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Lets Go Humpback Whale Watching Gold Coast

July 1, 2018 By Jan Robinson 6 Comments

This post may contain compensated links. We may earn a small percentage if you book through a compensated link, but it won’t cost you any more by doing so. You can read our full disclaimer here.


Some friends and I were brain storming the other day about blogging projects. As Humpback whales are currently moving up the east Coast of Queensland for the whale watching season Gold Coast, our decision was easy – Lets Go Humpback Whale Watching Gold Coast!

The Gold Coast is known for it’s theme parks, but I think of the Spirit of Gold Coast Whale Watching tour as nature’s own whale theme park.

What You Will Find in This Post

Annual Humpback Whale Migration

While the Gold Coast is a holiday spot for many thousands of beach lovers in Australia, some 17,000 humpback whales also holiday here each year. They cruise 5,000 – 8,000 km from Antartica to relax in the Queensland’s tropical waters as far north as Cairns in Tropical North Queensland. They navigate within the safety of the Great Barrier Reef, a favourite place for them to give birth in Queensland being Hervey Bay.

The annual humpback whale migration is the underwater version of the great Wildebeest migration of the Serengeti.

This post may contain compensated links. We may earn a small percentage if you book through a compensated link, but it won’t cost you any more by doing so. You can read our full disclaimer here.

 

Humpback Whale Migration Map Queensland

 

Whale Watching Season Queensland

In early June the whales begin cruising up the Queensland coast and by early November they are heading home with their newborn calves.

Back in Antartica they fatten up on krill and plankton before returning again next year.

Whale watching is one of the most beautiful and peaceful past times on the planet.

Photo by Jennett Bremer

Go humpback whale watching on the gold coast in Australia

 

Spirit Whale Watching Gold Coast

We chose Spirit of Gold Coast for our whale watching cruise. Their 24 metre Catamaran departs from Mariners Cove Marina next to Marina Mirage on Seaworld Drive at Main Beach, Gold Coast. As we walked along the pier we could see a line forming at the departure point, next to the helipad.

If you have a favourite position on the boat arrive 45 minutes before departure so you can be toward the front of the queue.

Having said that, when the whales appear passengers move around all over the place.

  • Daily Morning Departure 9.30 a.m. Return 12 noon.
  • Depart from Mariners Cove Marina.
  • Arrive 30 minutes before departure.
  • Take seasickness tablets 30 minutes before departure.
  • Free Trip if no whales are sighted.
  • Free parking at Mariners Cove Marina
  • Free morning tea
  • Licensed Bar

BUY YOUR SPIRIT OF GOLD COAST TICKETS HERE

Marina Mirage

Marina Mirage Gold Coast is where our whale watching tour departed from

Helicopters added to our excitement when whale watching on the Gold Coast

We love marinas and thoroughly enjoyed walking through the vibrant Mariners Cove Marina. The helicopter action only added to our anticipation.

Staff were proactive in reminding people to take sea-sickness tablets if required. They checked in on everyone regularly during the trip to see if anyone was feeling ill, advising on the best place to sit to avert sickness. As an occasional sea-sickness victim, I was very impressed with their caring attitude and helpful actions.

We had already taken our tablets prior to departure, so grabbed a complimentary coffee and biscuits and headed on up to the top deck. I love sitting in the fresh air – never inside the cabin. There is also a front lower deck on the catamaran which is great for getting up close and personal with the whales and dolphins.

Whale Watching Gold Coast

The water was flat and calm.

Perfect for finding whales.

Instagram photo of Surfers Paradise taken from Spirit.

Went looking for whales and caught some tantalising glimpses. A flash of a tail and a rounded back. What a beautiful day and luckily the ocean was calm and flat. Some dolphins cane out to play too.

A post shared by budget travel talk (@budgettraveltalk) on Jun 30, 2018 at 1:34am PDT

Everyone on board, from the whale spotter in the tower to the smallest child on deck, was on whale watch duties. Although we saw telltale blows, the whales were being shy. We saw backs of whales and tails of whales and swirls of whales as they dove, but no breaching of whales. Even so, it was magical to be in their presence.

Check out this video.

