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Hidden coves and a country feel: What the locals love about Airlie Beach

We spoke to two local business owners and the local CommBank branch manager to find out what they love about this coastal Queensland town.

By Jessica Golding. Pictured below: Photographer Brooke Miles at Above and Below Gallery

  • Airlie Beach in Queensland’s Whitsunday Region offers a picturesque coastal setting, relaxed outdoor lifestyle, vibrant live music scene and friendly community.
  • A local photographer and gallery owner, a tourism operator, and a CommBank branch manager reveal what they love most about their hometown. 
  • The CommBank Tour stopped in Airlie Beach in August 2026 as part of the annual Great Barrier Reef Festival.

There's one word that comes up repeatedly when locals describe life in Airlie Beach: happy. And it's easy to understand why.

Known as the gateway to the Whitsunday Islands and the Great Barrier Reef, the coastal Queensland town and its surrounds offer something for everyone – from world-class diving and snorkelling to picturesque hikes, a vibrant live music scene, and a close-knit community.

"It's just such a free-flowing town," says CommBank's Airlie Beach Cannonvale branch manager, Lisa McAliece. "I love that there's so many community-minded people. Everyone is here for the same purpose: to really enjoy life."

We visited Airlie Beach as part of the CommBank Tour and spoke to three locals about what they love most about their home.

The CommBank Tour offered locals the chance to run with Nedd Brockmann.

A carefree outdoor lifestyle

Photographer Brooke Miles first visited Airlie Beach in 2008. The tropical climate, nearby islands and laid-back lifestyle drew her back for yearly visits until she made a permanent move from Perth in 2012 after meeting her now-husband. "I just fell in love with it," she says. "It always felt like home when I came here."

Alongside shooting weddings and commercial work for local businesses and tourism campaigns, Brooke opened Above and Below Gallery in 2017 to showcase her underwater and aerial photography. "I was building this really cool body of work and I just wanted to share it with others. I didn't want it bottled up on a hard drive," she says.

Brooke sells prints of her nature photography – much of which is shot around the Great Barrier Reef – through her website, via wholesale partnerships, and at her gallery space at the Port of Airlie Marina. "People walk past the front door and they literally just stop mid-step, look and go, 'Wow'. It still gives me goosebumps just thinking about it."

Brooke sells prints of her underwater and aerial photography at Above and Below Gallery.

While Brooke says the area has changed a lot in recent years, the features she loved about it when she first visited remain. "I love that it's a thriving tourism town. We've got 74 islands and the Great Barrier Reef in our backyard. I love the boating lifestyle and I'm one of those people that actually likes the humidity, so I really love the weather in summer."

The relaxed outdoor lifestyle also lured Steve Whitton and his wife Julia to Airlie Beach from the Gold Coast four years ago. The two met in the Whitsundays decades ago and, having moved away to raise kids, jumped at the chance to move back and "plant roots".

"I love the concept of having islands off the coast and it's a mecca for fishing and snorkelling. There's beaches galore, bush walking," says Steve. "Once you're a local here for a few years, you start to know everyone in town and you just walk around with a smile on your face."

Julia and Steve Whitton own local tour business Just Tuk’n Around.

Something for everyone

Soon after moving to Airlie Beach in 2022, Steve and Julia bought Just Tuk'n Around – a local tour business that takes holidaymakers around the area in a fleet of 14 electric and pedal-powered tuk-tuks.

With tours starting at $30, the business caters to the many cruise ship passengers who disembark at the local marina "hungry to explore". "We try to get them on the tuk-tuk on their first day rather than their last because there's so much to discover," Steve says.

While some customers want recommendations for fine dining and helicopter tours, there are lots of budget-friendly ways to enjoy Airlie Beach, too. "We can show them places they can swim, bushwalks, little hidden coves where there's just beautiful sandy beaches with no people on them.

"We've got lots of areas for kids to play. We have an outdoor theatre where we sit out with the food trucks every second Friday of the month and they show movies," he says. "Then you've got a town full of live music every night."

Just Tuk’n Around offers guided tours of Airlie Beach and surrounds.

Annual events like the Airlie Beach Marathon Festival and Airlie Beach Festival of Music bring even more visitors to the town, and the Saturday markets have a "really nice local vibe", says Steve. "I still go down there every Saturday and have a wander around and chat to people."

Brooke agrees that Airlie Beach has options to suit every budget and style: "It's a place where you can make it your own." She recommends walking along the Bicentennial Walkway, a coastal path stretching from Airlie Beach to Cannonvale. "I always tell people to go down there and look out for turtles," she says. Boathaven Beach is another favourite spot: "A lot of people don't know that it's there."

A strong community spirit

Lisa – who has worked at CommBank for 27 years – moved from South Gippsland in Victoria to Airlie Beach 10 years ago in search of a lifestyle change and warmer weather. The local CommBank branch manager says the town has retained its "beach town" vibe despite recent growth.

"We've had such an influx of new visitors and new people moving to the town. But it still has that country feel," she says. "My customers that come into the branch are all super friendly. We're getting people from all different walks of life."

CommBank’s Airlie Beach Cannonvale branch manager, Lisa McAliece, says the town has retained its “country feel”.

Lisa says events like the Great Barrier Reef Festival – three days of live music, parades, art and family-friendly attractions – help bring the community together. This year, the CommBank Tour joined the festivities, providing financial education and giving locals the opportunity to run with Nedd Brockmann.

"Everyone was super excited to see him there and to have the bus in town," says Lisa. "It just shows how much CommBank is really branching out into regional Australian communities."

The CommBank Tour is travelling Australia with financial tools, tech and community connection.

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Published: 1 September 2026

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An earlier version of this article was published in Brighter magazine. 

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