Small Boat Whale Watching Tour in Gold Coast

Highly recommend!!!

I had an absolutely wonderful time and highly recommend this excursion. We saw both whales & dolphins. One massive whale even breached the water twice, putting on a magnificent show, the 2nd of which I was able to capture on video. The owner drove and his staff member was super knowledgeable, answering my many whale-related questions. Both men were super friendly. Would definitely try other excursions offered by this company.

MUST DO!!

The trip was incredible! Being on a smaller boat meant we had uninterrupted views of the whales with the GC as a back drop. Highly recommended this whilst on the GC and especially on a small boat compared to the big boats which have well over 100 people to compete with for the perfect view. Great insight from the team who took us out, a really enjoyable experience

Snorkeling Unreal

Unreal underwater colours, fish, dolphins etc. Knowledgeable captain, willing to help. Planning to come back again.

Amazing Experience

Great trip. Saw lots of whales with many breaching. So much better in the smaller boat, the boat trip was as much fun for the kids. Very professional team. Highly recommended.

Great experience

Such a fun time! Incredible sightings. This is a must-do in the Gold Coast. I upgraded to swimming with the whales, which I highly recommend

Incredible whale watching experience

Leon got us in the best position possible to see the whales up close and active on the surface. The team love what they do and make the experience exceptional.

Amazing experience!!!

Such an amazing experience!!!! The skipper and guide were super enthusiastic and professional. We were lucky enough to see whales, dolphins and even a flying fish. Highly recommend this experience to all.

Would highly recommend over bigger tours!!

Great experience! Saw whales and dolphins. Knowledgeable staff and very speedy, comfortable boat which makes the travel easy. Would highly recommend this over the larger tours with other organisations

Unbelievable amazing trip

Unbelievable trip in aqua 100% recommendation!! Nice friends and cool man in aqua Next time chose aqua and find more whales

Up close and personal with Whales

Great experience to be so close to the whales.exhilarating to see the majesty of the whales.The crew were very attentive and ensured our safety on this trip

THE MOST HORRIBLE EXPERIENCE IN MY LIFE

I do NOT recommend this company to anyone. Please, avoid it and book elsewhere if you want to save your nerves and money. My husband, our daughter, and I were supposed to go on a small boat watching whales on the 19/08/2023 at 8:30 a.m. We are very disappointed. On the 19/08 in the morning we were told that we should have paid for the third ticket for our 3-year-old daughter since the tour provider AquaAdventures doesn’t have the option of a free ticket for a 3-year-old child. Also, we should have booked three tickets instead of two since the boat is not allowed to take more than 12 people on each trip, and this itinerary small boat on 19/08/2023 at 8:30 a.m. was fully booked. In the morning on the 19/08 discussion between Mister Lean, Miss Fiona, and me I provided information taken from Viator that I was ensure that I don’t need to pay for our 3-year-old daughter and she still is able to go on a small boat watching whales. I twice asked for a refund, but this requirement was refused. Here is the part from a chat with confirmation that our 3-year-old daughter will be free. ( 6m 42s ) Florence: I see here that we just need to book for 2 adults since your daughter will be free. I'm just going to put a special requirements that you are with your 3 years old daughter. We paid for the booking via the link that agent Florence sent during this chat. Another chat was with agent Brian Joshua. He confirmed that the 3-year-old kid can go to the whale watching on the small boat. The part of the conversation [10:51:19 PM] Brian Joshua - Customer Service Agent: Yes. Your daughter can go. Also, in another chat with tour provider Ague Adventures the lady Kira Jarman sent the booking confirmation when in special requests there's information about a 3-year-old kid, and the booking was made for two adults. At the meet point on Saturday 19/08 miss Fiona said that they were not able to take 3-year-old kid on the boat but they could make an extension. BUT! If we wanted to go with a kid, we could not do it on Saturday since the boat was fully booked (are we supposed to leave our daughter on the land?). Miss Fiona said to me that she could reschedule our booking to another day with ONLY paying for third ticker for our daughter and she would send a confirmation booking in the Saturday morning. By the end of the Saturday, I didn't receive ANYTHING from them. I requested for a full refund. It was refused again reffering to we came with a reservation for 2 people but with 3-year-old kid which it was confirmed by THEM in a booking and chats. In totaly we paid 238 dollars, we didn't see the whales, we didn't get refund and we even didn't hear any SORRY for this. THE MOST HORRIBLE EXPERIENCE IN MY LIFE.

