I recently had a wonderful opportunity to go out on one of the most popular 2 day, 2 night trips around the Whitsundays known as Wings 3.
My Wings 3 trip set for departure on Sunday around midday. It was a beautiful day in the Whitsundays; sun was shining, no clouds in the sky, 28 degrees with a slight breeze, most would not argue if I said it was absolutely perfect weather. We then made our way to Blue Pearl Bay located at the top of Hayman Island for an afternoon filled with snorkelling and diving!
I got to jump in the water for my first scuba dive adventure of the day! For the passengers who have never experienced it before they did an introductory dive lesson. Richi, the dive instructor, took them to the shallow water near the beach and taught them basic skills, including mask clearing and regulator retrieval.
From there it was straight into the depths of the warm Coral Sea surrounded by hundreds of colorful fish and beautiful coral formations. After a few hours of water based activities it was time to set sail again to our next mooring, where we would have dinner and stay overnight.
After dinner we were presented with a slide show of photos from the days activities! The skipper, Steve, also gave us a description of where in the islands we would be heading to, where we had been that day, and where we were going.
Day two started out with breakfast and a short sail to Manta Ray Bay off Hook Island.
Time for more water activities!! WOOHOO! Introductory divers got the chance to do a second dive, from the boat with a backward entry, James Bond 007 style and not from the beach this time! I also went for another certified dive and Richi was once again taking tons of photos on his go-pro of all of us under water.
Believe it or not, we got to then change locations to Luncheon Bay for yet another dive and more snorkel and dive time! Yes, Wings is really good for this! They want to make sure you can experience as much of the Whitsundays as possible during your 2 days!
This dive was extra special because we spotted a lion fish! Lion fish are one of the most venomous fish in the ocean, and there he was hiding in the staghorn corals of Luncheon Bay.
After lunch it was time to head to the world famous Whitehaven Beach! We anchored in Tongue Bay and set forth on the short bush-walk to the Hill Inlet Lookout. Spoiled me, this was not my first time to experience this incredible view and it never gets old.
No matter how many times I have been able to go there, every time it is slightly different, and every time it looks more beautiful than any picture you will see.
After taking a million pictures trying to capture the beauty, we headed down the other side of the hill and set foot on the swirling sands. Here we did the typical touristy group pictures; building pyramids, the “famous” Vegemite shots, and other silly poses.
After a few hours on the beach, the sun began to set and we headed back to the boat. As we were about to leave Tongue Bay, we had a very rare encounter with a Dugong! It was so amazing. We were the last boat in Tongue Bay that evening and he was just swimming around peacefully through the water. We sat and watched him for a few minutes before he disappeared into the water for good. We then set sail one more time to the next overnight mooring in False Nara, just north of the Nara Inlet. Time for dinner and more pictures on the wonderful slideshow Richi had created for us that day!
The last day we got to go for a brief snorkel in the Nara Inlet before heading back to the mainland.
Like most of the other boat trips in the Whitsundays, Wings 3 offers an after-party for all passengers at one of the local pubs. It was a good chance for us all to reminisce about the last few days out on the water, have some dinner, a few drinks, and get loose before everyone had to part ways on to the next destination of their travels.
Wings Diving Adventures has a couple of different boat trip options, Emperor Wings and Wings 2 or 3. All amazing trips that will sail out around the islands on their fully crewed catamarans, venture to Whitehaven Beach, and offer multiple snorkeling and scuba diving opportunities. As well as the amazing fringing reef and soft corals you can experience around the islands, on Emperor Wings you also are fortunate enough to head out to the outer reef to Paradise Lagoon located at the beautiful Bait Reef for a night of mooring!
