David and Carolyn Colfelt are among the Whitsundays’ original bareboat charterers. 

When David Hutchen started the Whitsunday Reef Festival 19 years ago, little did he know it would one day come of age as the ‘Great Barrier Reef Festival’.

After the long North Queensland summer comes the absolute pinnacle of living in the tropics! WINTER! Beautiful sunny mild days, slightly cooler nights. As winter rolls around every year and we listen to the news reports of freezing southern temps, we smugly enjoy PERFECT winter weather!

Recently I was lucky enough to be invited on a trip with Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service (QPWS) to check out the conditions of some of the various Whitsunday islands walks they have and also to check the construction of the new Whitehaven / Hill Inlet viewing platform.

A guide to the top 5 snorkelling spots by Daydream Island marine biologist Johnny Gaskell