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Krishang Nair, ‘25, is a Behavioral Economics major studying at UNSW Sydney this Fall 2023.
Several places on this Earth seem too beautiful to be real. Places whose beauty cannot be captured through a lens. Their surreal nature puts you in a trance as you are whisked away by your own wonder. As proud as I am for coming up with that last sentence, I mean it, The Whitsunday Islands host the MOST BEAUTIFUL beach in the world. Prior to traveling there, I heard the rumor: “Whitsundays is one of the top three beaches in the world). After seeing it however, I truly don’t know how any beach can top it. It has everything you could ever want in a beach and more. Let’s go through some of it.
- The sand formations change from day to day, so the dunes and pools you see will be unique to your experience! Oh, and of course, the sand is white.
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The tide is so low on this beach that it is basically a lagoon that is so shallow on some parts, that the white of the sand and the blue merge to create is super light turquoise. Additionally, the intense heat wave hitting Eastern Australia at the moment made the water warmer than usual but let the sand stay cool.
- The sand at Whitsundays has skin-exfoliating properties that you can find in face wash and scrub products.
The sand on this beach was so soft and cool in the intense heat, but as a group, we were encouraged to rub some on our faces, and all over our body as we would “look ten years younger” after doing so. I exfoliated a little, but I really didn’t want to risk looking ten years younger. Imagine being 21 years old and having the face of an 11-year-old. Yeah, no that’s the stuff nightmares are made of. It’s enough of a hassle getting into bars as it is, imagine looking 11 years old on top of that. No, thank you.
- Tons of Sting Rays and Lemon Sharks swim in the water at Whitsundays.
These harmless, yet threatening-looking creatures swim in the crystal clear waters of Whitsunday beach. We were told beforehand that shark-like creatures would swim in the water but would be terrified of us, so mutual avoidance was the best way to experience the beach in harmony with those creatures. The same goes for the rays. Now, those aren’t entirely harmless as they can actually sting you, but their instinct is to flee rather than fight. The true threat here and at most beaches in Australia are the stingers. These are little blue jellyfish and their stings hurt significantly. Though I haven’t been stung by one, yet, I’m going to go ahead and believe that it’s true.
- Lastly, the water is so clear, that snorkeling and swimming with the underwater wildlife is incredibly cathartic.
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We were taken out to the reef and given an hour to explore the corals and wildlife within a specific radius. This experience is meditative and each decision you make is one you are conscious of, as you control every breath. As a competitive swimmer, I used to dream of having the ability to breathe underwater, and this experience somewhat fulfilled that dream. Though I didn’t get a chance to try it on this trip, scuba diving is next.
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