| Airlie Beach Queensland |
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Airlie Beach
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| Population: | 2,751[1] |
| Postcode: | 4802 |
| Location: |
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| LGA: | Whitsunday Region |
| State District: | Whitsunday |
| Federal Division: | Dawson |
Airlie Beach is a town in the Whitsunday Region of Queensland, Australia. At the 2006 census, the suburb of Airlie Beach itself had a population of 2,751. The greater Whitsunday region had a population of approximately 31,000 [1] Airlie Beach is one of many departure points for the Great Barrier Reef. Near latitude 20 degrees south, Airlie Beach, Proserpine and the nearby Whitsunday Islands enjoy a tropical climate and lifestyle.
The Whitsunday Islands, named by James Cook in 1770 are a sailors' paradise. Cook named the islands as he believed he passed through the area on the Christian festival day of Whit Sunday. It is now widely accepted that he didn't actually pass through on this date, as he had failed to take into account the yet to be brought into existence International Date Line à la Phileas Fogg.
Each year the residents of Airlie Beach celebrate The Blessing of the Fleet on Whit Sunday or Pentecost Sunday.
Airlie Beach is a tourist destination, extremely popular with backpackers. Its beach is small and the sea is inhabited by marine stingers, the box jellyfish (Chironex fleckeri) from November to May. In order to provide somewhere for the visitors tourists to swim, the local council, has built a small - medium sized swimming lagoon on the foreshore, similar to the lagoon found in Cairns. The Airlie Beach Lagoon is 4,300 m2 and 4.5 million litres of fresh, self chlorinated water.
Airlie Beach has long been considered the best departure point for excursions to the Great Barrier Reef and sailing holidays. Sailing amongst the calm, protected waters of the Whitsunday Islands is an experience on many traveller's lists of top things to do in Australia. The Great Barrier Reef is easily accessible from Airlie Beach, with an array of different types of tours available. [2] The official Regional Tourism Organisation (RTO) for Airlie Beach and the Whitsundays is Tourism Whitsundays.
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It is almost certain that the town was named for the parish of Airlie, in Scotland, as the name was suggested by the chairman of the former Proserpine Shire Council, who was born in nearby Montrose, Scotland. The official name was Airlie from 1936 until 1987, when it became Airlie Beach.
Busking was freely practised in Airlie Beach up until April 2008 when local busker Andrew Finlay was arrested for "Begging In A Public Place". The matter was dismissed by Judge Atholl Kennedy and since then a Facebook page was created to make busking legal in Airlie Beach. After a tide of public support and media focus, busking was made legal in june 2010 through an Adopted Draft Policy created by Whitsunday Regional Council.[3][4][5][6]