While aquamarine seas are generally the colour that people remember after a Whitsundays holiday, February and March sees North Queensland's tropical green season take off.
The cane fields of inland Proserpine are in full growth, a lime green winding and undulating carpet of colour leading towards Airlie Beach.
Wildlife is prolific in this region. Dolphins, manta rays, and sea turtles are common, and migrating humpback whales visit from July to September.
While there are no formal whale watching tours in the Whitsundays, it's just a free bonus on many of the tours.
One of Australia's largest and significant wetlands, the Goorganga Plains, just out of Proserpine is teeming with plants and animals. Here you can go birdwatching for Magpie Geese, Brolgas and Jacanas, and species migrating from Papua New Guinea such as Spangled Drongos and Buff-breasted Kingfishers.
Some animals are only found here, such as the rare Proserpine Rock Wallaby. In the national parks you may see the dazzling blue flash of a Ulysses butterfly, smell fragrant lemon myrtle flowers, or hear the distinctive call of a wompoo fruit-dove.
At the Whitsunday Crocodile Safari in Proserpine, you can delve into salt-water crocodile country on a cruise through the wetlands.
Hop on a Segway with Whitsunday Segway Tours and explore the rainforest of Conway National Park; or splash through mud puddles and marshland as you rally through Wings Adventure Park in your own mini 4WD.
If green fairways are more your scene, Hamilton Island is the only island in the Great Barrier Reef with its own airport and here you can board a helicopter for a round of heli-golf on nearby Dent Island, Australia's only island golf course.