Ocean Rafting: Whitehaven Beach, Snorkelling & Hill Inlet Lookout

Will book again!

This tour was SO FUN. We had a freaking blast - don’t go on this tour if you’re boring. We sat right in the bow and it was the most fun we’ve had on any boat tour ever - music & and a great skipper made all the difference. It was a perfect itinerary, not too long or too short. We did the Northern Exposure and loved it. They had a system for letting you fly a drone as well if you want to bring one (highly recommend). Our crew was amazing - Taylor and Jessie and Simon. Taylor did some expert maneuvering and got us fantastic views of the coastlines, and Jessie took some incredible photos for us at Whitehaven beach. It was so clear they loved their jobs. Flying form with the other Ocean Rafting boats to Danger Zone & Pirates was a real highlight for us! We will 100% be back. Only thing that bummed us out was the nickel & diming for no-watermark photos. We must’ve missed that in the fine print, so heads up - take your own photos (bring a wrist-strap for your phone or camera).

Amazing! We'll be back

This tour was SO FUN. We had a freaking blast - don’t go on this tour if you’re boring. We sat right in the bow and it was the most fun we’ve had on any boat tour ever - music & and a great skipper made all the difference. It was a perfect itinerary, not too long or too short. We did the Northern Exposure and loved it. They had a system for letting you fly a drone as well if you want to bring one (highly recommend). Our crew was amazing - Taylor and Jessie and Simon. Taylor did some expert maneuvering and got us fantastic views of the coastlines, and Jessie took some incredible photos for us at Whitehaven beach. It was so clear they loved their jobs. Flying form with the other Ocean Rafting boats to Danger Zone & Pirates was a real highlight for us! We will 100% be back. Only thing that bummed us out was the nickel & diming for no-watermark photos. We must’ve missed that in the fine print, so heads up - take your own photos (bring a wrist-strap for your phone or camera).

Whitsundays - Perfect day

We had a fantastic time, on a beautiful day in the Whitsundays. Dave and Kurt were brilliant and the whole trip was fabulous. Snorkeling, hanging on the beach and the raft ride - superb!!!

One amazing day!

What an incredible day we had with Ocean Rafting. Taylor and Heath made the trip so much fun and the knowledge they shared made it a day to remember. 2 long snorkel stops along the way and Whitehaven Beach - spectacular. I would definitely recommend this tour.

Bluest water and whitest sands

Brilliant snorkelling coral reef stunning, big fish little fish turtles so lucky, saw two mantas dancing and dolphins gliding beside, the scene from the lookout takes your breath away on arrival so blue so white, the beach for a glorious swim with the most delicious lunch pack. Thank you Scott and Em, so grateful for your care and support 💜💜

A must do

Had a fabulous experience yesterday. From pick up with Eve in the bus who was super friendly and welcoming to the crew of Black Betty (All girl crew of Kate, Eve and Bronte) we had the most amazing experience! We had a group of 17 of us, aged from 2-50 and all of us were catered for. The boat ride with the music made the atmosphere upbeat from the start. My son was struggling with the noise of the engines and they happily moved us up to the front of the boat and continued to check on him. All staff knew our names in the first 5 minutes of us boarding. Would highly recommend this tour to everyone!

Great day out with Curt and Rich !

We did the Northern tour on 11 June 2024 with Curt and Rich. What an amazing day out with these two legends. Great two spots for snorkelling, lots of fun and laughs along the way. Well worth it and more. Thanks guys for a terrific. Eddy and Michelle (Melbourne).

June 10th tour

The most amazing day!!! All the staff was AMAZING. Shout out to Bernie and Kurt for making the day even more amazing. The best day with the best views. 10/10 recommend

Amazing time!!

It was sooo fun and amazing!! The guides Kurt and Bernie were fabulous and fun!! Super fun day with lots of activities!! 10/10 loved it!!

Once in a lifetime views

We had a group of 35 high school seniors + 6 chaperones. This was by far the kids best day yet on our 14-day tour from Sydney to Cairns. Kurt and Bernie were AMAZING. This is an absolute MUST DO in Airlie. Thank you for a once in a lifetime experience. Team Bernie/Kurt! ❤️🤙🏻

A must do !!!

