Whitsunday Islands National Park

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Whitehaven beach on the Whitsunday Island

Whitsunday Islands is a national park in Queensland, Australia, 920 kilometres (570 mi) northwest of Brisbane. It has beautiful scenery and also has a few walks that are open to any one that camps on the islands. To camp on the islands, visitors need to book a site.

[edit] Fact sheet

Area: 170.00 km²
Date of establishment: 1944
Managing authorities: Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service
IUCN category: II

The Whitsunday Islands lie midway along Australia's Queensland coast and are bordered by the Great Barrier Reef and the waters of the Coral Sea.

The region spans from the beaches of Bowen in the north and Laguna Whitsundays in the south. All 74 of the islands are surrounded the Great Barrier Reef and only eight them are inhabited.

The sand on the beach is so fine and pure (99% pure white sand) that the NASA used this sand to make lenses for telescopes.^{[citation needed]} Penalties for taking some of this sand can run up to $5000.^{[citation needed]}