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Glass Bottom Boat Tour: Explore Hervey Bay Reefs
4.5
127 Ratings
Urangan
Embark on an Indigenous experience and turtle discovery in the Great Sandy Marine Park. Cruise on a glass-bottom boat, snorkel with marine life, and explore Round Island.
Embark on an Indigenous experience and turtle discovery in the Great Sandy Marine Park. Cruise on a glass-bottom boat, snorkel with marine life, and explore Round Island.
Duration:
4 hours
Cancellation:
24 hours
Highlights
- Great Sandy National Park - We depart the Marina with no set itinerary, we travel with what the tides, weather and wildlife have to offer on the day. Our top priority is to offer the best experience for you to spot wildlife, snorkel, enjoy and relax. We stop at one or all three islands: Weenandin (Round Island), Tooliewah (Big Woody Island) and…
- Great Sandy National Park - We depart the Marina with no set itinerary, we travel with what the tides, weather and wildlife have to offer on the day. Our top priority is to offer the best experience for you to spot wildlife, snorkel, enjoy and relax. We stop at one or all three islands: Weenandin (Round Island), Tooliewah (Big Woody Island) and Pelican Banks. Morning or Afternoon tea included, snorkelling is offered from the beaches ($10 snorkelling equipment hire payable on check in)
- Hervey Bay - You will see the iconic pier of Hervey Bay while cruising on board of the Milbi. Enjoy the scenery of the bay, learn its Butchulla history directly from your Indigenous guide, all through beautiful Dremtime stories.
What's Included
- National Park fees
- Snacks
- Snorkelling Waiver sign online: https://waiver.smartwaiver.com/w/jjk7f4t3xw2xlmxxsufrcc/web/
- All activities
- Tea and coffee
- National Park fees
- Snacks
- Snorkelling Waiver sign online: https://waiver.smartwaiver.com/w/jjk7f4t3xw2xlmxxsufrcc/web/
- All activities
- Tea and coffee
What's Not Included
- Alcoholic drinks (available to purchase)
- Drinks
- No Pickups
- No lunch
- No indigenous guide
- snorkeling is optional at an extra $10 per set payable on check in.
- Alcoholic drinks (available to purchase)
- Drinks
- No Pickups
- No lunch
- No indigenous guide
- snorkeling is optional at an extra $10 per set payable on check in.
Additional Information
Our Milbi vessel is also the most steady of the bay, our itinerary was designed so we cruise smooth waters only, slowly. Our boat has glass panels to enjoy the coral reefs from the comfort of the vessel. This is the only glass bottom boat in Hervey Bay and one of the largest of Australia.
As we ensure you have a relaxing time on board, you will enjoy…
Our Milbi vessel is also the most steady of the bay, our itinerary was designed so we cruise smooth waters only, slowly. Our boat has glass panels to enjoy the coral reefs from the comfort of the vessel. This is the only glass bottom boat in Hervey Bay and one of the largest of Australia.
As we ensure you have a relaxing time on board, you will enjoy 3.5hrs hours of marine adventures. Snorkelling is offered from the beaches and you can hire the equipment for just $10 per set on check in. You are likely to see fish habitat amongst the coral reef, turtles, dolphins, sea bird colonies, and possibly a reef shark or dugong. Time is set aside to explore Round Island and enjoy a sumptuous morning or afternoon tea is offered.
- Please advise any specific dietary requirements at time of booking
- Vegetarian / Vegan option is available, please advise at time of booking if required
- All participants will be required to complete a waiver prior to snorkelling/swimming. Some pre-existing medical conditions (eg asthma, heart conditions, etc) may prevent you from snorkelling, please consult your doctor
- Bathroom facilities aboard (not wheelchair accessible) but not baby-changing facilities
- Pram accessible
- Snorkeling waiver must be signed.
Location
Great Sandy Straits Marina Urangan Hervey Bay
Buccaneer Drive
Our shop is opposite Cafe Balaena.
Cancellation Policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Customer Ratings
4.5
(127 Ratings)
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Narelle_l
Jan 26, 2025
An incredible experience I will do again! - This is an incredible experience, it feels personalised, friendly and genuine. The team all genuinely love what they do and sharing their knowledge of the area with guests.
