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In Shutehaven there is car parking for day
trippers and secure undercover parking facilities for people
who are spending more time out amongst the Whitsunday
Islands. Facilities at the village include an information
and check in desk for departures, public phones, toilets,
bus parking bays, public transport to/from Shute Harbour to
Airlie Beach and beyond, taxi rank and cafe for visitors
waiting for their scheduled departures. Water Taxis are available, as are
charter facilities. A claim to fame for the area is that the harbour itself is
now home to the largest sea plane airbase in the southern hemisphere, as well as
laying claim to being the second busiest harbour in Australia.
 History
The name ‘Shute’ first appeared when ‘Shute Island’ was named during a survey by
Captain J. F. L. P. Maclear, RN on the HMS Alert around May 1881. The origin of the
name was thought to be one of the crew above HMS Alert, although at the time
there were at least five people by that name of Shute in the Royal Navy, with no
conclusive evidence of which one was above the Alert at the time. During the
period that followed ‘Shute Isles’ was used in relation to the islands of Shute,
Tancred and Repair as they are known today, and sometimes the name was misspelt
as ‘Schute’. During the survey in 1881, the channel between the three islands
and the mainland to the west was named Rooper Inlet after Lieutenant Henry E.
Rooper, RN aboard the HMS Alert. The name ‘Shute Bay’ was named in 1932 for
the waters at the northern end of Rooper Inlet, during a survey of the region in
what today is known as ‘Shute Harbour’. In fact Shute Harbour was used locally
to refer to the region of waters around Shute, Tancred and Repair Islands, as
well as including Rooper Inlet and Shute Bay for many years. It had already
become popular area for boating, picnics and holiday camps. In the late 1950s
the name ‘Shute Harbour’ was put forward, but was defeated in the Proserpine
Shire Council on 22 August, 1960 and again in October of the same year, with a
majority in favour of retaining the names Rooper Inlet and Shute Bay. It wasn't
until 11 March 1985 that the council acceded to the Department of Harbours and
Marine to name the waters as ‘Shute Harbour’. In April 1986 the name became
official, with the harbour encompassing all the waters west of a line joining The
Beak, White Rock and Stripe Point on the mainland. Source: Ray Blackwood,
The
Whitsunday Islands, An Historical Encyclopaedia
Available through the Proserpine Historical Museum or
Parks & Wildlife, Whitsunday District Office,
PO Box 332, AIRLIE BEACH QLD 4802
For additional information visit the tourist information centre. For
Whitsunday Islands accommodation
click here:
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