Winners of Trip Advisor 2017 Certificate of Excellence, Sunshine Coast Afloat is your number one pick for deep sea fishing charters on the Coast!

Sunshine Coast Afloat’s award winning Deep Sea Fishing Charters have a wide range of options to suit everyone. From first timers diving in to try their hand at fishing, to the experienced, avid fishermen!

Our tours range from half a day to overnight, and everything in between. Our shorter charters are ideal for the beginner looking to try their hand at a bit of fishing. A fun and enjoyable trip that offers a tantalising taste of what you’ll experience on longer trips.  This trip is far more focused on having a fun time offshore. There’ll also be plenty of amazing marine wildlife to observe!

The longer charters are perfect for the more experienced fishing enthusiasts seeking a true deep sea fishing adventure.  Wanting to chase that trophy fish! On these longer charters, we’re able to travel beyond where recreational boats feel comfortable, meaning less fishing pressure and with a little skill, more fish!

Fishing equipment and bait is included and all legal fish are yours to keep. They’ll be gutted and gilled for you by our crew.  Ready to throw straight on the BBQ when you get home. Our sunrise and sunset/evening charters all include snacks, fishing tackle, soft drinks and water.

With varying departure times, Sunshine Coast Afloat’s range of deep sea fishing charters are a fantastic way to get out on the water and have a great time on a lovely, large and safe vessel, regardless of your fishing ability! Our friendly and highly experienced crew will show you the ropes and take you on an award-winning adventure to remember!

What a weekend!

Saturday started off with a 7 hour SUNRISE fishing trip.  These winter morning sunrises are just spectacular to see, worth getting up for.

We then turned around and did a 5 hour SUNSET charter.  The sunset trips do quite well over winter, especially the smaller trips.  We tend to see quite a bit more action in the evenings.

On Sunday, we had the pleasure of having the Warner Recreational Fishing Club out on a full day fishing charter.  The conditions were glorious so there was no reason not to head out to The Barwon Banks.  The decision was made not to do Spanner Crabbing as they were keen to get out fishing, their trip had already been cancelled once due to bad weather.  In fact, they were that keen, we left an hour earlier than we usually do but it seemed to have paid off.

There were a lot of good fish on board – some good Travelly, Snapper, Tusk fish, Moses Perch, Spangled Emperor, Red Throat Emperor, Gold Spot Wrasse and Maori Cod.

We even hooked onto a good size Gummy Shark – obviously she went back safely into the water – which always provides the lucky person with some great action.

The day was full on, what you hope every day could be like.  Dolphins played on the bow wave of Crusader for quite some time as we headed out to our location.  Turtles were sighted, fishing was great and everyone had a good BBQ lunch and nibbles to fill up on.  John was given a Rod & Reel as a gift from us for booking a group.

One of the testimonials from the weekend.  We are always grateful to receive such wonderful feedback from our guests. It makes all the efforts of our team worth it.

The next few months we will be seeing the whales as well so it’s always a great time of the year to bring the family out, head out on a smaller trip – do some fishing, and see the wonderful humpback whale migration, and the other marine life.

To find out more head to our website

It’s only Tuesday but it seems like quite a long time ago that we were out Fishing off Mooloolaba.

With some extremely erratic weather conditions – which we have all been experiencing the last 4-5 months no doubt – it’s been great to have finally been able to get back to sea last last couple of weekends.

Saturday’s trip was a Full Day Private Booking for Stuart’s 21st birthday.  Celebrating with family and friends we headed out wide towards the Barwon Banks but had to eventually come in closer due to the choppy conditions.  It’s always disappointing when you can’t be at the destination you originally planned for but there was still a lot of activity on board and everyone seemed to of enjoyed the day out on the water.

Sunday started with a 5 hour charter and a handful of guests on board.  Fishing was tough in the morning but we turned around and did a 7 hour trip after that.  We find the sunset fishing in close can be quite good, which was the case.  Kim organised a group of family and friends to come out for Jamiee’s birthday and they decided to have a BBQ which was a nice touch to the trip for everyone on board.

