Airlie Beach is in Queensland, Australia and is the gateway to the Whitsunday Islands. The 'main town' is little more than a street packed with typical shops, backpackers hostels and a few hotels. There is a large marina with THOUSANDS of boats of all shapes and sizes which are a mixture of privately owned, and those which take the general public on tours around the islands.

The islands are the most beautiful places you will ever see but I will not review them here. If you like watersports and particularly sailing, you will not be bored here. Apart from the access to the Whitsunday Islands, there did not seem to be much else to do except party the night away.

There are lots of little restaurants which do typical "surf and turf" e.g. crocodile and kangaroo, which were really nice. The hotel which I would reccomend is Airlie Beach Hotel (there is a Airlie Beach hostel too so beware!) as it is located centrally and has fabulous views - make sure you ask for an ocean view. The rooms are luxurious and the staff are very pleasant.

Overall definitely stop in Airlie Beach, but make sure you know that it is mainly just the gateway to the Whitsunday Islands.