Whale Sightings

Whale Tales and Dolphin Dances: Adventures Along the Port Stephens Coastline! Picture this: a beautiful morning with clear skies, gentle waves, and a sense of excitement in the air. As we set sail from the Fingal Island Lighthouse, little did we know that we were about to witness a whale extravaganza! As we cruised east,…

There’s no such thing as Monday-itis when you get to call this ‘work’. Today on our cruises we had ‘dozens of whales’ around the boat as described by our crew on our 10am Whale Watch cruise. These guys were a little on the shy side but did give us a couple of tail slaps, then…

We are beginning to see good numbers of Humpback Whales traveling along the Port Stephens coastline on their northern migration to the warmer waters of Queensland. The crew report from the Hinchinbrook Explorer during our morning cruise they have seen approx three pods of whales in a easterly direction from Fingal Island with each pod…

On board our Whale Watching cruises this morning our crew reported back with “Whales Everywhere!” Doing all the things we love to see, breaches, tail slaps, fin slaps, you name it. A spectacular morning out on the water this morning also brought us many seals, and bottle nose dolphins off Yacaaba Headlands. Photo credit: Lee…

Cruise director, Kathy was onboard our Whale Watching cruise on Hinchinbrook Explorer and reported some incredible whales on both the morning and afternoon cruises. Lots of activity with pods scattered all around the outer islands off Port Stephens. Whales were breaching close to the boat which were elevated by the stunning sea conditions we had….

Today was our official launch day of the 2023 Whale Season here in Port Stephens. This was an incredible with over 260 people joining the Port Stephens cruise operators to celebrate the start of the northern whale migration passing Port Stephens. Official ceremony held at d’Albora Marina with a Welcome to Country and Smoking Ceremony…

Our whales cruises onboard Hinchinbrook Explorer had amazing whales on both the morning and afternoon cruises. The highlight was the 1:30pm cruise spotting 5 different pods who were very active. Whales were pec slapping and rolling around showing off their bellies, we even had a double breach. Aquamarine Adventures, fast power cat, Envision even saw…

Our morning whale watch cruise aboard the Hinchinbrook Explorer has located two pods of whales with two Humpback Whales in each pod. We picked the one pod that was spending more time on the surface of the water, and both whales became a little active showing off with a couple tail lobs creating lots of…

This morning we received a hot tip from a member of our public who was standing at Barry Park and could see a pod of whales straight out ahead of him. We notified our crew on board the Hinchinbrook Explorer who caught up with them just off fingal island. A friendly pod of 2 or…

The crew aboard the 10am Hinchinbrook Explorer Whale Watch Cruise have spent a wonderful morning with a pod of five very active Humpback Whales. All whales were on the surface of the water for a good amount of time, and there was a bit of excitement within the pod with a bit of a heat…

It was a full day of Whale sightings aboard both our Hinchinbrook Explorer and Port Stephens Spirit vessels. 10am Hinchinbrook Explorer found two fully grown humpbacks just off Fingal Bay, looked to be traveling fast but still coming up nice and close to say hello just shy of 100m from the boat. They put on…

Cruise Director Kathy has reported a most unexpected surprise for all passengers onboard the Hinchinbrook Explorer Whale Watch Cruise. As the vessel cruised around the corner of Fingal Island they have located two Humpback Whales that were quite active, but the surprising part of the cruise occurred with one of the whales breaching right beside…