The Best Affordable Dolphin Watching Tour in Port Stephens
Seeing as much wildlife as possible was one of our main objectives when exploring Australia. One of the first wildlife experiences we had outside of seeing excessive amounts of kangaroos was on our weekend trip to Port Stephens, where we joined a dolphin watching cruise from Nelson Bay.
Around 100 bottlenose dolphins call the waters around Nelson Bay home, so it’s an ideal spot for seeing these playful, adorable creatures in their natural habitat.
We chose Imagine Cruises for our tour as they had great reviews, a dolphin sighting guarantee and their advanced eco-certified status.
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Essential Info
Price: From A$50 per person ($46 students & seniors)
Duration: 1.5hrs
Includes: Dolphin-watching cruise with dolphin guarantee (free return cruise), boom net access (dry and wet), tea and coffee
Start Time: 11.30am
Tour Location: Dock C, d’Albora Marina, Nelson Bay
Hotel pickup? No
What to bring: Suncream, sunglasses, camera, swimwear (if you want to go in the wet boom net)
Guide? Yes, English speaking.
Child-friendly? Yes – A$30 for age 4-14, A$10 for under-4s
Wheelchair accessible? No
Restrictions: No high heeled shoes
We started our adventure at d’Albora Marina, at 11.30am, stepping on board Imagine Cruises’ small catamaran. We were immediately impressed with the intimate nature of the trip. The catamaran holds a maximum of 25 people on the front deck, and our tour actually only had around 14 people on board – so plenty of space to wander around! There’s ample seating both in the open and below deck, free self-service tea and coffee and a cash bar for additional food and drink.
Even without the dolphin watching, it’s a really fun boat ride as you get to see some of the gorgeous coastline, including Tomaree National Park and the beach that stretches across Winda Woppa.
Not long into the cruise, we spotted some movement in the water and suddenly saw a few fins breaking the surface. The boat moved closer to follow them, while still keeping a respectful distance. But the dolphins had other plans! We stopped to let them pass, and they ended up swimming right alongside us and even underneath the boat.
The boom net at the front of the boat gave me an incredible view of the dolphins as they playfully jumped out of the water. It was a really magical experience being so close to them in their natural environment.
I was expecting to be lucky enough to spot a few fins and call that a sighting, but the guides gave us so much time with the dolphins. By the end, there were around 20–30 of them swimming in the water around us! It was such an incredible experience and definitely one of the highlights of our time in Australia.
Dolphin tours run in Port Stephens from November to April. If you’re visiting between May and November , you can book a whale watching tour instead! We’re planning on heading back during whale season to do this too, as we had an unforgettable experience whale watching in Vancouver.
Am I guaranteed to see wildlife?
Wildlife is, by nature, unpredictable, but with a population of around 100 dolphins in the bay, Imagine Cruises boasts a 99% success rate of seeing them. They also offer a guarantee with free re-booking. I’d recommend booking your cruise for the first day of your visit for this reason!
They also offer a rebooking guarantee if you don’t see any dolphins – which is why we booked this for the first day of our itinerary. Turns out, we had nothing to worry about.
Is this tour eco-friendly/sustainable?
Imagine Cruises is an advanced Eco-Accredited company with Ecotourism Australia. This certification represents an organisation that provides environmentally responsible tourism experiences, conservation, visitor education, cultural respect, responsible wildlife viewing and continuous improvement.
Alongside ensuring the tour adheres to sustainablity practices, $1 from every ticket sold is donated to the Marine Parks Association, funding research on bottlenose dolphins.
More Port Stephens:
- Discover more of this spectacular region, with this guide to the best things to do in Port Stephens
- Take the hassle out of planning your trip with our ready-to-go two day Port Stephens itinerary
Exploring Australia for longer? Get our one-month Sydney to Cairns road trip itinerary!