One of the best tours of our whole Australia trip! Capt Mis and Emily were informative and fun! Had an absolute blast on the boat ride, snorkeling, hike, and beach! I’m telling all my family and friends to do this because it was seriously that good!

Family Snorkeling Adventure (Great Value for $$$ with and all in one package)

Great value for money and incredibly warm and friendly crew members who made our day even more memorable! Big shout out to Celeste, Bernie and Kevin who were amazing with my daughters who were reluctant snorkelors. Thanks for being so supportive, informative and friendly towards them (ages 11 and 7) they had a ball on the GBR with this crew!

Well worth it.

Absolutely gorgeous scenery and enthusiastic guides who made the experience even more fun. It was a lovely area of pristine natural beauty.

Thrilled on Thrilla with Bernie & Heath!!rill

Brilliant day out! Great tunes, great snorkeling, great views, great cans, great captain and first mate! Highly recommend!!

Ocean Rafting!

Unbelievable experience! Nature at its best however the crew that took us out for the day were absolutely fantastic! Incredibly encouraging, supportive, knowledgeable and enthusiastic! Made for a wonderful experience!

Cash and Tom - Most memorable day with the most amazing crew

Unbelievable day - This was my 6th time with ocean rafting and it’s just as great every single time. Cash and Tom were our crew and they were superb. Thank you for making our day so memorable.

The best in the Whitsundays

This trip was absolutely amazing! Daisy and the crew were attentive and created a fun environment for everyone. The weather was not awesome that day, but we still had a great time. Would definitely book this trip again!

Brilliant experience!

Such a good day out and well worth it! Highly recommend! Great staff too which make the trip even better. Thank you Jesse and Kurt!

A good way to explore the whitehaven beach

We did the Southern Lights boat tour that had 2 stops on the beach. But before that was snorkeling. They had us snorkel at Dunbell Island, or something close to that name. It was quite beautiful. There was some vibrant coral to see and lots of fish. Next was a visit to the Whitsundays lookout tower, and then a walk down to the beach to meet our boat. From there it took us to the south end of the beach where we got lunch. It was a little late to have lunch, and would have liked to have eaten it on the north beach like another raft tour boat had done. So bring a snack to maybe dig into while you are at the north hill segment.

10/10 experience

AMAZING TOUR can’t recommend highly enough. Our receptionist from marina shores recommended this tour out of all of them in the Whitsundays. So glad she booked us on the southern lights tour. We loved Nate our guide!

Must do in Airlie Beach!!

A must do in Airlie Beach! For those looking for a blast on the water, this is the perfect activity! The day consistent of 3 parts: riding to the spots, a phenomenal hike (<1.0mi) to unbelievable views of Whitsunday Beach, and then 90 minutes of snorkeling Manta Ray Bay with diverse fish and coral! 10/10 day filled with lots of fun! Our crew Oak & Richard aided in bringing lots of fun, laughter, and joy to our day with incredible boat driving skills, great tunes and lots of laughs while keeping safety at the forefront. I can’t recommend this tour enough!

Get in, Sit down, hold on ! Crazy wild FUN ride :D

Crazy fun wild ride as far as the transportation, not for the timid vacationer ! Our skipper Kevin was superbly capable, piloting smartly through whitecaps and areas like the ‘washing machine’ never giving me a shred of worry. And Kurt, the first mate, was super fun and warm and always gave reassurance if you needed. I was one of three older people on board, kudos to 2 other older ladies who were out for adventure! Most everyone else was 20s-30s and there was one 2ish year old along. More crazy than I expected just getting there and back but I loved it!!! And truly, the tunes were my era! these guys are too young to know ELO Mr. Bluesky ;) Thank you Kevin and Kurt !!

Whitsunday must do!!

Had an amazing day with Heath and Oak!! One of the most memorable experiences of the aussie east coast. Would highly recommend. So informative and knowledgeable but most importantly fun!! Couldn’t have asked for a better day out. Cheers guys!.

Northern exposure tour

An absolute most do! Had an amazing day on the northern exposure tour. One of the best things we have done since being in aus and all made 10x better by our brilliant guides heath and oak. Thanks so much guys !!