A good variety of fish about at the moment. Predominantly Snapper already, which we are all hoping will be plentiful this winter.  We have also seen quite a few Cobia as well, along with lots of trevally, Sweetlip, Mowong, Trout and the usual tuskies etc.

This Brisbane based company organised a day out on Crusader 1 on Saturday 5th May. The weather forecasts were indicating it would be a great day to be out on the water.  We all knew there was some stronger winds – up to 20 knots were forecast – coming through later that night and the following day but ….what actually happened was a little surprising to everyone.

A stunning morning as we set out. No winds and flat ocean conditions. The fishing was great – lots of good sized Snapper on board, Coronation Trout and the good old Fusiliers.  overall there was lots of action on board and a great vibe.

Toby, Zoe & Dixon were the crew, and made sure the guests settled in for a nice early BBQ lunch followed by platters of dips, cheeses and fruit through out the day.

Unlike the forecasts, the weather decided to hit hard and fast from about lunchtime with wind gusts reaching 30-40 knots! Luckily the group on board took it in their stride as we were headed home when the worse took effect. We simply battened down a few clears and weathered the conditions until we got in.

All in all, a great bunch of guests on board, great fishing and everyone clearly to loved the.day  Gerard received a Rod & Reel as a gift from us for organising the group. It was a fun trip with trophies handed out and a great time had by all. 

If you think a day on the water like this would be something for your company, family of group of friends, look no further than Crusader 1 and our crew .

With all the horrible weather for the first half this year, it’s been difficult for any charter company in SE Qld. Last Friday we were able to get a small “Half Day” – 5 Hour Deep Sea Fishing Charter out, which resulted in a great day for all on board.

We actually had two birthday boys on board at the same time –  Anthony and Nigel who both managed to pick up a nice Cobia (Black King Fish), along with some other fish making their day.

We surprised them both with a birthday cake (and most likely embarrassed them as well!).

It was good to see some ladies on board as well, and for them to be hauling up some good fish proved that deep sea fishing is truely an activity suitable for everyone. They even had a double hook-up.

Cobia was certainly the flavour of the day, and they are a good fish to have on the line.  Hoping to see more as we get into the cooler months.

A nice way to start Anzac Day!  A beautiful sunrise and looking back on everyone gathering on the beach for the official Remembrance Service in front of the Mooloolaba Surf Club as we headed out on a 7 Hr Deep Sea Fishing Trip.

Aaron pulled together a group of friends for an outing.  He received a Rod & Reel as a gift from us for his efforts and I’m pretty sure he enjoyed the trip as he actually phoned us and thanked us for such a great day. Wow!  You don’t get that often.  Really touching.

Jackson’s Dad Daniel organised a fishing trip for his 10^th birthday.  It was good to be able to get him out as we had to cancel on him a couple of times with all this inclement weather we’ve been having of late.  Well, it was a delight to see him hook up the first catch of the day – a nice Pearl Perch, he deserved a hat for that.

Then we had Scott bring his two daughters along and Fiona caught her first fish ever.  Toby was there to help her and show her what to do.Mike, a Sunshine Coast local and regular, certainly knows how to fish and pulled in a couple of great fish as usual.

To top it of the last catch of the day was a nice Mack Tuna so all in all a good day on the water and we are looking forward to seeing some return guests on our overnight fishing charters and whale watching over the next few months.

A FREE Rod & Reel for Christmas? Thats right! Summer is on it’s way, and so is Christmas – only about 5 weeks to go as I am writing this!  At Sunshine Coast Afloat, we want to make sure you are set for the best Christmas holiday season yet! Fishing is pretty much the national pastime for Australians. (Well, probably almost every human on the planet!). And we know that as much as we would all love to head out every weekend (on one of our charters of course! ) that is neither realistic or possible.

