Whale Watching Tour with Spirit of Gold Coast
4.7

Whale Watching Tour with Spirit of Gold Coast

By Spirit of Gold Coast Whale Watching
Recommended by 93% of travelers
93% of reviewers gave this product a bubble rating of 4 or higher.
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See humpback whales as they migrate past the Gold Coast from June to November. This whale watching cruise is family-owned and operated with a commitment to offering passengers a valuable wildlife experience. Learn from the expertise of the crew, with the option to book a second cruise in the unlikely event of missed whale sightings.
Lowest price guaranteeReserve now & pay laterFree cancellation

Ages 0-99, max of 140 per group
Duration: 2h 50m
Start time: Check availability
Mobile ticket
Meets animal welfare guidelines
Live guide: English
More

Highlights
  • Gold Coast whale watching cruise: sightings guaranteed
  • Daily departures at Main Beach between June and November
  • Marine biologist and crew focus on humpback behavior
  • Includes morning tea plus a fully licensed bar

  • Coffee and/or Tea
  • Live commentary on board
  • Professional guide
  • Onsite parking at Mariner's Cove Marina
What's not included
  • Lunch
  • Food and drinks (available to purchase)
  • Hotel pickup and drop-off


Start:
  • Spirit of Gold Coast Whale Watching Marina Mirage, 60/70 Seaworld Dr, Main Beach QLD 4217, Australia
    Once you arrive at Mariners Cove Marina, walk through the car park towards the higher jetty and find Spirit at Berth 95/Arm D - next to the helicopter pad.
End:This activity ends back at the meeting point.

    • Wheelchair accessible
    • Near public transportation
    • Infants must sit on laps
    If you have questions about accessibility, we’d be happy to help. Just call the number below and reference the product code: 41372P1

    • Confirmation will be received at time of booking
    • Children must be accompanied by an Adult
    • Comfortable enclosed walking shoes and jacket are recommended
    • Most travelers can participate
    • We can ONLY accept non-motorised, collapsible wheelchairs on board Spirit. Please note that Spirit crew cannot carry passengers from their wheelchair to the boat seating. All guests who use a wheelchair must be able to move themselves, or bring assistance with them.
    • Please advise if bringing a PRAM
    • This experience requires good weather. If it’s canceled due to poor weather, you’ll be offered a different date or a full refund
    • This tour/activity will have a maximum of 140 travelers

    • For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours in advance of the start date of the experience.

    If you have questions about this tour or need help making your booking, we’d be happy to help. Just call the number below and reference the product code: 41372P1

