Whitehaven Beach is a 7 km stretch along Whitsunday Island

Whitsunday Island

Whitsunday Island is the largest island in the Whitsunday group of islands located off the coast of Central Queensland, Australia. Whitsunday Island is located at...

. The island is accessible by boat from the mainland tourist ports of Airlie Beach and Shute Harbour

Shute Harbour

Shute Harbour is a sheltered port for small vessels located approximately 10 kilometres east of Airlie Beach on the Whitsunday Coast of Queensland, Australia...

, as well as Hamilton Island.

The beach was award Queensland's Cleanest Beach in Keep Australia Beautiful

Keep Australia Beautiful

Keep Australia Beautiful is a not-for-profit Australian environmental conservation organisation. The Keep Australia Beautiful Council is the federation of independent organisations formed in each of Australian states and territories - the first of which, Keep Australia Beautiful was formed in...

's 2008 Clean Beach Challenge State Awards.
In July 2010, Whitehaven Beach was named the top Eco Friendly Beach in the world by CNN.com.

Dogs are not permitted on the beach and cigarette smoking is prohibited.

Sand

Whitehaven Beach is known for its white sands. The sand consists of 98% pure silica which gives it a bright white color. Local rocks do not contain silica so it has been suggested that the sands were brought to the beach via prevailing sea currents over millions of years.

Discovery

The beach was named and discovered in 1879 by Staff Commander EP Bedwell. Being one of the many names from the then English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 county of Cumberland

Cumberland

Cumberland is a historic county of North West England, on the border with Scotland, from the 12th century until 1974. It formed an administrative county from 1889 to 1974 and now forms part of Cumbria....

 Bedwell brought to the area following James Cook

James Cook

Captain James Cook, FRS, RN was a British explorer, navigator and cartographer who ultimately rose to the rank of captain in the Royal Navy...

's 1770 naming of the island group The Cumberland Islands.

Events

The Whitehaven Beach Ocean Swim is a 2 km open swimming competition held on the Beach in November each year as part of the Hamilton Island Triathlon Event. The 2011 event will be held on 20 November 2011