Must go

This was the second time that we go to whit sundays It was very nice the tour. Great snorkeling places white lot of fish. The look out and busch walk very beutifal Most go

The best day ever with OceanRafting

I want to start by saying what an experience… Myself , My Partner and my 3 boys age 4,10 and 11 had the most amazing day with Ocean Rafting , we went on thunderstruck with Bernie and Tom. They were honestly the best tour guides you could of wished for , the photos we have and the experience is memories for a lifetime, its all my boys have spoke about since getting off the boat. They were so good with everyone age wise especially putting the kids at ease and making the trip magical. We took our own lunch only due to the amount my boys eat but the lunches you could have what they provide looked delicious. I was definitely nervous about doing this with the kids but wow I'm so glad we did , to swim, snorkel and feel the white sand through our feet was breathtaking. I truly recommend choosing ocean rafting as your trip you will have the time of your life and well worth the money.

Amazing Guide tours - Highly recommend it

Literally the most amazing experience I’ve ever had. The crew was amazing, they made us laugh and made sure we enjoyed every second of it. I literally can’t explain how fun it was. The beaches were beautiful as well, Whitehaven is literal heaven and Hill Inlet is unreal.

The crew were awesome!!...

The crew were awesome!! My mum was super hesitant to get in the water and they made her feel so comfortable. Would recommend!

Memories for a lifetime, money well spent!

Worth every penny, we did the Sea Plane, Snorkeling, Whitehaven and the Inlet trek on the Southen trip. They provided a shuttle & lunch which was delicious 😋 Staff were absolutely fantastic from the minute we got on the shuttle that morning. We were on the Thunderboat with JJ and another lady who were both very knowledgeable and kind. The bus shuttle driver really surprised me, he was so kind, he went out of his way to drop me closer to my house rather than just the hotel with the rest of the party. Really chatty and gave loads of local recommendations. I couldn't ask for a better trip! Thank you so much!

We had fun!

We had a fun day out in Whitsundays with Ocean Rafting! Nice staff and we enjoyed the stops we had on our way. To make it a 5 star experience for us, I think we would have liked more info from the staff on the reef, the fishes and types of corals that we could see at the snorkel spots. We chose the snorkel tour so we have an interest in surroundings we’re snorkelling in:) It would also have been great if the team informed everybody to use reef safe sun screen to protect the corals Also please note that the boat ride can be quite rough (and fast) with loud music going on while sailing - for us it made it a bit difficult enjoying the beautiful nature, but we ended up embracing that type of boat ride and we had fun :) Thanks team !

Excellent experience

We enjoyed our day out with skipper Kate and Jess on the black Betty. Fun filled day, such a beautiful place. Kate very knowledgeable and supportive about disabilities and made snorkelling experience entirely possible for me. Highly recommend her tour for anyone needing extra support.

Definitely a fun way to see the Whitsunday islands

We weren’t lucky with the weather but we were lucky that we had Scotty and Bernie on Wipeout to make the day brilliant. We did the southern lights tour- amazing snorkelling and Bernie made me feel so comfortable even though I have a phobia of deep water. We walked up to Hill Inlet in the rain and headed to a cold and grey(ish) Whitehaven Beach but again Scotty and Bernie’s positive vibes made us forget about the weather. The ride home was an adventure crashing over huge waves, surfing, doing donuts. Thank you Scotty and Bernie you guys were amazing.

Fantastic day round the islands

Fantastic day out Scotty is an awesome captain, he can sure wheel a boat and Bernie was one hell of a host. Everyone had a great time,incredible views and really fun people. You will have a great time. Book now

Fun day with Ocean Rafting

What a fun day with Ocean Rafting! Enjoyed the boat ride with fun and excellent staff. We were very much looked after especially during our snorkeling stops. Thank you!

10/10 experience!

This was incredible!! Shout out to Tom and Chris for giving us the best experience and having great vibes! Will definitely be coming back :)

Fun crew and amazing views. Highly recommend!

Me and my friend thoroughly enjoyed the experience. The crew was very helpful and fun, and the snorkelling was amazing.

A great family day touring the Whitsundays

A great family experience, even made fun on a "Wetsunday" day that we had on our tour day. The guides were knowledgeable and took care of our family.

