| Airlie Beach is located on the north east tropical coast of Australia in Queensland. Being a mainly tourist town, Airlie Beach in the Whitsundays supports a large number of adventure tours and styles of accomodation to suit every budget. |
| Most Backpackers to Australia take the time to visit Airlie Beach and the Whitsundays to visit the Whitsunday Island chain, usually on an overnight sailing vessel. |
| Prior to 1936 the most easterly of the two small bays sitting on either side of the mouth of Airlie Creek was known as Horseshoe Bay and the land behind it as Jubilee Pocket and from about 1904 the land on the southern side of what is now Shute Harbour Road was occupied by a farming community. (see Abell)
In December 1935 the Lands Department decided to throw open for selection the land fronting the water on the northern side of the road, and wrote to the Proserpine Shire Council asking it to suggest a name. The then Council chairman, Robert Shepherd, put forward ‘Airlie?and this was confirmed at a meeting of the Council on 9 January 1936 (The Proserpine Guardian 18 January 1936) though the reason for Shepherd’s choice is not known. He was born in 1879 in Montrose on the east coast of Scotland and spent his early life there before coming to Australia in 1904. The Parish of Airlie lies about 30 kilometres to the west of Montrose, and it is possible Shepherd had some association with that area and was influenced by memories of it. |
