Come and experience an up-close, personal whale encounter with strictly limited numbers (max 12). Includes whale swim encounter when possible.
Hervey Bay Dive Centre operates the regions only dedicated whale swim experience between July and August. From September onward, the tour moves to a whale watch focus. Guest numbers are strictly limited (max 12) making for a personal and fun day on the water. Each sighting is different and every whale swim unique and personal. People that have swam with whales often describe the experience as "life changing".
With the smallest guest numbers in the bay you’ll feel like part of the family. The team at Hervey Bay Dive Centre look forward to welcoming you aboard!
Features & Facilities
*** Important notes ***
On the whales terms
Swimming with the whales is conditions dependant and we only do so with the right whales and on their terms. We champion a strict Code of Practice when interacting with the whales. The key component to this agreement, and a core philosophy of ours, is “on the whales terms”. In short this means we only interact with whales that are happy for us to do so. In these cases where you may not be able to swim with the whales, our tour offers a unique and personal whale watch encounter
Seasons and peak swim periods
The peak swim period is mid-July through early September and this is the best time to immerse with the whales. During this time the tour will focus on maximising your opportunity to swim with the whales. This is the peak season in which the tour runs in the morning. For the whales comfort, we only snorkel with them as they're not keen on bubbles.
From September more calves start arriving in the bay. As a requirement of our Marine Park Permit we are not able to swim with calves. This makes finding suitable adult whales to swim with more challenging. Therefore, from September, to the end of the season in late October, our tour focuses on more of a unique watch experience. This is our low season which we run in the afternoon. If the opportunity arises to swim during this period we will aim to get you in the water.
Guaranteed sightings
We guarantee whale sightings (seeing a whale from the vessel) between 1st August and 14th October. In the unlikely event that the skipper cannot locate a whale during this period you will be offered a full refund or free return ticket.
We cannot guarantee swimming with the whales as it is conditions and whales dependant, but we try our best!
Children
Children under 8 years are not permitted to swim with the whales and a parental guardian must remain with them on the vessel. If 2 guardians are present they can interchange between the vessel and swimming when conditions permit. The tour is not suitable for children under 4 years.
Departure
This tour departs at 7:30 a.m. and 1:30pm daily from the Dive Centre office located on the Boat Club Marina. The vessel, M.V. Utopia, is crewed by an experienced local skipper and friendly qualified dive crew.
Swim Rates (peak season July - September)
Watch Rates (low season September - October)
Would recommend this experience, was amazing. The staff and operators of this tour where very friendly and informative.
A nice experiance with friendly, familiar guides who try everything to make you swim with the whales and feel comfy in the boat. Even the meals were handmade tasty. While snorkeling I felt quite save at the rope. You can have good or bad luck with the whales, sometimes they swim right next to you, but most times they stay in distance.
I had a really lovely time whale watching with Hervey Bay Dive centre. It is coming to end of season but we still managed to see a whale breaching and playing around. We also had a close encounter with a mother and baby, who swam under the boat. We didnt get a chance to swim with whales because of the baby. However the crew were lovely and tried there hardest to find one we could swim with. I still had a great day and would recommend this small boat for a more personal encounter
Es war ein unglaublich schöner Tag, der nette, witzige und erfahrene Kapitän hat viele Wale für uns gefundn, sodass wir sie gut beobachten konnten. Insgesamt wurden wir vier Mal ins Wasser gelassen, dabei waren die Wale zwei Mal so nah, als könnte man sie berühren. Eins der besten Augenblicke meines Lebens und definitiv ein Highlight an der Ostküste!! Unsere liebe Betreuerin hat sich prima um uns gekümmert, es gab Wasser, Tee und Kaffe sowie Snacks wie Kekese, Muffins und Naschi und natürlich den ein oder anderen guten Ratschlag und Plausch! Insgesamt ein wundervoller Tag, den ich nicht missen möchte. Wirklich empfehlenswert und das Geld lohnt sich definitiv!
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Laura Laheij from Netherlands wrote on 08 October 2019
Amazing experience!
We had the best skipper of all whale watching/swimming tours. We spent 1 hour looking for whales (which totally depends on the skills of your skipper, because all tour boats don't use sonar) and had 3 chances of swimming with whales. The last time we were lucky to hold on to the boat and view whale with her calf from a safe distance, so not swimming but 'sitting' with the whales. AMAZING! The tour guide Matthew/Matt went out of his way to let everyone have the best experience to see the whales, lunch was excellent and cookies tasteful. Thanks for this wonderful day out! Great value for very affordable tour.