Don't bypass Airlie Beach and the Whitsundays the next time you head south - stop and enjoy all the region has to offer.

There’s a lot to be said about BIG4 Holiday Parks.

From humble beginnings in Victoria in 1979 to more than 170 parks across Australia, the sleepy caravan park by the sea has become a holiday destination in itself.

BIG4 parks are communities with plenty of facilities and fun events for the whole family.

Take BIG4 Adventure Whitsunday Resort for example. For my small family, our three nights at this Airlie Beach holiday park were not enough.

We stayed in an immaculate luxury cottage which featured a huge spa bath, two televisions (one in the main bedroom, both with pay TV channels), airconditioning, large verandah, undercover car parking and a fully equipped kitchen.

All cottages on site were trimmed with fairy lights for the Christmas season so the park looked quite lovely at night.

Other accommodation choices range from condos for eight people, cottages, villas and powered caravan and camping sites, so there is an option to suit every budget.

Facilities on site are truly family oriented.

The huge swimming pool includes water slides and a shallow toddler area with plenty of shade and three giant mushroom fountains, and lots of banana chairs for lazing under a nearby palm tree.

Adjacent to the pool is an 18-hole floodlit mini golf course surrounded by landscaped gardens, a huge playground for children of all ages with swings, slides and climbing frames – all under UV protected sails.

There’s also the rainbow jumping pillow – the only one in Airlie Beach – with it’s own shade sail, tennis courts, badminton, bocce and volleyball court.

But the big surprise to us was the open air cinema.

Free movies under starry skies with families camped on rugs and fold-up chairs, and some with pillows in case the kids nodded off.

Over school holidays, movies are shown every evening with a variety of flicks, and they are generally PG rated – such as Happy Feet – to cater for children.

The activities for children are fantastic – I was almost wishing my toddler was old enough to join the kids club!

The Kermits Kids Club is for children aged four to 14 and operates during school holidays.

The park’s website says "busy happy kids mean happy parents" and you could see around the park everyone was having fun.

As well as the above-mentioned facilities, there are also pedal karts available to ride around the park’s 26 acres and scheduled games.

Additional kids activities include hair braiding, kids’ tattoos, scavenger hunts, bead making, face painting and family fun days for parents to get involved too.

The Adventure Whitsunday Resort was originally known as the Pioneer Tourist Park, developed in 1973.

It went into a state of disrepair over the next 20 years but was then taken over by the McKinnon family who could see its potential.

Fourteen years on, and there are now three generations of McKinnons living on site, managing and working within the park on a daily basis.

The dedication the family has shown to creating an award-winning resort with a 4.5 star rating is a credit to them.

Greg McKinnon’s enthusiasm about his family’s park was infectious as he described their vision for the future.

With plans for more accommodation options, a restaurant on site, a spa for parents to enjoy a massage and beauty treatments, and a second pool, this BIG4 park is going to be well worth a return visit.

While in Airlie Beach, it would be remiss to ignore the beautiful Whitsunday Islands – one of the world’s most spectacular aquatic playgrounds.

So a day trip was in order and we chose a two-island hop with the morning on Daydream Island and the afternoon on Long Island.

Daydream has undergone a million-dollar makeover and now features the vibrant Living Reef coral lagoon that meanders its way through the resort and restaurants.

The lagoon includes a huge array of tropical fish species, sharks and stingrays as well as hard and soft corals.

At regular times throughout the day there are fish feeding and educational talks for both resort guests and daytrippers.

The stingray feeding was impressive with huge rays slipping up to a deck to grab a bite to eat and you could regularly hear children calling out: "There’s Nemo!"

Daydream also has plenty of swimming pools, a children’s playground, minigolf, tennis courts, water sports, giant chess, rainforest walks and a few shops.

If you stay longer on Daydream Island you can also take advantage of the rejuvenation spa, sauna, open-air cinema, kids’ club, fishing charters, restaurants, bars, scuba diving, snorkelling and gymnasium.

Shortly before lunch we jumped aboard our shuttle boat to go to Long Island.

Set in 2500 acres of National Park on a beautiful palm-fringed beach, Long Island is a picturesque part of the Whitsundays.

We enjoyed a buffet lunch, swam in the pool and lazed under thatched umbrellas on sun lounges as the tide slowly moved out and the sun started to descend into the west.

If we had enough energy, we would have taken in some of the 20kms of walking tracks through the rainforest, or perhaps tried the free watersports, volleyball or tennis.

The pool bar was very tempting, but having a toddler eager to look at sea shells and jump on the swings, we chose the beach for an afternoon of leisure.

The great thing about these tours is they leave from Abel Point Marina – right on the doorstep of Airlie Beach and only a short bus trip back to our accommodation (courtesy coaches are all part of the service).

Airlie Beach and the Whitsundays are a fun, friendly holiday experience for the whole family that is hard to beat.

For more information about family friendly activities, Cairns accommodation or Cairns caravan parks.

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