Awesome!

Great vibe overall! Shout out to Benny and Chris on Joyride! We loved the walk, Hills inlet views, snorkelling, lunch and fun ride home.

Excursion au top avec océan rafting ! Je recommande

Super sortie snorkeling et whitehaven beach avec un équipage au top ! Maze is an amazing captain and beny a great and fun guide throughout the tour ! Were had great fun and enjoyed our day with this crew !

A Day of Laughter, Beauty, and Gratitude!

Amazing experience with this group! Despite the weather, we had a wonderful day, saw beautiful landscapes and laughed a lot! Thank you so much guys for the experience, we'll recommend it to our friends and definitely come back!

The 30 knot winds made our trip memorable (in the best way possible)

Due to bad weather, and it being 30 knots we were initially hesitant to book, however I am so glad we booked. It was the best day of our holiday and the so called bad weather made the boat ride like a fun rollercoaster (we are thrill seekers and sat on the edge of the side of the boat). Brie and Oak were the workers on board, and they certainly brought the morale and vibes up. They were polite, professional, engaging and passionate about making the guest have fun while also caring and preserving the reef.

Oak and Cel - masters of the rafting

Oak and Cel were the best duo to have on our rafting, they were both fun, easy going and professional. They were great! Their knowledge of the Whitsundays Islands and the traditional owners was really insightful and interesting. Cely was spectactular and made sure that everyone was safe, comfortable and she made a real effort to chat to everyone. They were honestly the 2 best tour guides we’ve had travelling the coast. The activities themselves were really great too! The snorkel was awesome wjth really good visibility, the walk to the look out was nice and the beach was just amazing. All activities felt like they were really well timed, we had enough time at all places and didn’t feel rushed or bored. Also someone needs to give Oak a payrise for his taste in music

Awesome crew

we had the best day with Benny and Chris, they kept the vibe going all day and had music playing all along the ride. the tour itself was beautiful. Be aware that the hill inlet lookout is extremely touristy, hundreds of people taking 304930 photos of themselves.

Best boat ride ever!

Wow, what a pollished performance! Never have I encountered such a flawless staff experience. I'll get to the incredible actual boat/hike/snorkel bit in a sec, but seriously take a bow to the whole team. The lady who called the day before to inform us of the weather forecast, the bright spark who picked us up, the energiser bunny who checked us in and then wham-o the superstar team of Jesse and Kurt. I expected amped up, youthful with a very "chill" vibe and they certainly delivered. But, I admit being surprised by their informative, attentive, respectful, caring and trustworthy (good choice with the glasses Jesse) guidance and behaviour. Hats off to you boys. As for the trip...hike was cool, snorkel was great, boat ride was dead set the best boat ride ever!!

You must do this

Ocean Rafting Airlie Beach is a must do tour. Today we went on the Northern Exposure, Whitehaven Beach and Snorkelling tour. What an amazing day. Kurt was our Captain on Thrilla. And a Thrilla of a ride it was. What a boat driver!!! And Jessie, our tour guide was incredible. The whole experience with Ocean Rafting was perfect👍

Great day

Fantastic day out. Such a fun crew and despite the weather, we had a great time. Jimbo and Daisy were great crew! Definitely recommend.

Amazing adventure

Amazing crew, Celeste and Kevin! They are just amazing. It makes you fill they really care about you all the time, and they are really friendly and funny. They made this trip. The boat driving skills were amazing and loved all the attention they gave to every all of us

So much fun

The trip over can be wild, you can go to the lookout then walk onto the beach. Snorkeling with fish at Hook Island and then again at Black Island. Very nice lunch highly recommend adding this to the trip

Absolute Must-Do Whitsundays Excursion

We had an absolute incredible time on board Thunderstruck with Oak and Daisy on the Southern Exposure. It was one best excursions we have ever done - from the lookout to the snorkelling to the beach itself we really got to see it all. The boat ride home was particularly fun; Oak keep killing it as DJ and Daisy as hype woman!!

Greatest snorkeling ever!

We have been to many snorkeling around the world but it was one of the most memorable experience we had! Beautiful ocean, beach and so many fish at such a close distance! We will never forget this experience with such a great guides and a captain!