We offer whale & wildlife watching tours on board our 2 vessels; ‘Reef Cat II’ (12 people max), or ‘BB’ (3 people max).
Our small group wildlife & whale watching tours on the Gold Coast offer a personalised experience in a peaceful, uncrowded environment.
We leave from the Runaway Bay Marina.
C pier. 247 Bayview St, Hollywell.
Yes there is free car parking. We recommend arriving early to find a car park. Make sure you read the car parking signs when you arrive and park in a designated car space near C pier.
There is always a chance that you might get wet! Our crew will do their best to keep you dry, but it is a boat tour so please wear appropriate clothes, Eg. a spray jacket that also protects you from the wind. Our vessel is quite sheltered, and equipped with spray screens. There is an enclosed cabin as well if you prefer to be indoors.
Regulations state that we can approach them as close as 100m however, the whales can come as close as they like to us. Due to the smaller size of our vessel, we often experience the whales curiously approaching the boat. If this happens we will put our engines in neutral, or turn them off and drift through the water allowing the whale to check us out. This is called “mugging”, or “being mugged by a whale”, and is one of the best experiences you will ever have.
Yes there is. We have a fully functioning toilet and hand washing facilities on our vessel Reef Cat II.
There are also public toilets at the departure point.
It can get cold on these trips, so we recommend bringing a jacket, sunglasses, sunscreen, and hat. You are welcome to BYO alcohol, in moderation (no glass please).
Whale Seasons starts in June each year and runs to October/November.
Between July and September, the whale numbers are the most and anytime really is great.
July often has the calmest sea conditions.
In terms of time of day, there is really no better time between mornings or afternoon, it just depends on what the whales are doing on the day.
We definitely recommend taking medication 30 minutes before departure. Talk to a pharmacist for advice on what medication to purchase. We recommend Kwells, Travacalm HO or Travacalm Original. We do not recommend natural medicines or remedies as we’ve really never seen them work.
Please note that we do not have seasickness medication for sale. You have to bring your own.