A Guide To The Best Airlie Beach Accommodation

Airlie Beach accommodation for every budget: from swish hotels and resorts to well-kept family-friendly camping grounds and caravan parks, these top five picks will cover most bases.

It may be a small coastal town, but this gateway to the Great Barrier Reef has a surprising array of accommodation to offer. Choose from these Airlie Beach hotels, resorts, and caravan parks, each with their own unique selling points.

Discovery Parks Airlie Beach

Just a few sleepy steps away from Conway National Park, one of the best things to do and explore in Airlie Beach, sits Discovery Parks Airlie Beach . Serving as an ultra-convenient launch pad for day trips out to The Whitsundays, including Hamilton Island, and the Great Barrier Reef, the Airlie Beach accommodation offers unpowered and powered camping sites, plus cabins and thatched-roof villas that sleep up to six. If a day of nothing’s on the agenda, check out the swimming pool, outdoor spa, waterpark and abundance of local wildlife, including kangaroos, who call this place home.

Pinnacles Resort

If the prospect of sweeping Airlie Beach views piques your interest then check into Pinnacles Resort . Located at the top of Golden Orchid Drive, it promises panoramic Coral Sea views, both from your apartment’s balcony and the scene-stealing rooftop infinity pool. The only catch is, it lies at the top of a sizable hill, so you’ll need to either be fit enough to face the walk back up, or thinking about hiring a car (or taking taxis). Choose from a one-, two- or three-bedroom apartment; each comes with either a balcony jacuzzi or an internal spa tub, as well a laundry and a fully equipped kitchen.

Peninsula Airlie Beach

The upscale apartments at Peninsula Airlie Beach occupy a plum spot right on the Abell Point Marina, offering plenty of seclusion even though they’re just a short 15-minute walk from the thick of it all. Each of the spotless one-, two-, three-, and four-bedroom apartments features a sizable balcony with spectacular sea and marina views and lashings of natural light from the floor-to-ceiling windows and doors. The property also has a small outdoor pool.

Island Gateway Holiday Park

Just a 20-minute walk from town, Island Gateway is your best bet if you’re looking for a family-friendly holiday park that’s conveniently situated on the fringes of Airlie Beach. But the property has more to offer beyond location. Guests love the friendly staff, the coffee van that arrives on site first thing in the morning and the food trucks that appear by night, plus the plentiful resort amenities (from a resort pool to barbecue areas, laundry facilities, a children’s playground, and a kiosk/shop). There’s even a daily bird feeding session each afternoon, where you can get closer to the local rainbow lorikeets and whistling ducks.

And when it comes to lodgings, there’s plenty of choice too: dial up the privacy a notch with one of the park’s villas or cabins, book one of the modest motel rooms, pitch up with your own tent or RV, or mix it up a little with one of the site’s permanent canvas tents. The holiday park also has pet-friendly and pet-free areas too.

Island Gateway is your best bet for families.

Coral Sea Marina Resort

The jewel in the crown of this dreamy seafront resort is arguably its 25-metre outdoor pool, surrounded by sun loungers and parasols and framed by manicured lawns, and picture-postcard palm trees. There’s even an adult swing overlooking the water. Sink into one of the pool’s striped floaties and soak up the scenes.

The jewel in the 25-metre outdoor pool crown.

Throughout 2019 and 2020, the hotel underwent a series of renovations, giving it a more contemporary spin, and bright and breezy feel to the public spaces; a day spa was also added to the resort’s laundry list of facilities. All of Coral Sea Marina Resort’s rooms and suites have the same whitewashed interior and dashes of colour, and many feature ocean views. If a boutique-style room is at the top of your holiday agenda then book a king room with balcony, which is the room category to most recently undergo a fresh lick of paint and a more modern revamp. The property is right in the centre of the action too, just steps from the coastal town’s many bars and restaurants.

Prime real estate at Coral Sea Marina Resort.

BIG4 Whitsundays Tropical Eco Resort

Home to a twice weekly tots playgroup, a swimming pool, an inflatable ninja challenge course, a playground, and a jumping pillow, this BIG4 Airlie Beach park wins rave reviews from families with young kids. There’s a seasonal program of activities, such as campfire nights come winter, and live music come summer too.

Sitting pretty on some three hectares of tropical rainforest within the Conway National Park, the eco resort’s grounds promise a leafy, relaxed getaway that’s still only a five-minute drive from town. The resort staff are known to keep the grounds and facilities spick and span, and are often singled out for their friendliness. And whatever your budget (and needs) there’s accommodation to suit: plump for a two-bedroom apartment, an eco lodge or a villa, all of which have air-con and kitchen facilities, or bring your own tent or campervan.

Find more great travel tips and itineraries in our Ultimate guide to Airlie Beach holidays.

Under wide-open outback skies, discover a fossicking gem that’s managed to slip under the radar.

While the name Clermont may feel new to even the most intrepid traveller, its gilded history stretches back centuries. You’ll find it just off the highway, humming quietly under the hazy veil of Queensland’s outback sun. It’s here, hemmed in by mountains and perched atop soil heavy with the earth’s treasures, that one of Australia’s most accessible outback adventures awaits.

