Sydney

Sydney Whale-Watching Cruise Including Lunch or Breakfast

Badge of ExcellenceSydney, Australia

From $69.96

Select Date and Travelers

up to 24 hours before the experience starts (local time)

4 hours
Offered in: English

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Overview

Enjoy a whale-watching cruise that begins with a breakfast or barbecue lunch onboard the boat while in the calm waters of Sydney Harbour. After breakfast or lunch, your boat glides past Sydney Head into the Pacific Ocean in search of the humpback and southern right whales that migrate along this coast from May to November. Keep an eye out for whales and dolphins as you learn about them from your naturalist guide, who provides fascinating commentary about Australian marine life during your tour.

Sydney Harbour sightseeing and whale-watching cruise
See top Sydney sights like the Opera House from the water
Watch for whales in the open water of the Pacific Ocean
Enjoy an onboard breakfast or BBQ lunch and listen to live commentary
Guaranteed whale sightings or enjoy a return cruise for free
Smaller numbers ensure a more comfortable whale-watching experience

What's Included

BBQ buffet lunch or breakfast (depending on departure time selected)
Tea and Coffee
Live commentary on board
Humpback whale watching

Hotel pickup and drop-off
Alcoholic drinks (available to purchase)
Gratuities

Meeting and Pickup

Meeting point

Sydney Princess Cruises
Eastern Pontoon, Sydney NSW 2000, Australia
Eastern Pontoon, Eastern side of Circular Quay (same side as Opera House) The pontoon is located in front of Searock Grill Restaurant Please check in 15-30 minutes before departure time

End point

This activity ends back at the meeting point.

What To Expect

Make your own way to King Street Wharf to board your whale-watching vessel. Numbers are restricted on this whale-watching cruise, allowing for ample elbow room in the cabin and on the outside decks of your boat.

Get comfortable and enjoy a buffet breakfast or barbecue lunch while gliding on the calm waters of Sydney Harbour. Take in landmark waterfront sights with great photo ops of Sydney Opera House, Sydney Harbour Bridge, and Fort Denison. After breakfast or lunch, your boat cruises past Sydney Heads, Manly Beach, Watsons Bay, and The Gap as it leaves the harbor and enters the Pacific Ocean.

From May to November, as many as 15,000 humpbacks and southern right whales pass by this stretch of Australian coast during their migration between Antarctica and the Great Barrier Reef. Typical whale behaviors that you might witness include breaching (jumping) out of the water, hitting the water’s surface with their tails and spouting as they surface. Your naturalist guide provides informative commentary about whales, dolphins and other marine life that you might see during your whale-watching cruise.

While sightings are almost guaranteed, wildlife is unpredictable. If your naturalist guide does not find any whales during your trip, you can return for a complimentary whale-watching cruise on another day.

Sydney Harbour Bridge

45 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Royal Botanic Garden Sydney (Pass By)

Manly Beach (Pass By)

Sydney Harbour (Pass By)

Watsons Bay (Pass By)

Oz Whale Watching (Pass By)

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Please advise any specific dietary requirements at time of booking
We suggest all guests to please bring motion sickness medication, our policy is better safe than sorry.
Not wheelchair accessible
Stroller accessible
Please dress appropriately with comfortable shoes and warm clothing depending on the time of the year
Service animals allowed
Please bring a camera and sun protection

Available May - November (Whale Watching Season here in Sydney)
Near public transportation
Not recommended for travelers with back problems
Not recommended for pregnant travelers
No heart problems or other serious medical conditions
Travelers should have a moderate physical fitness level
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 96 travelers

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.
Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.

Cut-off times are based on the experience’s local time.
This experience requires good weather. If it’s canceled due to poor weather, you’ll be offered a different date or a full refund.

Traveler Photos

Reviews

4.5

695 reviews

Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews

Reviews by Viator travelers.

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Showing 1-10 of 695 reviews

To see a couple whale 🐋...

Prakash_M, Nov 2023

To see a couple whale 🐋 breaching the water at the tail end of the migration. This was a tremendous experience!!!!!

Whales in their natural habitat

Karen_L, Nov 2023

This tour delivered everything it promised! We were able to enjoy the sights of the Sydney harbour as we made our way out to Sydney Head. The ocean was slightly choppy, so the advice to bring some sort of anti-motion sickness medicine is a good tip. I don’t succumb to this type of sickness, so I enjoyed scanning the horizon looking for the pods of whales. We saw a couple of moms and their calves. It was fantastic seeing them in their natural environment. There was plenty of space to move about the boat and the breakfast that was served was tasty eggs, sausage, beans, mushrooms, roll. Coffee on board as well as drinks for purchase. This was the next to last day of this tour for the season, so I’m glad I caught it before the end!

Whale watching roller coaster

Frances_P, Oct 2023

Our trip lasted about three and a half hours with high wind, equally high waves and the boat rocking, plunging and cork screwing at times. Unfortunately due to the white foam on the top of the waves it was difficult to spot any whales but the crew tried their best. The skipper did a great job attempting to minimise the movement but the boat plunged its nose down a couple of times and many people were seasick. Overall it was an exciting experience and the operators promised an email for a free second opportunity as no whales were seen.

