Whitsundays flood map & planning overlays
The busiest sky in Whitsunday Regional: 35 flights a day over the Whitsundays.
Things you won't regret: spending $9 to know the lot before you commit.
Free map preview, then PDF reports from $9 - about the price of an iced latte on a public holiday.
A planning-constraint profile of Whitsundays
(Whitsunday Regional, QLD) - 8693.17 km², mapped from live council and
state overlay data. This suburb is moderately constrained.
Profile updated 7 November 2026.
Constraint readout
8693.17 km² - this suburb is moderately constrained by planning overlays.
Elevation hillshade with street names, clipped to Whitsundays's boundary, with the flood, bushfire and environmental overlays drawn on top. Magenta is where aircraft were observed in the sampled period, brightest below 3,000 ft.
Nearby suburbs, nearest first
Aircraft noise and flight paths over Whitsundays
The ANEF contour is a published planning forecast and observed overflight is what a sampled tracking feed recorded - neither describes any individual property.
Observed overflight - sampled 4 Sep to 7 Nov 2026
typical observed square 1 a day
Night movements: observed, lowest 500 ft - night is sampled as often as day, but night traffic is light, so this is a floor and no rate can be put on it.
How this is measured
Traffic is sampled rather than watched continuously, so every figure is a floor: aircraft not captured between samples are not represented. Rates are per 500 m square - the busiest square in the suburb, not a count of flights over the suburb - and a square is only rated where enough traffic was seen to measure it. Altitudes are above mean sea level. Flight paths change with runway use, weather, season and airspace design. This is a record of observed traffic; it is not a noise contour and not a planning control.
Whitsundays at a glance
Schools in and near Whitsundays
Public school-location data shows availability across the suburb; it does not rate schools or assign any individual address to a catchment.
Inside the suburb boundary
2 schools providing primary years and 0 providing secondary years. A combined school may be counted in both teaching levels.
Nearest school availability
Primary: inside the suburb
Secondary: 0.68 km from the suburb boundary
Source: Queensland Government school geographic information. Catchment boundaries can divide a suburb and change over time.
Which school zone is a Whitsundays address in? Check an address with our free school zone checker.
How Whitsundays is zoned
Selling in Whitsundays? The lot-level zone is the zoning Part 3 of Queensland's Form 2 seller disclosure statement asks for - see our Form 2 planning data guide.
Across its 8693.17 km², Whitsundays is moderately constrained by planning overlays. About 2% of the suburb sits within a mapped flood overlay, and 4% is flagged bushfire-prone. The dominant land-use zone is Environmental management and conservation. The median lot measures about 43,115 m² across 141 parcels.
Who lives in Whitsundays
Census 2021 figures published by the ABS for the Whitsundays suburb boundary itself, not a wider region.
Age profile
Share of Whitsundays's 2,281 residents in each ABS age band.
Population trend, 2001 to 2025
Estimated resident population of Airlie - Whitsundays, the wider ABS statistical area containing Whitsundays. There is no annual population series published at suburb level, so this describes the surrounding area rather than Whitsundays itself.
8,192 in 2001 to 16,597 in 2025, up 103%.
Source: ABS Census 2021 and SEIFA 2021 (Suburbs and Localities), Regional Population (SA2), CC BY 4.0. Small counts are randomly adjusted by the ABS.
Whitsundays data sources and coverage
“Not mapped” means we hold no source layer for this suburb - never an all-clear.
| Dataset | Coverage | Publisher |
|---|---|---|
| Flood mapping | Mapped | the relevant council planning scheme and Queensland Government spatial data |
| Bushfire-prone mapping | Mapped | the relevant council planning scheme and Queensland Government spatial data |
| Zoning | Mapped | the relevant council planning scheme and Queensland Government spatial data |
| Heritage and environment | Mapped where published | the relevant council planning scheme and Queensland Government spatial data |
| Aircraft noise contours (ANEF) | Not held | the relevant council planning scheme and Queensland Government spatial data, Defence |
| Observed flight paths | Observed | adsb.lol, under the Open Database License |
| Demographics | Available | Australian Bureau of Statistics (2021 Census and SEIFA) |
| School availability | Available | Queensland Government |
Profile last materially updated 7 November 2026. See the methodology and full source list. Source data changes over time and critical decisions should be checked with the responsible authority.