Winter Whale Fun

Amazing time traveling out in the Pacific to look for whales. Not only was the weather beautiful during their “Winter” but we saw about 8 different whale pods. The crew did a great job keeping us engaged and spotting the whales for us

Marty and Tory were great crew. It was a great trip and lovely experience

Great experience. Marty and Tory were excellent crew and very knowledgable about the whales. It was a great trip and we recommend it highly.

Awesome

Awesome experience, the boat ride it’s self is actually really fun and it only gets better seeing whales jump and seeing them so close and swimming with whales was absolutely spectacular and one of the best experiences I have done

Small boat = big fun

Captain Marty and the rest of the Aqua Adventure team were fanstastic. Very friendly and felt more like a group of friends and a boat of tourists. We were swiftly able to go to different locations of the shore in search of migrating Humpbacks, and they didn't dissapoint. We were even able to witness two whales breaching on several occassions. Lots of fun, highly recomment the more intimate small boat whale watching to fuly appreciate the size of these wonderful animals.

Booking headache

I'll start by saying once out on the water I and my family had an amazing experience and got to see 8 whales as long as 2 pods of dolphins. The captain and other crew member were fantastic and provided lots of information and made it a great experience. The lead up to that amazing experience was a gauntlet of pain in order to just get a booking confirmation. My family bought vouchers for the large boat whale watching trip. When we attempted to use those vouchers to book the boat trip we were told that the business had sold the large boat they previously had but they would honour the vouchers with the small boat trip which they classified as a more intimate, expensive experience. We went into the physical shop to book the trip and then had an older gentleman struggle to operate the computer Infront of him and then decided he would write down each voucher code and sort it out himself so we wouldn't have to stay there while he figured out how to reconcile the vouchers with his computer system. We provided our emails and phone numbers for him to send the booking confirmation to. Cut to 2 weeks later and we still hadn't received the booking confirmation. What followed was an additional 4 trips into the shop location over a 3 week period before we received a booking confirmation. Each trip in we were told that it had been sorted and a booking confirmation would be sent soon and each time we were left annoyed and disappointed when we did not receive that confirmation. I would highly recommend booking with one of the larger operators in the Gold Coast area as they are much simpler to book through and that peace of mind more than makes up for the slightly higher price. I hope that this business improves with its booking process in the future as the actual tour was brilliant.

Super lucky day!! 5 whales playing around the boat 🐳🐳

Phenomenal experience from start to finish!! Last minute decision to go and Wow what a day! The crew were super friendly and genuine characters! Then we happened upon a group of whales as soon as got into open water- we spent the rest of the tour surrounded by the magnificence of these humpback whales spy hopping, playing around the boat, spraying us all, scuttling from one side of the boat to the other as they manoeuvred around the boat.. it was a magnificent experience. We were lucky today- even the crew themselves said they had never seen anything like it. 5 whales playing around. An absolute memory treasure. The passengers who hopped in the water were within meters of these majestic beings and the squeals of wonderment as the humpbacks swam around them will never be forgotten. Thank you guys for a brilliant afternoon of an unforgettable experience. Love your work❤️❤️❤️

Amazing Experience

If you are thinking of going whale watching in the GC, I would recommend Aqua Adventures. They use a small boat with maximum 12 pax, which makes it a much more adventurous and intimate experience, plus it offers more opportunities for good pics. For a bit more $ you can jump in the water and swim with the whales. Cpt.Pineapple is fun and accomodating, overall a great experience.

Personal whale experiences

Fantastic “close up” humpback whale experience. We’ve done the bigger boats before but this was something different and special. We were lucky enough for the whales to swim alongside and under our “small” boat - the guides also made us feel safe and well informed. Boat can only seat 12 so a personal experience

A great way to see whales and dolphins

This was my second whale watch and by far the best. Some of that has to do with timing but the use of a smaller boat allowed a closer look, and you didn't get the sense you were overwhelming the whales and dolphins. The crew were well informed and very passionate about what they did. All in all, a great experience.

If you’re reading reviews to figure out whether it’s worth it. DO IT.

Amazing from start to finish, whales everywhere and the crew were fantastic keeping us informed and always putting the boat in the best position to see the whales. Only wish that if selected the five option and jumped in the water too. Have already recommended to others and would go again for sure. My pictures do not do the trip justice.

