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If you're looking to spend time underwater at the Great Barrier Reef, there is no better place to stay than an Airlie Beach hostel.

Although the locals will refer to it as a "backpacker" an Airlie Beach hostel should really be referred to as a "diver." Not because of any lack of quality, but because so many SCUBA divers in the area use Airlie Beach as an embarkation point from which to start their day out in the Great Barrier Reef.

Also interesting out in the Big Blue, the Fantasea Reefworld tour lets you dive in the reef and enjoy the natural beauty almost any way you can think of. There is SCUBA gear for the certified, snorkels available, boats with guides or private boats, there is even a submarine and helicopter if you book in advance or they are not already full. Although seas can be rough on the way out to the reef, the experience in the clear, warm water is worth whatever queasiness you experience on the way there. The staff does offer seasickness pills as well as a homeopathic seasickness cure.

For the more historically inclined, a walk through Shute Harbor offers a chance to learn about the history of the shipping trade in Australia.

Prices for a bed in a hostel in Airlie Beach vary between15 and 20 Euros for a shared room. Private rooms are available at area hostels, but prices range from 21 to 28 Euros and can sell out during the busy part of the year.

Airlie Beach hostels are, for the most part, right on the beach, within walking distance of the sand. Bush Village Boutique Backpackers, however, is a little bit outside of the city and set a little farther back from the beach. It is one of two hostels in town to offer private rooms, however, and the more expensive of the two. The Bush Village, however, is family owned and operated and take a personal pride in your enjoyment of their hostel. Bush Village Boutique offers a more personalized vacation with entertainment in your backyard rather than down at the beach.

The nightlife at Airlie Beach is one of the top reasons so many tourists flock to the region. Thousands of people converge on the streets on weekends and bars offer different drink specials on different nights of the week so that you might want to do a little homework before you head out for the night. If you are lucky enough to meet one of the 2,000 locals that inhabit this tourist haven, they'll tell you to check out the clubs "Morocco's" and "Magnum and Mass." Magnum and Mass features a themed party every night of the week, their most famous being a "foam party" every Monday night. Morocco's is also a tourist hang out that gets a lot of traffic and makes everyone's dress, from little black dress to shorts and flip flops, feel like the dress code was designed for them.

Hostels in Airlie Beach