    From
    $47.79
    per adult
    Select date and travelers

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    About the operator
    Don’t take it from us – here’s what people have to say about this operator:
    • Spirit of Gold Coast Whale Watching
      4.6 of 5 bubbles999
      Australia
      Joined in June 2013
    • kristinelS5315YR
      0 contributions
      5.0 of 5 bubbles
      Great night
      Had a fantastic time with family , staff were amazing & the one man band was great to listen too. Dinner was sufficient plus first drink free , so great value .
      Written February 23, 2025
    • jamesmY9426RT
      0 contributions
      5.0 of 5 bubbles
      Lovely Cruise
      Lovely phone member and staff were so accommodating even with the mixed weather it was nice to be out on the water cruising along the Gold Coast! When the rain arrived we went inside the cabin and enjoyed a lovely meal and some more wine.
      Written January 12, 2025
    • D3669VAnicolep
      0 contributions
      1.0 of 5 bubbles
      Do not book this cruise
      This cruise was a debacle from beginning to end! It was overbooked with no staff. It left almost 1/2 hour late. There was one person working the bar then got pulled away to do other jobs onboard leaving a long queue of people waiting for drinks. The bar sold out of the white wine we drank after 1 glass. My brother was accidentally charged for 2 red wines and told he couldn’t obtain a refund for the second wine and that they had also run out of red wine so couldn’t be given a second one. The food was cold chook and extremely underwhelming. The toilet had some sort of issue and the fumes coming from it were horrendous. On arrival back to shore, we all stood at a locked gate unable to get out to the carpark with an uber waiting on the other side. The pilot finally left what looked like a date he was on whilst working and arrived to unlock the gate. The sunset was beautiful but they couldn’t really stuff that up 😂
      Written January 4, 2025
    • K2308ZArenatac
      0 contributions
      5.0 of 5 bubbles
      New Year's Eve Cruise along the Gold Coast Broadwater
      We had a spectacular view of the fireworks display from the Gold Coast Braadwater. The music was a combination of a live band and party hits from a broad range of styles. Champagne upon boarding was a nice touch along with delicious canapes
      Written January 1, 2025
    • 255meds
      0 contributions
      1.0 of 5 bubbles
      horrible
      horrible, bad description, could not find the boat at the location provided and confident boat did not show up. horrible costumer service could not reach anyone, waiting for a refund.
      Written November 28, 2024
    • navjotk770
      0 contributions
      5.0 of 5 bubbles
      A must go with them
      It was an amazing experience with lots of information we received from captain who was continuously engaging with the watchers on board and definitely a must go with them. I liked it and will be going with them from now onwards. As we were the vessel who travelled far and got a chance to see whales from very close proximity and unforgettable memory you have made for us. Me and my kids really loved it.
      Written August 25, 2024
    • petamad
      0 contributions
      5.0 of 5 bubbles
      Prepare to be Amazed!
      Prepare to be blown away by this experience. These are inspiring creatures became the highlight of my trip to the Gold Coast. I was so appreciative of Captain Dean's knowledge of the behaviours of these beautiful creatures. I left that boat wanting to preserve this opportunity for future generations. 100% would recommend!
      Written August 25, 2024
    • cyyn
      0 contributions
      1.0 of 5 bubbles
      Bad company! Do not use this company if you want to see whales.
      I do not recommend this company! Really bad experience!!! We saw 2 whales at a very far distance(more than 100 metres) and that is! They didn’t care about it. We called saying that we had not seen whales, they said we had and hung up the call without worrying about it.
      Written August 25, 2024
    • 718dianet
      0 contributions
      5.0 of 5 bubbles
      There she blows!
      Captain Dan was entertaining and knowledgeable about the whales. Had a number of excellent sightings. Successful trip.
      Written August 23, 2024
    • Go01668987028
      0 contributions
      1.0 of 5 bubbles
      NOT RECOMMENDED!!
      Not recommended!!! The day was not suitable for the excursion as there was a lot of swell. We saw some whales at a very far distance but not at all what we were sold. More than 100 metres. At the end of the trip many families were dissatisfied but the crew said they could not refund the money. I would not book with them again even if they were the only option on the Gold Coast.
      Written August 22, 2024
    • Tim_Connors_1966
      0 contributions
      5.0 of 5 bubbles
      Whale Watching Experience
      Amazing experience. Whales came right up to the boat. They breached right in front of us. And there were a lot of them. And the captain and crew of the boat were great! Well worth doing.
      Written August 21, 2024
    • Trip763073
      0 contributions
      5.0 of 5 bubbles
      fantastic
      have stage 4 cancer and this was on top of my bucket list. so i took my children and grandchildren on this adventure. i was not disappointed and nor was my family. great crew very knowledgeable and helpful. highly recommended for any age. my advise don't leave it to late to take this adventure.
      Written July 14, 2024
    • L1862JXlaurend
      0 contributions
      5.0 of 5 bubbles
      Amazing day seeing the whales 🐳
      Surreal day seeing the whales. Great view and service with free biscuits and tea and coffee. Lovely and informative staff! Highly recommend
      Written July 10, 2024
    • MartynBailey
      0 contributions
      5.0 of 5 bubbles
      Whale watching
      Fabulous! Saw plenty of whales - great photo opportunities for all the family. Best day ever I loved it and seeing the whale tails
      Written May 29, 2024
    • Vikki147
      0 contributions
      5.0 of 5 bubbles
      Amazing good time - worth doing
      We had a wonderful time on the cruise last night - a great way to finish our Gold Coast holiday. The staff were friendly and accommodating, the food was lovely and adequate for the number of people onboard. Christian kept the mood with his songs. All in all, a great experience. The evening was a bit overcast but I can just imagine how lovely it would have been if the clouds had cleared.
      Written February 25, 2024
    See all 999 reviews
    These reviews are the subjective opinions of Tripadvisor members and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

    Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.

    Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as wait time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.

