Top ten things to do at Hamilton Island with Kids
There is something special about Hamilton Island, its the sort of place you can go for a romantic holiday, a girls weekend or a family vacation. Its an incredibly relaxing place to visit with (or without Children).
There are some accommodation options that are purely childfree (Qualia guests must be over 16 and Beach house guests must be over 18 years old) but the majority of accommodation is very accommodating of children, they have a great children’s kids club, and If you’re staying at the Reef View Hotel, Palm Bungalows or any of the Hamilton Island Holiday Homes children 12 and under eat free.
Our children Love Hamilton Island they have so much fun, there is always so much to do there, and we have put together their favourite activities to do on our visits.
Top ten things to do on Hamilton Island with Kids
Swimming
- Available year round
- Free
Our kids love water, and at Hamilton Island, there are plenty of places for you to take the kids swimming. Most accommodation has their own private pools for guests, there are also three lovely pools at Hamilton Island in the main resort area. The main pool, which includes the swim up bar, that serve mocktails, slushies, water for the kids (and a large collection of cocktails, beer for the adults.
The Bougainvillea Pool is a lovely tropical pool with palm trees all around overlooking Catseye beach. It has a great shallow area perfect for younger kids that is only 0.7m deep.
The other pool is the “Sails Pool” it is a deep 3m pool that is located just outside the Sails restaurant, it’s a bit quieter than the main pool and has amazing views of the blue Whitsunday water.
Mocktails at One tree hill
- Available year round
- Sunset (Free)
- Drinks $$
One of the highlights of our trip to Hamilton Island is to sit up the top of One tree hill and watch the sun setting over the beautiful water. Every day about an hour before the sun is due to set, the area starts filling up with people, families, couples, groups of friends all ready to see the iconic Whitsunday sunset.
But even earlier in the day its the perfect place to take your kids to grab a yummy mocktail, some antipasto or Turkish bread and sit and relax with a breathtaking view.
Drive a Golf Buggy
- Available year round
- Costs $$
One of the most iconic things about Hamilton Island is it’s Golf buggies, instead of cars most people travel around the island on Golf Buggies. Whilst you might see a minivan occasionally, or the Island Shuttle. 95% of the vehicles on the road are 4 person golf buggies. The speed limit around the island ranges from about 16kmh to 40kmh and it adds to the relaxed atmosphere.
There is something relaxing about driving around the wind in your hair in an open buggy.
Most holiday homes come with a complimentary golf buggy, otherwise, you hire them from the Hamilton Island Golf buggy hire conveniently located in two locations near the main resort area and at the airport. Our children loved the golf buggies they created the “James Cord in” challenge
Go Karting.
- Available year round
- Costs $$
One of our children’s favourite activity on Hamilton Island was the Go-Karting track. If your child is over 149cm they can drive around the track reaching speeds of up to 45km/h. But younger children won’t miss out with duo Karts available for children aged 4 and older.
Our kids loved it, they went multiple times each time adding a bit more confidence and getting faster lap times.
Make sure you are wearing enclosed shoes, but all other safety equipment is included.
Have a hit of Golf
- Available year round
- Costs $$
Hamilton Island is synonymous with Golfing. It is home to the 18 hole championship golf course at Dent Island. Each year it is host to both amateur events and PGA Professionals Championship finals. But the golf is not just for the adults. They have a fantastic mini-golf course that the kids will love. For those wanting a bit more of a hit take them down to the family-friendly Golf driving range.
Your kids will love hitting the ‘floating’ golf balls into the water. Seeing if they can hit them just a little bit further each time.
Rock climbing / Laser hunt
- School Holidays Only
- Costs $$
If you are lucky enough to take your kids during the school holidays they will be able to participate in the Pop-up Rock climbing and Laser hunt. Located up on one of the tennis courts, three or four nights a week. The rock climbing was a real favourite in our house there are six individual walls and one of them is timed. The kids have a great time learning how to climb the walls and then they climb the final wall and see how fast they can make it to the top.
Our kids set themselves a challenge to make it to the top in 30 seconds, and by the third visit they had made it.
A
Temporary tattoos / Hair Braids
- School Holidays Only
- Costs $$
Located near the entrance to the pools near Sails bar is the Pop-up shop that allows your children to get a temporary tattoo or hair braid. With tattoos from only $5, this is a cheap fun way for your kids to bring a bit of their holiday home with them.
The hair braids come in a variety of styles including ones that are braided into the hair, or ones that can be removed and reattached later.
The stall is not their every day so it is worth checking the weekly activity planner to see what day she is there. The tattoos last 2-4 days, depending on what part of the body they are put on. Areas that get a lot of sunscreen do wash off quicker than covered areas.
Bowling
- Available year round
- Costs $$
For a fun family activity, 9 hole bowling is a great activity located in the main resort area. The bowling alley has seven lanes, a bar with a selection of food and drinks, a fun amusement arcade.
During the day it is a lot of fun, with bright lights music playing but as the sunsets, it turns into “Glow bowling” with Glow in the dark lanes and a lot of fun.
Watersports
-
Non-motorised watersports
- Available year round
- Free (If staying at qualia, Beach Club, Reef View Hotel, Palm Bungalows and Hamilton Island Holiday Homes)
Our kids loved learning how to Paddleboard, snorkelling and sailing at Catseye beach. Our younger kids sat on the shore playing at the beach whilst our older kids got out in the water and had a brilliant time.
-
Motorised watersports
- Available year round
- Costs $$
This trip we introduced our two older children to the motorised watersports they had an amazing time in the jet boat, and going tubing.
Clownfish club
Hamilton Island with kids is an amazing family trip but sometimes it is nice to be able to head out just the two of us and go on some of Hamilton Islands iconic walks. The way you can achieve this is by booking the kids into the Clownfish club. Located near the main resort complex and ran by a group of qualified child-care workers our children loved the varied program at the Clownfish Club.
You can book in for the AM or PM session, or for a full day. Split into two rooms 6 weeks to 4 years old, and 5-14 years old each group has different activities each session.
The Younger rooms always stay in the centre, however, some of the older rooms session involves fun outings to “mini golf, bowling, the beach”
The staff are lovely, well trained and very knowledgeable.
Have you been to Hamilton Island?
What were your favourite things to do?