Check a specific Whitsundays address
See exactly which overlays touch a single property - the interactive map is free. Need it on paper? A full planning PDF is just $9.
See what's in the $9 report →Aircraft have been seen below 3,000 ft over about 12% of Whitsundays. The report's Aircraft Overflight page narrows that to the address itself: how many aircraft a day, how low, and at what heights.
Published flood models are held over parts of Whitsundays. The free check tells you whether one reaches an address; where it does, a Flood Model Report is +$9 with the planning report.
Moving here? The Liveability section adds walking times from the address to schools, parks, shops and transport, and the school zones it sits in (+$9 with the planning report).
Building or pricing a slab? The $119 geotechnical desktop report covers geology, soils, bores and the indicative soil reactivity range to expect for a Whitsundays lot.
Whitsundays planning - frequently asked
Is Whitsundays flood-prone?
About 2% of Whitsundays falls within a mapped flood overlay, against the council-wide suburb average of 48%. Published flood models are held over parts of Whitsundays; the free check on the Flood Model Report page says whether one reaches a given address.
Is Whitsundays bushfire-prone?
Around 4% of Whitsundays is mapped as bushfire-prone, compared with a Whitsunday Regional average of 34%.
Is Whitsundays under a flight path?
Aircraft were observed below 3,000 ft over about 12% of Whitsundays, and over about 16% at any altitude up to 10,000 ft, in the period sampled (4 Sep 2026 to 7 Nov 2026). The lowest measured aircraft was at 500 ft, with an average of 2,500 ft. At the busiest point in the suburb about 31 aircraft a day were recorded passing over one 500 m square. Traffic is sampled rather than watched continuously and flight paths change with runway use, weather and season; the ANEF contour is the planning instrument.
What is the zoning in Whitsundays?
The dominant planning zone in Whitsundays is Environmental management and conservation, though the suburb also includes Recreation and open space and Tourist accommodation.
Does Whitsundays have heritage-listed places?
No heritage-listed places are on record within Whitsundays.
What is the typical lot size in Whitsundays?
Across 141 surveyed parcels in Whitsundays, the median lot size is about 43,115 m². There are also 3 registered easements mapped in the suburb.
What is the population of Whitsundays?
At the 2021 Census Whitsundays had 2,281 usual residents, with a median age of 29 and an average household size of 2.0 people. The wider Airlie - Whitsundays statistical area, which contains Whitsundays, went from 8,192 people in 2001 to 16,597 in 2025, up 103%.
What is the median household income in Whitsundays?
Median household income in Whitsundays was $1,902 a week at the 2021 Census, against $1,499 for the typical suburb in Whitsunday Regional. Median rent was $356 a week and the median mortgage repayment $1,790 a month.
Compare nearby suburbs
| Nearby suburb | Distance | Flood mapped | Bushfire-prone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coral Sea | 65.3 km | 3% | 5% |
| Keswick Island Mackay Regional |
75.1 km | 5% | 5% |
| Shute Harbour | 96.0 km | 76% | 19% |
| Cape Hillsborough Mackay Regional |
97.0 km | 22% | 56% |
| Cape Conway | 98.0 km | 8% | 20% |
| Dolphin Heads Mackay Regional |
98.2 km | 59% | 1% |
| Shoal Point Mackay Regional |
98.2 km | 68% | 8% |
| Mount Rooper | 98.9 km | 4% | 30% |
| Eimeo Mackay Regional |
99.2 km | 50% | 6% |
| Bucasia Mackay Regional |
99.7 km | 75% | 8% |