    Popular mentions

    4.7
    4.7 of 5 bubbles716 reviews
    Excellent
    568
    Very good
    98
    Average
    25
    Poor
    14
    Terrible
    11

    Jack O
    Liverpool, UK2 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Oct 2024 • Couples
    I went on this trip with my Fiancé, the trip cost $90 each, which I thought originally might be slightly expensive, it's not. Really good value for a very special experience.
    Clear instructions via email telling us the trip starts at 9:30 and to arrive around 30 mins early. Make sure you are on time as a couple turned up about 10 mins late and they missed their trip.
    Ginger sea sickness tablets available on board for just $3 which for that price I would recommend even if like me you don't get sick.
    On the trip we seen about 5 whales, 2 of which we got very close to, about 150 yards and the whales put on a great show for us splashing their tales and we even seen a breach!
    The captain gave a clear safety talk and explained what everyone should look out for and to shout out if we seen it.
    Free tea and coffee on board too.
    On the return to the harbour we also seen a pod of dolphins.
    Written October 3, 2024
    This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

    GregTrav28
    Orlando, FL696 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    The boat is large with food and toilets aboard.  They know where they whales are during whale season so as long as you don't have jet skis nearby you should see some whales.  It was the least expensive tour we saw in the entire area and one of the few that allowed us to bring our 4 year old.  This boat had plenty of good narration, easy enough views of the wild life (though you might have to move around a bit to get a good view at times) and as a larger boat probably less impacted by waves.  Definitely a great thing to do in the winter months.  If you are bringing kids recommend this companybas you get significant savings on the little ones where other companies still charge basically full price for even a 5 year old since that boat might only hold 12 people or so.
    Written July 22, 2024
    This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

    Merima Z
    victoria2 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Jul 2024 • Family
    The trip was great. We saw a mother and her calf. Then we saw a large male who put on quite a show for us. He did many breaches, rolled on his back and slapped the water with his fin. I would have liked to have spent more time but we had to return. The company takes your groups photo and photos of the whales but l thought the photos were too expensive. It was $30 for your group photo and $15 for each whale photo. It would have been nice if they put the pictures on a QR code where we could scan them from there or something similar. Or even loaded some picture from each tour on their Facebook page. It was still a fantastic day. I would highly recommend it.
    Written July 24, 2024
    This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

    juliewight2018
    Bendigo, Australia28 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Brilliant afternoon out viewing some dolphins playing along side of the boat then a whale with calf plus an escort adult whale. The 3 just basically hung around the vacinity of our boat entertaining us to our delight. Captain Dean would manoeuvre the boat to achieve the best viewing and gave a commentary of whale facts. Well worth the afternoon out on the water seeing whales and looking back at the skyline of the Gold Coast.
    Written July 25, 2024
    This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

    Felipe C
    Seville, Spain30 contributions
    1.0 of 5 bubbles
    The crew's management was terrible.

    The day was not suitable for the excursion as there was a lot of swell.

    We saw some whales at a very far distance but not at all what we were sold.

    At the end of the trip many families were dissatisfied but the crew said they could not refund the money.

    I would not book with them again even if they were the only option on the Gold Coast.
    Written August 23, 2024
    This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
    <<>> This review is by a person who is also in connection with Begona Rodriguez Mendez and Cynthia. They were offered heavily discounted tickets to go on board our vessel to experience and see the whales and capture the experience and provide us with social media content. Instead they provided no content, effectively got a free whale watching experience for the 5 of them and instead requested a refund using the excuse of not seeing anything as their excuse. Extremely sad that people are like this but unfortunately that's the way it is sometimes. One can only hope they don't do this to businesses in the future.
    Written September 10, 2024
    This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

    Tony G
    3 contributions
    1.0 of 5 bubbles
    Jul 2023 • Family
    We were very excited to finally see whales from a short distance. However the experience was quite disappointing

    Yes, we saw a couple of whales from very far away, but nothing better than going to Burley Heads and see them from the lookout.

    I'm pretty sure we were just unlucky. In fact, the captain wanted to extend the cruise to 5pm so we could actually see whales. However, some guests had to be back by 4pm so we had to go back 🙁.
    Forget about the free cruise guarantee - as long as you see a whales tale as big as a stamp, there won't be any free trip.

    Reading the reviews, I'm sure this is usually an amazing experience but be prepared to be disappointed.