Nice day but no whale

JooHooiLeslie_N, Oct 2023

It was a very pleasant day out in the sun and we were able to have a nice outing in the harbor. The lunch was good and the team on board was excellent in terms of sharing their experiences knowledge and just what was going on. Unfortunately we were not able to see any of the whales up close (apart from some very brief glimpses) made the day rather disappointing. But we understand that it is no fault of the team on board. We are unfortunately visitors to Sydney and we're hoping that we could reschedule our trip. Apparently they would write to us to offer an alternative however we have not heard anything today and we are leaving this afternoon. The lack of follow-up was unfortunate so I would like to appeal for a refund instead. Thank you

Wet whale watching

concordglobalnetcouk, Oct 2023

Seeing the whales was great. Lunch was OK. Encouraged to go outside but not warned about getting soaked. Also other people throwing up was not pleasant.

Fantastic

Michael_v, Oct 2023

Saw many pods of whales.Was a fantastic experience. Bbq lunch was very nice and the crew friendly. If you get sea sick then this adventure is not for you.

Fantastic experience!

Hayley_R, Oct 2023

We had a fantastic time and would highly recommend booking this experience. Saw several whales, a couple were jumping out of the water close to the boat. Amazing to watch. The boat was clean and there was plenty of space. The food was very good. The whole experience felt well organised and the crew were very helpful and informative.

Whales galore!

Paul_K, Oct 2023

Whales, whales and more whales. After a delicious lunch and a detailed harbour tour we headed out looking for whales. The crew and captain did a great job spotting the whales and positioning the boat for maximum viewing by passengers. The water was pretty choppy and the ticket agents reminded everyone to consider motion sickness meds, which was a great suggestion for most passengers.

Very good

pankajsingh, Oct 2023

Trip was amazing as we got to watch a number of whales. Lunch & coffee provided as part of trip was very good. Must go for a trip if you are looking for lunch as the trip is for approx 4hrs

Whale watching

Isla_C, Oct 2023

Absolutely out of this world, takes a bit of patience but it's worth it when you see humpback whales breaching and playing, such beautiful creatures! Staff were friendly and informative, bit choppy but that's to be expected on the sea 🐳

A day on the harbour

Beverley_M, Oct 2023

Meeting soo many wonderful people from different countries and ages who absolutely loved it here in Sydney and loved the whale watching

Awesome

JOSEPH_G, Oct 2023

The tour was awesome…. I enjoyed every moment.. Got amazing photos that I will cherish for the rest of my life

Very nice and complete experience !

Manon_S, Oct 2023

It was a really good moment, we saw some whales, they were a bit shy but that's nature. The boat staff was amazing, providing bags for the sick people, as they were a lot. The comments on the boat were interesting, maybe it should have been a bit louder. The breakfast was well-balanced, with a good choice of things.

Be warned.

AnneMarye_H, Oct 2023

Just sit right back and you’ll hear a tale, a tale of a fateful trip. Where the passengers set sail that day for a three hour tour . . . . Positives. We saw whales. The guide was very knowledgeable. The crew was amazing. All of the above not withstanding, this was quite possibly the worst thing we have ever done. Will preface this review with the fact that we reached out to the tour for clarification prior to writing this, but they did not enter the chat. Was this a particularly high swell day? Was this a normal day? We do not know. We can only say what happened on our cruise. Yours may be different. Negatives. There was puke, vomit, upchuck, barf, chunder everywhere. Followed by continuous retching and dry heaving. The crew did a great job of passing out barf bags, but omitted the direction of closing them when done. People were tossing their cookies and then tossing the open bags in the trash can or leaving it on the floor. The trash cans were overflowing and bags left on the deck of the ship were leaking out. People were leaving puke bags on tables. We could not get away from the puke! Aside from the crew, we were 2 of 5 adults not getting sea sick. Thank god for open windows! Things that could have been done differently to lessen the puke parade. Suggest (again) at the check in that everyone take motion sickness tablets. Let them know the waves are really bad today. (Again, we don’t know if they were normal size or not). Demonstrate the correct usage of barf bags. Clearly many on board had not used one previously. Designate a no upchuck area for the few non-vomitors to hide out in until cruise is over. DO NOT SERVE BREAKFAST BEFORE HEADING OUT!! Suggest everyone have a light snack prior and feed them something on the way in if needed. If not for the courage of the fearless crew, the passengers would be lost. 0 out of 10, do not recommend.

Never again

Michal_K, Oct 2023

Well... to serve a food before entering the ocean was the top idea. Instead of watching whales i cared about my paperbag. Not only me... like 1/4 of the boat.... It would be nice to mention how shaky it might be for those doing this for the first time. Little dislaimer would help for sure 😉

Whales

Federico_A, Oct 2023

Amazing moments can be lived with such simplicity, thank you for the lunch and comments during the experience.

Great trip out to see the whales.

Janet_P, Oct 2023

Watching the mom, calf and escort slapping flippers and their tails, etc. Also enjoyed the ride, even though it was very wavy and lots of people got sick.

Great experience but likely to get sea sick

Michael_S, Oct 2023

Excellent trip with ample opportunities to spot the Humpback Whales on their Migration. The staff were friendly. Lunch is provided but I would strongly advise not eating it as the sea becomes very rough and you will be sick! Take sickness pills beforehand, bring a hat and sunscreen as the wind/sun will burn you and finally bring a dry top as you are likely to get wet! All in all an excellent 4hrs

Awesome!

lynnpampa2000, Oct 2023

My most memorable part of the cruise, just seeing the whales and their gigantic size. It was fun watching them going up in the air slamming into the water and the big splash they create. And watching their big tail when they dive.

Nice sunny day to be whale watching!

Elle_R, Oct 2023

Hot lunch was nice. Saw pod of 3 whales early and followed them . A breach would have made it exceptional!!

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