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.

Exploring the world’s largest sand island starts with the perfect K’gari homebase.

The morning light is still soft, but it’s already a perfect sunny day. We left our K’gari homebase at Kingfisher Bay Resort with our guide, Peter Meyer, at 9 am to make the most of our time to explore all that the world’s largest sand island holds. The size of K’gari is hard to grasp until you arrive here. This is no sandbar. Stretching 120 kilometres, unique lakes, mangrove systems, rainforest, 75 Miles of beach, historic shipwrecks, small townships and even one of Queensland’s best bakeries are all hidden within its bounds.

But first, one of the island’s most iconic sights: the pure silica sand and crystal clear waters of Lake McKenzie.

Laying eyes on it for the first time, I’m finally able to confirm that the photos don’t lie. The sand is pure white, without the merest hint of yellow. The water fades from a light halo of aqua around the edges to a deeper, royal blue, the deeper it gets (not that it’s particularly deep, six metres at most). The surface remains surprisingly undisturbed, like a mirror.

Arriving with our guide before 10 am means that no one else is around when we get here. Which means we have the pleasure of breaking the smooth surface with our own ripples as we enter. As a self-confessed wimp with chilly water temperatures, my fears are quickly assuaged. Even in the morning, the water stays around 23 degrees – perfect for lazing about all day. But we have more sights to see.

Exploring K’gari

ariel of in lake mckenzie on k'gari fraser island — Relax in the warm waters of Lake McKenzie. (Image: Ayeisha Sheldon)

This was the Personalised 4WD tour offered by Kingfisher Bay Resort, and my absolute top pick of experiences. Over the course of the day, we had the freedom to create our own bespoke itinerary (plus a provided picnic lunch along the way), with an expert guide who had plenty of stories and local expertise to give context to what we were looking at. From the history of the SS Maheno shipwreck, which survived the First World War only to be washed ashore by a cyclone in 1935, to a detailed description of how an island made of sand could sustain such diverse flora.

If it’s your first time to K’gari, the Beauty Spots Tour is another great option. Departing daily from Kingfisher Bay Resort (you’ll start to notice a trend, as many of the tours do start and end here), an air-conditioned, 4WD bus takes guests to the island’s most iconic locations, including the best places to swim, like Lake McKenzie and Eli Creek. The latter offers a gentle current, perfect for riding with a blow-up tyre out towards the ocean.

The next day, for a look at a completely different side of K’gari, I joined one of Kingfisher Bay Resort’s Immersive Ranger-guided tours to kayak through the mangroves of Dundonga Creek. This long, snake-like stretch of creek winds its way inland from the ocean outlet we entered by, at times too narrow for three kayaks to be side-by-side. Small insects buzz from leaf to leaf, while birds call overhead. Occasional bubbles indicate we’ve passed some fish that call this place home.

kayak tour through the mangroves at k'gari island — Learn about the island’s mangroves from your Ranger. (Image: Reuben Nutt/ TEQ)

If kayaking isn’t for you – or if, like me, you simply want more – other ranger-led experiences include nature walks and a dedicated Junior Eco Ranger Program for kids ages five to 12 (these run every weekend, and daily over the peak December holidays). Just ask for a timetable of upcoming tours when you check in.

While during whale season, Hervey Bay Whale Watch & Charters operates tours from the hotel’s jetty to get up close to the famous Humpback Highway of Hervey Bay, from 7 November to 31 May, attention turns to the Aqua Oasis Cruise . Departing from the resort every Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday for resort guests, adventure along the island’s remote western coast, pointing out wildlife like dolphins, turtles, flying fish and eagles along the way.

The cruise drops anchor so guests can jump into the water using the boat’s equipment – from SUP boards to inflatable slides and jumping platforms. Then refuel with a provided lunch, of course.

Unwind at sunset

two people drinking cocktails at sunset bar, kingfisher bay resort — Unwind at the Sunset Bar. (Image: Sean Scott)

As much as days on K’gari can be filled with adventure, to me, the afternoons and evenings there are for unwinding. Sunsets on K’gari are absolutely unbelievable, with Kingfisher Bay on the west side being the best spot to catch the colours.

The Sunset Bar , located at the start of the resort’s jetty and overlooking the beach, is the ultimate location for sundowners. Let chill beats wash over you as you sip on cool wines, beers and cocktails in a relaxed, friendly vibe. Personally, a cheese board was also absolutely called for. As the sun sinks, the sand, sea and horizon turn a vibrant shade of orange, with the jetty casting a dramatic shadow across the water.

When the show is over, head back to the hotel for dinner at the Asian-fusion Dune restaurant, or the pub-style Sand + Wood. But if your appetite is still whetted for more lights and colours, the evening isn’t over yet.

Settle into the Illumina stage for Return to Sky, an immersive light and sound show leading viewers on a captivating journey through K’gari’s stories and landscapes.

Indulge and disconnect

woman setting up massage room at kingfisher bay resort Island Day Spa — Find bliss at Island Day Spa. (Image: Jessica Miocevich)

Of course, there is a type of traveller who knows that balance is important, day or night. While Kingfisher Bay Resort offers more than one pool for guests to spend all day lounging by (they’ll even serve you food and drinks while you do it), you’ll find me at the Island Day Spa.

The masseuses could match the magic hands of any big city spa, and I felt the warm welcome as I walked into the light, breezy reception. Choose from a range of botanical facials, beauty treatments and soothing massages using traditional techniques (obviously, I couldn’t go past a relaxing massage). All products used contain organic, native botanical ingredients with nutrient-rich plant extracts to soothe skin and mind. To really indulge, try out one of the packages, couples treatment or even a pre-wedding day offering.

Getting there

kingfisher bay resort 4wd tour driving passed ss maheno on k'gari island — The world of K’gari awaits. (Image: Jessica Miocevich)

Getting to K’gari is shockingly easy. Find daily flights into Hervey Bay from Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney. Kingfisher Bay Resort offers a shuttle bus between the airport, their headquarters in Hervey Bay and the ferry to take you to K’gari.

A guide to the best Airlie Beach accommodation