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Whitehaven Beach is on Whitsunday Island, Australia. The island is accessible by boat, seaplane & helicopter from Airlie Beach, as well as Hamilton Island. It lies across from Stockyard Beach, better known as
The beach was awarded Queensland's Cleanest Beach in
Whitehaven Beach is on Whitsunday Island, Australia. The island is accessible by boat, seaplane & helicopter from Airlie Beach, as well as Hamilton Island. It lies across from Stockyard Beach, better known as Chalkie's Beach
Chalkie's Beach (also known as Stockyard Beach) is located on the western coast of Haslewood Island in the Whitsunday Islands of Queensland, Australia. It lies across from the more popular Whitehaven Beach on the main Whitsunday Island.
The co ...
, on Haslewood Island. The beach is known for its crystal white silica sands and turquoise
Turquoise is an opaque, blue-to-green mineral that is a hydrated phosphate of copper and aluminium, with the chemical formula . It is rare and valuable in finer grades and has been prized as a gemstone and ornamental stone for thousands of year ...
coloured waters. The beach has tour barbeque and camping facilities.
History
The beach was named and discovered in 1879 by Staff Commander EP Bedwell. 'Whitehaven
Whitehaven is a town and port on the English north west coast and near to the Lake District National Park in Cumbria, England. Historically in Cumberland, it lies by road south-west of Carlisle and to the north of Barrow-in-Furness. It i ...
' specifically originates from the English town of the same name, it was one of the many names, from the then English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
county of Cumberland, which Bedwell brought to the area. It followed James Cook's 1770 naming of the island group, the Cumberland Islands.
Geography
The beach was awarded Queensland's Cleanest Beach in Keep Australia Beautiful
The Litter Act 1979 was an act passed by the Western Australian Government to prevent littering. It helped to set up the Keep Australia Beautiful Council (W.A.).
See also
* Litter in Australia
References
Law of Australia
Australian Publi ...
's 2008 Beach Challenge State Awards. In July 2010, Whitehaven Beach was named the top ''Eco Friendly Beach'' in the world by CNN.com
CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...
. Dogs are not permitted on the beach and cigarette smoking is prohibited.
Whitehaven Beach is known for its bright white sands, which consist of 98% pure silica
Silicon dioxide, also known as silica, is an oxide of silicon with the chemical formula , most commonly found in nature as quartz and in various living organisms. In many parts of the world, silica is the major constituent of sand. Silica is ...
. Local rocks do not contain silica so it has been suggested that the sands were brought to the beach by prevailing sea currents over millions of years.
Unlike regular sand, the sand on Whitehaven Beach does not retain heat making it comfortable to walk barefoot on a hot day. This sand is also very fine, and can damage electronic equipment such as telephones and cameras, although it is good at polishing up jewellery.
Tourism
Tourists and locals visit Whitehaven Beach to swim and take in the bright white sand. Some visitors eat a BBQ lunch, and campers can stay by booking the National Parks camp facilities. The Whitehaven Beach Ocean Swim is a 2 km open swimming competition held on the beach in November each year since 2009 as part of the Hamilton Island Triathlon. The 2012 event was held on 11 November 2012. The beach was also featured in the racing video game Forza Horizon 3. In 2018, the government announced an investment of $3.9 million for the construction of a new long-distance walking track and upgrading of the camping areas on the Island to improve the holiday experience of the visitors. The track will connect Whitehaven Beach to the Tongue Point.See also
*List of beaches in Australia
Beaches in Australia are in abundance due to the fact that Australia is entirely surrounded by the ocean. Beaches are popular destinations among the country's local population, and travellers alike, as over 85% of Australians live on the coast ...
* Whitsunday Islands
The Whitsunday Islands are 74 continental islands of various sizes off the central coast of Queensland, Australia, north of Brisbane. The northernmost of the islands are off the coast by the town of Bowen, while the southernmost islands are ...
* Lucky Bay
Lucky may refer to:
*An adjective of luck
Lucky may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' Lucky: No Time for Love'', a 2005 Hindi-language romance starring Salman Khan, Sneha Ullal, and Mithun Chakraborty
* ''Lucky'', a 2005 short film by Av ...
, a beach in Western Australia
Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...
with white-coloured sand
* Hyams Beach
Hyams Beach is a seaside village in the City of Shoalhaven, New South Wales, Australia, on the shores of Jervis Bay. At the , it had a population of 112. The village, 180 km south of Sydney, is bordered by two beaches, Chinaman's Beach to th ...
, a beach in New South Wales
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, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
with white sand
References
External links
* {{Coord, 20, 16, 43, S, 149, 02, 11, E, type:isle, display=title Whitsunday Islands Beaches of Queensland