Review provided by Viator
342franb
Dec 11, 2023
Most enjoyable and relaxing. - I have visited K'gari several times but had no idea the Great Sandy Straits offered so much more. A great tour with good lunch and very interesting islands to visit with great swimming as well. Loved it!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
U6739hqenricot
Nov 26, 2023
A great tour with excellent guides! - We had such a wonderful day on this tour. Our tour guide Jo and the skipper were both excellent. Jo was very friendly and had wonderful stories to tell including the traditional story of how K’gari came to exist and where the traditional name came from. He also gave us a demonstration on how to play the didgeridoo which was fantastic! The boat ride was beautiful and we spent about an hour on Pelican Island snorkelling. We managed to see a few dolphins and a couple of turtles too which was lovely. There was only about 15 of us on the boat which was very comfortable and we had plenty of space to move around. I would definitely recommend this your 😊
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Turva81
Oct 1, 2023
A birthday cruise to remember! - I chose this tour for my family to do together on my birthday as I had heard great things, and we were not disappointed! The weather was spectacular, Aaron was so down to earth and vibrant with sharing his culture and the time spent on the beach was great. As a bonus we saw some great wildlife - including a mother and baby whale swimming past as a special gift. Highly recommend.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
S1109syaprilw
Sep 21, 2023
The rights balance - Relaxing, informative, enjoyable - We booked this tour as it also included Indigenous component . The First Nations employee was ill so we island hopped, snorkelled and walked around an island. We saw sea turtles and a shovel head shark. Waters were clear , the skipper at Jacky were great hosts, the whole experience was wonderful. Jacky went out of her way to organise an Indigenous walking experience for us the following day free of charge . Aaron was an incredibly knowledgeable First Nations local man who shared his knowledge of culture, plants species and the land. We loved it so much and thank him for coming in just for us. We highly recommend this tour centre for down to earth customer service , knowledge and local adventures . Thanks you from the Victorians.Tony & April.xx
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Sherry_a
Dec 30, 2023
we had a great time... - we had a great time aboard few things out of there control was a lil bit of a let down but we can't control the weather overall was a great day out on the water crew are super nice ppl lunch was fresh was a great day definitely would book again to get the full experience next time thanks again team great job
Review provided by Viator
Danielle
Oct 10, 2023
Marine life not guaranteed but a great cultural tour. - Despite all odds the Captain and cultural guide Travis made it a memorable experience. The weather was rough so we couldn’t stop on one of the islands and we had rain - ponchos were supplied 😄 but the Captain skippered us safely through the turbulent waters. We saw two dolphins and some reef fish at the island we stopped at. I would suggest that marine life is not guaranteed on this tour. However, Travis absolutely made the experience worth it. His cultural knowledge of the region including cool uses for some local flora and a whistling shell which the family have had so much fun with since. Even the 15 year old said he would love to spend a weekend walkabout with Travis to learn more! I agreed! Great memories made!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Katiecg6991fq
Jan 8, 2025
Not as advertised - Not as advertised. Supposed to be a tour as per their website “leisurely 3.5 hr cruise as we set out to explore fish habitats, coral reefs, and maybe even spot some friendly turtles, dolphins, sea birds, or even a cheeky reef shark or dugong”. Essentially just a very expensive ferry ride to a nice beach for a swim - no exploration of habitats or reefs, didn’t even use the glass bottom. No looking for marine animals, the leisurely part we believe was just to make up the full 3.5 hours. Don’t waste your money.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Troy_m
Dec 9, 2024
Not worth the money - The white sands ,basically paid $250 for a cruise to go for Swim and back again the waste of money nothing really what they advertise
Review provided by Viator
274petab
Jan 7, 2025
Underwhelming and not as advertised. Felt like a waste of an afternoon. - I have to say this trip was incredibly underwhelming and not as advertised.
The glass bottom boat is old, and incredibly slow, makes a trip to the islands you visit longer than the time you are able to spend snorkelling. The ‘glass bottom’ is in a state of disrepair and has rusty water across the top. There was never any reef below us and no mention or attention drawn to the glass bottom at any point during the trip.
There was never any discussion about the process for snorkels and it was not made clear that you would not be provided with fins. Snorkels are ‘sanitised’ in a bucket and put back for use afterwards. If we had of been informed there would be no fins provided we would have hired some elsewhere.
There was a brief discussion about the traditional owners of the land and what name they use for the places we were visiting but not much discussion in terms of the cultural aspect of their people and how they care for the land. It did not meet the description of ‘hearing the legendary tales of the Butchulla people’ as advertised.
I am unsure what about the tour classifies it as being ‘eco’ as it is an old, slow boat that I cannot imagine is very eco friendly.
There was no aquatic life to be seen. The first spot we were taken to was a sand bank that had some pelicans on it but it was just sand, there was no reef on the side of the island we went to so there would be no chance of seeing any interesting marine life. We were given 25 minutes at this first location.
After a disappointing ‘snorkel’, which was really more of a short swim, we went to the secondary location which was another sand bank but with much grittier sand and a few shells here and there, but again, no reef and no marine life. Here we were given 15 minutes to ‘snorkel’ around before returning to the boat and heading back to the marina.
Overall an incredibly disappointing journey for what was advertised, 3 hours on a slow boat for a lousy 45 minute swim on a beach.
The skipper and his assistant were friendly and the food was fine.
I would not recommend this tour as the value for money is not there, it didn’t meet expectations. I would not book again if I had the choice.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
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