Whale swimming/watching

Saw an amazing pod of whales and their young! Amazing sight to see, unfortunately although we were going swimming we struck out of luck and missed out on getting in the water but was an amazing experience regardless, staff were great and made the experience even better despite the conditions! Thanks team

Up close and personal

I have a torn shoulder so I couldn't swim but, the tour was SO GOOD,, that I'm happy to rave about it, recommend it AND do it again! And if my shoulder has healed, I'm getting in the water because everyone who did was struck with awe 🥰

Awesome whale watching trip!

Awesome whale watching tour! Family of 4, we went for a whale watching tour on 19 July. Great small boat, awesome skipper, we saw ~10 humpback whales, incl. a female and her calf. Highly recommended as so much better than big boats!

Whale breach highlight

We had a great trip. Saw whales mostly from a distance, would have liked to get a little closer, however do not hold the company responsible, it's just the way the whale interacts with the presence of a boat. Our last view was a massive whalebreach about 100 metres in front of us and this made the day for me. Skipper and other staff were fabulous.

Great trip!

We went on a trip with 3 teens and 5 adults. 2 were swimming and 6 whale watching. The trip was amazing, staff were lovely & couldn’t do more. Boat was nice and we had everything we needed

Wonderful

It’s really wonderful experience for me. We saw two whales family groups with dolphins. And the weather was great. I really love it.

Great time

My husband and I had a great time, loved the small boat and saw many whales. We want to do it again next year :)

Amazing!

It was so much fun!y husband and I love it and would do it again, but maybe on a weekday to avoid the other boats.

Very friendly and helpful staff

Great experience, we saw lots of whales and dolphins. All the staff members on and off the boat were all so helpful, knowledgeable and friendly. Really recommended. The caption of the boat Kai was great and Adam and Agus the two divemasters looking after us and the snorkelers were incredible. Looking forward to doing another tour with this awesome company again soon.

Small boat Whale watch/swim with the 🐋

Great staff and a beautiful experience. Saw whales and many friendly dolphins. Would totally recommend 👌

SUPREME WHALE WATCHING

Excellent guide, who went all the way to find us the most spectacular sightings. The open boat was supreme - so much better than the other big boats I've been on

Once in a Lifetime Experience

Went with Norm's Meetup Group on a beautiful sunny 🌞 Sunday. Took the small boat just right for our group to see the AWESOME whale 🐋 experience

Great whale watching tour

Fabulous viewing of whales on a fast boat. Great staff. Highly recommended. (Make sure the weather is good before doing this trip)

Wow, Wow, Wow

If you want to see and hear about whales from people who are passionate, book with Aqua Adventures. We highly recommend their small boat tour. The boat was fast, and the skipper, Leon, manoeuvred it expertly to give us a great view of the humpback action.....and there was plenty of that! Mothers and their calves put on quite the display from tail slaps to breaching and everything in between. The whales came so close to us that we could hear them vocalising. Juliana, our marine biologist was delightful and explained how whales feed, migrate and calve. Who knew that these perfectly adapted ocean giants evolved from being land creatures. We loved every aspect of this tour including our adrenaline charged boat ride, it really was a blast and a whale watchers paradise. Thank you Leon and Juliana. Vanessa

Amazing experience

10/10 Such an amazing trip! Getting to see the whales up so close was such a great experience! All the staff were so friendly and knowledgeable.

Up close and without the crowds!!

This was SENSATIONAL!! We got up and close without the crowds. We learnt lots from the amazing guide. It’s was a beautiful day and seeing these majestic creatures so close and playful was an experience that we’ll never forget. 🐋 ❤️

Small boat whale watching

It was wonderful to see the whales so close up and the small boat made the trip in and out, fun too!

Whale watching 🐳

Took my daughter on a whale watching trip and we had a great day. The sea was a bit rough which made it a little more difficult but the crew were amazing, Captain Pineapple and Julianna our guide, both were super friendly and very knowledgeable. We even had some dolphins swimming with us on the return trip. Bonus! Highly recommend

Striking gold with small boat whale watching tour on the Gold Coast

Our small boat whale watching tour was fantastic! The captain found us a pod of five humpbacks who played with us and each other for almost 2 hours! This tour with this company is something you shouldn’t miss when in the Gold Coast!

So up close to magnificent whales

Fantastic day out. We got really up close to some magnificent whales, quite unbelievable actually! Smaller boat option was so worthwhile. Crew were lovely. Couldn’t have wanted for a more enjoyable day.

Had a whale of a time

Great tour, was worth getting sea sick to see so many whales and dolphins up close! Thanks again for the trip!