Sunreef Mooloolaba’s swim with whales experience to run until October

Guests on the swim with whales experience on the Sunshine Coast will travel in comfort with the arrival of a 24-metre vessel for this year’s season.

Sunreef's Dan Hart and Philip Hart with Sunshine Coast councillor Jason O'Pray celebrating the launch of Swim with Whales season.

A 24-metre vessel has made a 1600km trip to Mooloolaba for this year’s whale season.

Following a challenging 12 months for the tourism industry, Sunreef Mooloolaba on Tuesday launched its swim with whales experience.

Owner Dan Hart expects thousands of locals and tourists will enjoy the whale season experiences between now and October.

Guests will travel in comfort and style too with a 24-metre vessel, the T6, brought to Mooloolaba from Cairns for the attraction.

“T6 is an incredible vessel for up to 100 guests with great whale watching viewing on the top deck, both inside and outside and great viewing on the bow, stern and inside on the bottom level as well,” Mr Hart said.

“Last year, again during a lockdown, we added Tsunami for Swim with Whales and scuba & snorkelling trips, and now we are trialling T6 to see how she could potentially extend our whale watching, scuba diving and snorkelling offerings throughout the year.”

Sunshine Coast councillor Jason O’Pray said whale season was an important part of winter tourism for the whole region.

File photo: Making a splash – whale watchers with Sunreef Mooloolaba keep their eyes peeled for behaviours like this breach Photo: Migration Media

“(It) is an economic driver for the tourism sector, during what is traditionally a quieter period,” he said.

“It brings in visitors, who spend not just on whale watching but also on accommodation, hospitality and other attractions, which in turn creates employment.”

Mr Hart said pre-Covid whale season experiences attracted about 15,000 locals and tourists.

“Everyone was affected by Covid last year, but we still had strong support from locals and the drive tourist market and hosted about 10,000 guests,” Mr Hart said.

File photo: Swimmers shared this special moment with mum and calf mid-migration on-board Sunreef Mooloolaba Photo: Migration Media Underwater Imaging

“With Whale Watching season starting at the beginning of June and Swim with Whales season coming out of another lock down, we are hoping to increase that this year.”

Dan Hart said the whale watching season would run through until Sunday 31st October, with the

The swim with whales experience runs until October 17.

It takes 3.5 hours and tickets are about $195 which includes mask, snorkel, fins and wetsuit hire.

Originally published as Sunreef Mooloolaba’s swim with whales experience to run until October