and more relaxing for everyone if someone on board has sailed before and has experience. The positives of bareboat sailing is the freedom it allows you to choose what you want to do, what you want to eat, where you want to go, and who you want to hang out with. Most of the boats are
kept in excellent condition and have maintenance that can help you if you have any problems during your journey. The negatives would be for some that it is a hands on holiday. It's like camping but on the water in a luxurious environment. You prepare all your own meals, you need to be able to sail the vessel to the correct locations, you clean up after yourself, and your responsible for the yacht at all times. You have to provide your own provisions and if you forget something it's not convenient to restock. Cost wise it is much more expensive than shared crewed sailing but then you don't have the freedoms with the shared crew sailing that you get with bareboat sailing. Most charters are a minimum of 5 days so there is few options for short getaways. Crewed sailing - when I refer to crewed sailing I mean shared cabin crewed sailing. You can hire a skipper on a bareboat charter and that is not what we are referring to here. Crewed sailing offers an amazing abundance of styles of tours and types of yachts to choose from. You can have trips from 2 day/1 night all the way to 6 day/ 6 night journeys. There are boats that cater to the adventure sailor, backpacker, luxury with private cabins and bathrooms, divers, and a mix of others. There is a few good crewed sailing
companies that depart from the mainland. Prosail - Maxi Yachts caters to the backpacker and adventure market, Explore Whitsundays - has a mix of and yachts with private cabins and Maxi's, or companies that have boats like Whitsunday Magic or Pacific Sunrise which specialize in couples and offer more luxurious surroundings. The positives about crewed sailing is that you can sit back relax and enjoy the scenery or get involved in the sailing if you wish. All your meals are prepared for you and there are crew that can take care of your needs and do most of the cleaning up. It is much less expensive than bareboat because you are only renting a cabin and not the entire boat and you do not have to purchase provisions.The negatives to some may be the lack of privacy, structured itineraries, and food options. (however I have been on a few of the shared charter boats and the food was fabulous on all of them) The biggest negative I believe is that you can't choose who else books the tour. So it's luck of the draw regarding what type of people you may end up spending the next few days with. There are a few things you need to consider before going on an overnight sailing adventure around the Whitsunday Islands. Both options are great but some will suit you better than others. The most important piece of advice I can offer you is to stay away from the dodgy operators. If something looks really cheap there is a reason for it. Stick with the bigger operators for the bareboats and make sure your crewed charter boat has the WCBIA logo and tick of approval.
Enjoy your sailing adventure!
Boathaven Spa Resort
Promote Your Page Too Tweet
are a popular option in our region and I had heard lot's of great feedback from our guest about the service. So off to the Great Barrier Reef I go. I would like to mention that I was assigned a dive instructor that I lovingly referred to as Mum's hot eye candy. It helps, when you think you may die, that at least their going to find you in the arms of an amazingly hot young man. Now I know scuba diving is relatively safe but I also now that man was not supposed to breath under water and this is the conflict in my head that will not go away. 
and advises me that this will help me sink. Now I am excited because never have I been told extra weight was required to complete a task, normally it is the opposite. I mention this to the instructor and he tells me the most offensive thing that has ever been said to me and they lived to tell about it. He says "the weights are for people that have more body fat as you tend to float, we will start you with one large belt and see how you go". Now I know the precious young man meant no offence but he almost lost an appendage with that statement. Well, three weight belts later and I finally start to level out under water without floating to the top and have boats trying to tie up to me. It does not help that he wetsuit has created two size double D floating devices that are slowing moving up around my ears. 
training class? Damn the cute instructor, it's his fault I was not paying attention, and now I am in absolute panic mode. 
spetacular views of the corals and marine animals. IT WAS AMAZING. I saw sea turtles, close enough to touch, the entire cast of Finding Nemo, spectacular corals of all shapes and sizes, huge clams, and even off in the distance a Mantaray glided by. 