So if you are looking at heading out over the Christmas holidays we want to make sure you are rewarded! How? Well, as a small local business we need your help to get as many people heading out with us. Be it on Crusader 1 or on our Kayaks. The more the merrier! And if you can help us with that we will help you to keep fishing even when you can’t jump aboard with us!

So now is the time to organise that group of guys (and gals) and book a Fishing Charter on Crusader 1. Get a group of 7 or more together and we will GIVE you, the organiser, a free, brand new, Offshore Rod and reel. Yep, your to keep (or give away if you are feeling like Santa). Retail value of over $100.00

Got way more than 7 People? Get your group size to 14 or more and you actually get go FREE!  Get to a group of 19, and the entire boat is just your group.  You still get the Rod and Reel AND you get to have up to 21 people come on for no extra cost. Thats 3 free of charge (You should be one of them of course!)

Got an offshore rod n Reel already? Well, how about a japanese made estuary spinning rod designed specifically for kayak fishing? That’s right, you can walk away with a super high quality Japanese Rod and reel set worth well of $140.00 by coming out kayak fishing on one of our Guided Kayak Fishing tours! And in this case its not just you that gets the gear. Everyone in your group does! AND you only need 4 or more people to get this happening! 4 hours of fun and expert assistance on how to get the most out of your kayak fishing.

(Free Rod and Reel available for direct bookings only. Not available for bookings made via 3rd Party agents and or sites)

TWO BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS and OUR REGULARS HEAD OUT AGAIN

The mainly wonderful weather in July 2017  has allowed us to operate TWO overnight deep sea fishing charters in the same month for the first time ever. Mind you, as kind as the forecasts were we still had unexpected wind hit on both trips.  Luckily although not forecast, it was not enough for concern for to deter the experienced anglers aboard both trips.

The first of the overnight deep sea fishing charters

The first overnight charter was a celebration of two birthdays.  And what a way to celebrate! The forecast conditions were looking perfect nearly all week in the lead up, and all the boys were clearly really looking forward to this overnight deep sea fishing charter. So much so that they arrived in the morning and then waited anxiously till 3PM to board and head out on their adventure!

The scene was set as best we could. The moon cycle, tides, wind, seas and swell were all ideally aligned, but you still wonder Will that mean fishing is going to be good?”

Once out on the Northern end of the Barwon Banks, Crusty, our resident dolphin, as almost always came to the party looking for whatever those aboard were prepared to part with. The crew found good shows on a number of our marks seeing the esky filling up fast with spangled emperor, snapper, moses perch, amberjacks and hussars, to name a few.

With beautiful weather, a few drinks, and Joe and Luke’s two birthdays being celebrated, it was a big night for some and one I am sure those aboard were ecstatic not to have missed out on. After heading back in from the Hards, a bit more fishing proved successful at sunrise. Combined with a big breakfast of bacon, eggs, & hash brown’s I doubt anyone would have wanted to be anywhere else!  We even spotted whales on the way home, which is always a great way to end a deep sea fishing trip.

A fantastic trip. Even the crew “loved every minute of it!”

The second of the overnight deep sea fishing charters

About 6 days later our second overnight deep sea trip headed out. This trip consisted mainly of  our regulars. It was was great to see a lot of familiar faces all together and it was clear they all enjoyed catching up again also.

There are a lot of phosphorescent jelly fish around at the moment along with a good amount of Whales coming up the coast.  This night saw some good snapper & a massive red emperor amongst a good spread of other fish.  Although again not forecast we had bit of rain. Luckily Crusader 1 has a well covered deck area ensuring everyone could stay comfortable and dry. Almost everyone had a bit of a sleep, allowing them to take advantage of when the fish came on the bite. As always everyone loved the BBQ dinner & breakfast, prepared by Zoe on this occasion.

Almost everyone was able to get good fish on board. There was of course lots of banter and fun, and the whales again put on a show on the way home.