    Written August 24, 2023
    This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
    Thank you for your review, and for taking the time to share your opinion. As I am sure you are aware, each day out on the Humpback Highway is incredibly different. When we head out through the seaway each day, there are certain factors that are completely out of our control. This includes how long it takes us to find whales, how many whales we encounter, as well as the sea conditions we face. While we hope for a magical experience for our guests on each cruise, with an incredibly close encounter or multiple big breaches to delight all on board, this is simply not how all whale watching experience works. We are incredibly blessed to be able to witness the Humpback Whales in their natural environment. After being hunted to near extinction, they still make the same 10,000-kilometre journey each year and continue to grace us with their awe-inspiring presence. But each time we head out into the open ocean, we need to remember that we are in their home. Whether they come close to us or choose to keep their distance, whether they put on a show or remain completely elusive – it is entirely up to them. We are their guests, and we are so grateful for any encounter.
    Written September 7, 2023
    This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

    Nik C
    Labrador, Australia2 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Aug 2024 • Family
    A fabulous way to spend a birthday with the whales on a beautiful Sunday morning. Got to see some baby calves and their mothers and a few other 'show offs' breaching and splashing their gigantic tails. We are local so don't often do the touristy things but this one was well worth it. The skipper and crew were welcoming, chatty and a fountain of knowledge about whales. Made for a memorable special day.
    Written September 22, 2024
    This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

    Saara P
    2 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    May 2023 • Couples
    Whale watching with Spirit was absolutely amazing. On the first time we only saw a bit of a whale so they told us we can come for free for another trip. Second trip was perfect 😍 I actually cried tears of joy when a whale jumped from the water right next to us. There is nothing like it. The crew is professional, helpful and respectful of the sea, I can highly recommend them. There was enough room on the boat to see the whales from different spots. Perfect, thank you so much!
    Written June 8, 2023
    This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
    Thank you, for your review. We are glad you had a magical encounter with the Humpback Whales, seeing all this activity in one cruise. We must agree, they are amazing creatures and that is the reason we are passionate about them. Thank you again for your feedback and hope to see you on board Spirit soon! Whale Blessings from the Spirit Family!
    Written June 13, 2023
    This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

    Sue L
    Darwin, Australia84 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Jul 2024 • Family
    We arrived on a wet and windy cold day but had the best time! It was choppy to say the least but Pedro and the crew kept our spirits high.

    While boarding we were told to help ourselves to complimentary tea/coffee and biscuits and asked and advised to take sea sickness medication (though some ignored at their peril!) as the trip was about to see motion on the ocean!

    It did not disappoint - Pedro guided us to pods of whales and dolphins as these majestic creatures breached along side us. It was an amazing experience!
    Written July 2, 2024
    This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
    Thank you for sharing your wonderful experience! Despite the wet and windy cold day, we're delighted to hear you had the best time. Captain Julian and the crew always aim to keep spirits high, even in choppy conditions. We appreciate your mention of the complimentary tea, coffee, and biscuits, as well as the sea sickness medication advice – it's always best to be prepared. We're thrilled you enjoyed seeing these majestic creatures breach alongside the vessel, and we hope to welcome you back for another adventure soon! Whale Blessings from the Spirit Family!
    Written July 3, 2024
    This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

    Bryan H
    5 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Sep 2023 • Family
    Well, I have been on the Sea World Whale Watching experience, but this far surpasses that! They crew are so friendly from the welcome, the complimentary tea, coffee and biscuits (Arnotts!) to their commentary and just general approachability. It was not happening for us, the whales kept diving and proved elusive, but the crew offered to stay out another 30 mins to give us an experience to remember. It was just that.

    We had the whales doing double pectoral fin slaps, breaching right in front of the boat and generally entertaining us for 30 mins.

    This is the tour to go on. Thoroughly recommend
    Written September 20, 2023
    This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
    Hey there, Thank you for taking the time to review your Whale Watching experience on board with us. We're so glad to hear about your amazing experience. Our crew is dedicated to going above and beyond to ensure our guests have the best possible experience. Whale Blessings from Spirit Family!
    Written September 29, 2023
    This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

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    Whale Watching Tour with Spirit of Gold Coast provided by Spirit of Gold Coast Whale Watching

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