I recently returned from the most incredible girls’ trip to Daydream Island Resort and I am so ready to spill all the details for you to plan their own!
Our group of 14 ladies headed to Daydream Island Resort to celebrate our friend was getting married in a few weekends time. Let me tell you now and I am glad that she chose Daydream as the destination, it was the most incredible trip.
From the Sunshine Coast we drove to Brisbane then flew into Hamilton Island. From Hamilton we took a ferry over to Daydream Island with Cruise Whitsundays. You can also ferry from Airlie as another option.
Once on the island we checked into the iconic Daydream Island Resort. Check in was seamless and organised, we were given a brief about the hotel and what to expect from our stay, then headed to our room. We had booked a Serenity Suite as we wanted to make our holiday that bit extra special so decided on the upgrade. It was worth the price! The suite was huge, stunning and had the most incredible view of the ocean. The room had a large king bed and with an added roll away we were able to sleep three. (Hot tip – if you find the rollaway hard you can request extra bedding.). The room also featured a kitchen, large lounge, bathroom, two toilets and two balconies.
The food at the hotel was delicious and I did not have one bad meal. There are three restaurants to enjoy: Graze, Inkstone and Infinity. Graze is the restaurant where you can enjoy a buffet breakfast, I recommend either getting your own eggs too order, or trying their eggs on an English muffin with hollandaise sauce. Inkstone is a great mix of food from pasta to salad and pizza. We enjoyed ordering from there and eating our food in cabanas by the pool. I would recommend the Caesar salad and salmon bruschetta. Lastly Infinity, which was my favourite, was an Asian fusion restaurant. The view from the restaurant is just beautiful and the menu fantastic. At Infinity my favourite dishes were the boas.
On our second evening we had the most incredible private dinner at the hotel’s Living Reef Underwater Observatory. The staff set up a beautiful table for us where we could watch the fish swim by. It was a truly spectacular experience and something I had never done before. We were able to choose food from either the Infinity or Inkstone restaurants and we went with the latter. The staff were able to seamlessly create an evening for us in this stunning staff, with cocktails to complete it. If you are going Daydream Island with a group or for a special occasion, I would highly recommend enquiry about booking this very special experience.
We mapped out a wonderful itinerary for the three-night trip, it was a great mix of relaxation, adventure and fun. One of the highlights of the trip was our day trip with Ocean Rafting. We spent the whole day on one of their big yellow boats with Dan and Charlotte, who I credit for making the day what it was. We took in the Northern Exposure tour which included snorkelling, lunch, a bush walks and time on Whitehaven Beach. You can also purchase alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. It was without a doubt the best tour I have ever done in the Whitsunday Islands.
Within the hotel there was plenty to do. We enjoyed an afternoon on one of the hotels Catamarans, and uneven with little to no wind it was so much fun. The staff at the activities tent were helpful and had water sport options to suit everyone. Laying by the pool was another activity we enjoyed, on this child free holiday, the swim up bar was a treat. We also loved having cocktails at Lover’s Cove whilst listening to live music.
The hotel has created their own Living Reef which is a free form 200m lagoon that wraps around the main building of the resort. It is home to over 100 species of local marine life including fish, small sharks, rays and other reef dwelling creatures. They also have activities you can partake in to engage with the animals living the lagoon. A group of us got to enjoy manta ray feeding, a visit to the exploration centre and snorkelling in the lagoon. A highlight for me was being able to feed rays and have them swim over our legs. This is something I will never forget.
Even though the resort it such a family friendly place we were able to enjoy our adult only retreat. All the girls commented how quiet and peaceful the resort felt even though it was quite busy.
We had the most wonderful time and were blown anyway by the resort facilities, set up and the attention to detail the staff put into our stay. I absolutely cannot wait to go back with my family!
Enjoy!
