Whitehaven Beach is a pristine, award winning beach on Whitsunday Island, the largest of the 74 islands in the Whitsundays. Whitehaven Beach stretches over seven kilometres and boasts brilliant white silica sand that is among the purest in the world. Sink your feet into the sand and wade into the warm waves that gently lap the shore and you’ll soon realise why people come here from all over the world.The beach was named and discovered in 1879 by Staff Commander EP Bedwell. Being one of the many names from the then English county of Cumberland Bedwell brought to the area followingJames Cook’s 1770 naming of the island group The Cumberland Islands.