 

Rewarded with a flash of whale tail on the Gold Coast of Australia.

A post shared by budget travel talk (@budgettraveltalk) on Jun 30, 2018 at 3:16am PDT

A breaching whale is an thrilling sight, as 40 tonnes of animal launches out of the water before falling backwards with a loud slap.

The silence on the boat was intense, broken only by cries of Whales at 1 o’clock and Dolphins on the Bow! 

I wished we could have stayed there longer looking for more whales and waiting for them to come closer or breach. But the 2.5 hours trip time sped by and too soon we had to return. In busy times the boat does a second trip in the afternoon (weather permitting).

Humpback Whale Watching on the Gold Coast of Queensland Australia

 

We received reduced price tickets for our trip, but as usual we only write what we know to be true. All thoughts are our own.

Humpback Whale Facts

  • A baby humpback weighs a hefty 2 tonnes.
  • Female Humpbacks are larger than the males. They can measure 15 metres long and weigh more than 40 tonnes.
  • The whales concentrate on looking after and teaching their calves whilst in Queensland. They don’t feed here.
  • Humpbacks live between 45 and 55 years.
  • Humpbacks are endangered. There are only 35,000 world wide.
  • Only Male Humpbacks sing – it is a courtship ritual.
  • Humpbacks to do not have teeth, they have baleen plates
  • Humpbacks only eat in cold water
  • They eat 2000 – 2500 km of krill, plankton and small school fish each day
  • They feed twice each day
  • Humpback whales only close down half of their brain when they sleep so they can consciously remember to breathe.

More than a Whale Watching Boat Tour

Yes we were here for whale watching Gold Coast, but cruising through the Broadwater is picturesque and interesting in itself. Not only are there pleasure boats and police boats, but also helicopters, birds and views back to Surfers Paradise.

Parasailing on the Broadwater Surfers Paradise

Parasailing on the Broadwater Surfers Paradise on the Gold Coast

We saw Pelicans from our what watching boat on the Gold Coast

Coming back through The Spit Surfers Paradise Gold Coast

Sailboat on the broadwater Surfers Paradise

 

Best Coffee Gold Coast

Find the Best Coffee Gold Coast here.

More Australian Wildlife

Read about where to find more Australian Wildlife here and here.

PIN FOR LATER

Pin This Whale Watching Gold Coast Pin

 

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Filed Under: Boat Trips, Queensland, Wildlife

About Jan Robinson

Jan Robinson writes about travel on her Budget Travel Talk blog. A solo traveller in her teens, for the last 40 years Jan has travelled through Australia, Asia, Europe, Turkey and New Zealand with her husband. They specialise in road trips, caravanning and Independent travel without spending a fortune. Her favourite destination is Turkey and she is currently dreaming of Myanmar and Mexico.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Sandra

    July 2, 2018 at 5:26 pm

    Sounds like a great activity – will keep this in mind for future weekends !

    Reply
    • Jan

      July 2, 2018 at 5:57 pm

      We loved it Sandy and it was lovely to be back on the water. We have always had two boats of our own, a small one for mangrove creeks and another for venturing into the ocean for snorkelling and fishing, however we sold them when we left Townsville. We are going to buy a car topper though when we get organised. We’ll take it around Australia.

      Reply
  2. Tracy

    July 2, 2018 at 9:12 pm

    Would have loved to have been with you – sounds like you had an amazing time! I have yet to get to see any whales but it’s top of my list when we get back from Far Northern Queensland!

    Reply
    • Jan

      July 3, 2018 at 2:14 pm

      Yes it was great but would have been better with more whales. I’ve heard the whales are more active on their return trip down the coast.

      Reply
  3. Krista Bjorn

    July 31, 2018 at 5:43 am

    What an amazing experience!!! I’ve never been whale-watching in Australia, but I did in Washington State and got to see Orcas up close and personal. That was incredible. 🙂

    Reply
    • Jan

      August 1, 2018 at 3:17 pm

      Wow Krista, that is wonderful. I admit I don’t know much about Orca’s. I’m a humpback whale kind of girl lol. I love the name Orca – it sounds intriguing.

      Reply

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