Thanks to deposits of gold, copper and gemstones – souvenirs left by exploding supernovas and the heave of tectonic plates – Clermont became a centre point of Queensland’s Gold Rush. And now? Australia’s fossicking capital is yours to discover.

Getting there

car driving along Capricorn Way in queensland — Take a drive through Queensland’s Mackay Isaac region. (Image: Sean Scott/ TEQ)

You’ll find Clermont in Queensland’s Mackay Isaac region. To get here, it’s an easy three-hour drive over sealed roads from Mackay. Or, if you’re heading from the Sapphire Fields of Emerald, the drive will carve out just over an hour from your day.

Whether you’re road-tripping through outback Queensland or just tracing your way through all that Australia has to offer, Clermont is remote but easily accessible.

Best accommodation in Clermont

Theresa CreekDam in clermont — Camp by Theresa Creek Dam. (Image: Riptide Creative/ TEQ)

All accommodation comes with a generous helping of country hospitality here. The choice is yours between modern hotels, parking up the camper or pitching a tent.

Theresa Creek Dam lies just outside town. Begin each day with crisp country air and bright outback sunrises. Spend the night under the sparkling country stars and your days out on the dam fishing or kayaking. Even if you aren’t camping, be sure to save space in your itinerary for an afternoon on the red dirt shore.

To stay closer to town, opt for a central hotel to base yourself between exploring and fossicking, like Smart Stayzzz Inn and Clermont Country Motor Inn .

Things to do in Clermont

three people on a tour with Golden Prospecting — Join a tour with Golden Prospecting.

One does not visit Clermont without trying their hand at fossicking. There are strict rules when it comes to fossicking, so stick to areas dedicated for general permission and make sure you obtain your license beforehand. Try your luck at McMasters , Four Mile , Town Desert, McDonald Flat and Flat Diggings . To increase your odds, sign on for a tour with the expert team at Golden Prospecting . They’ll give you access to exclusive plots and expert advice along the way.

Once you’ve tried your luck on the gold fields, head to the Clermont Township and Historical Museum . Each exhibit works like an archaeologist’s brush to dust away the layers of Clermont’s history. Like the steam engine that painstakingly relocated the entire town inch by inch to higher ground after it was decimated by flooding in 1916. See the tools that helped build the Blair Athol mine, historic fire engines, shearing sheds and all sorts of relics that make up Clermont’s story.

The historic Copperfield Chimney offers a change of pace. Legend has it that fossickers found a solid wall of copper here, over three metres high, kick-starting Queensland’s first-ever copper mine.

Bush Heli Services flying over clermont queensland — See Clermont from above with Bush Heli Services. (Image: Riptide Creative/ TEQ)

For hiking, nearby Dysart is the best place to access Peak Range National Park. Here, mountainous horizons stretch across the outback as if plucked from another world. Set off for a scenic drive along the Peak Downs Highway for access to countless geological wonders. Like the slanting rockface of Wolfang Peak. Summit it, and you’ll find yourself looking out across a scene surely conjured up by Banjo Paterson. Dry scrub dancing in the warm breeze, grazing cattle, eucalypts and the gentle creak of windmills. Don’t miss visiting Gemini Peaks, either, for one of the park’s best vistas, and a blanket of wild flowers after rain.

Then, take to the skies with a scenic helicopter tour with Bush Heli-Services . Shift your perspective and cruise above all the sights from your trip. Spots like Lords Table Mountain and Campbell’s Peak are best viewed from the skies.

Before you head home, be sure to explore the neighbouring townships. Spend a lazy afternoon in the shade of Nebo Hotel’s wrap-around verandahs . The hotel’s 1900s dance hall has since been replaced with one of the area’s biggest rodeo arenas, so consider timing your trip to line up with a boot scootin’ rodeo. Or, stop by a ghost town. Mount Britton was once a thriving town during the 1880s Gold Rush. It’s been totally abandoned and now lies untouched, a perfect relic of the Gold Rush.

Best restaurants and cafes in Clermont

meal at Commercial Hotel — Stop into the Commercial Hotel Clermont.

Days spent fossicking, bushwalking and cramming on history call for excellent coffee and hearty country meals. Luckily, Clermont delivers in spades.

Lotta Lattes Cafe is beloved by locals for a reason. Start your days here for the best caffeine fix in town and an impeccable brunch menu.

For a real country meal, an icy cold beer and that famed country hospitality, head straight to the town’s iconic hotel: the Commercial Hotel (known endearingly to locals as ‘The Commie’). It’s been a staple in Clermont since 1877. The hotel even survived the flood of 1916 when it was sawn in two and moved to higher ground.

Naturally, time spent in the outback must include calling into the local bakery. For delicious pies and a tantalising array of sweet treats, make Bluemac Bakehouse your go-to while in town.

Discover more of The Mackay Isaac region, and start planning your trip at mackayisaac.com.

A guide to the best Airlie Beach accommodation