Airlie Beach History

Airlie Beach's original name was the town of "Airlie". It received this name in 1935 when the Proserpine town Chairman requested a name for a new subdivision on the coast. Then Chairman Robert Shepherd suggested Airlie, and had it confirmed by Council in 1936. Shepherd was born in Montrose, Scotland and probably had some association with the nearby Parish of Airlie.So we can assume that Airlie has been named after Scottish Parish of Airlie,.. The name Airlie Beach was approved by Council 31 January 1987.

The beautiful township of Airlie Beach is one of few east coast towns that has a North facing aspect. This means that the town has protection from the prevailing South East Trade Winds. Therefore the township ship itself is usually balmy and tropical. A fact not lost by developers in the recent tourism boom. Airlie Beach is traditionally known as the heart of the Great Barrier Reef .

Approximately central in the 2000 kilometer long reef system, the Port of Airlie Is great stepping off point to visit both the Great Barrier Reef and also the stunning Whitsunday Islands. Over 300 commercial vessels call Airlie Beach there home port. This thriving sailing village has become the supply centre for the thousands of visitors that set sail into the islands on both overnight and day trips.

Airlie Beach's main swimming beach Airlie Beach, is at located at 20degrees and 151 longitude about the same latitude as Tahiti, Hawaii and the Bahamas. This means that it is swimming weather all year round. Some days in winter it is too cold for the locals to swim, however all our visitors will swim as the water temperature does not drop much below 20deg.

The Airlie Beach lagoon is 4500 square metres in area and holds 4 1/2 million litres  of fresh water.
the lagoon was opened in 2001 by peter Beattie.