It’s School holidays again – and it’s Spring.  A great time of year to pull out the cossie and get back into the water.  We have had some lovely Sunny days of late and hopefully it’s the start to what we can expect for Summer on the Sunshine Coast.

This time of the year it’s all about enjoying time with the kids out on the water.

Here at Sunshine Coast Afloat, we offer a range of marine activities but some that are more “Family Focused” are: –

Deep Sea Fishing & Spanner Crabbing  –  The 5 hour fishing trip is ideal for families.  It’s all about being out on the water, seeing the marine life – dolphins, whales, seeing how the Spanner Crabbing is done and taking part in that, throwing in a line and seeing how you go.

Whale Watching without the Crowds –  We only have a few more weeks left to enjoy seeing these beauties swim up and down our coastline.  Crusader 1 is our 55 ft. vessel but we only take a maximum of 23 passengers + 2 crew.  Our aim is to give you more of a personal experience with guaranteed rail side viewing, light refreshments, all non-alcoholic drinks and an informative trip all about Humpback Whales.

Our dedicated staff love giving you a memorable experience!

Check out our website www.sunshinecoastafloat.com.au or phone Paddy for a chat on 0412 155 814  –  Always happy to help.

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was certainly a busy and eventful week last week.  We were luck enough to still have that beautiful weather with us to end winter – what winter I say.  I only recall turning the heather on twice.  She was certainly mild, not that I’m complaining.

Thank you to all that have embraced our Whale Watching trips this season so far.  We have taken a dramatic leap in the number of trips we have been able to do so far and the word is getting out that we can offer a guaranteed rail side viewing so when you do see those whales, you can take all the pictures you want.  We are finding the Humpback Whales are still out a lot wider than they usually are for this time of the year so there are certainly some changes occurring.  We are now in full Whale Watching swing – 2 months to go and we are now seeing the whales in closer than they were a couple of weeks ago so from here on in is the time to really enjoy getting out there.

We have also been doing our half day – 5 hour deep sea fishing charters.  Caloundra State high School joined us on an excursion during the week.  It was nice to see so many international students really engaging and loving the experience.  Firstly a fishing and Spanner Crabbing charter, then off for a bit of lunch and then a tour of the Tuna factory and trawlers.  A great way to spend your day at school. Lots of questions were asked about sustainability and to be able to speak to people who have been working in the industry for years is valuable knowledge.

We were also lucky enough to have a corporate charter so we did a big cook up for breakfast.  Later in the day it was a hens cruise – always nice having the girls on board singing and dancing and enjoying themselves.

Finished off the weekend with another Whale Watching trip – loving it!

If you are interested in any of our activities, please either phone Paddy on 0412 155 814 or check out our website

 

 

 

What a fantastic week of activity and weather.  A mixture of an 18 hour overnight fishing trip to the fun 5 hour corporate social club outings.  Throw in some Whale Watching and we even assisted the Coastrek event. (Wild Women on Top)  The weather last week was for nominal with beautiful sunny days and calm seas which always makes being out on the water magical.

Our New Zealand friends have been loving the fishing and we are certainly enjoying showcasing the Sunshine Coast fishing, coastline and conditions to them. Jason sent through this fabulous text after there trip last week: –

 “Thank you so much for yesterday Paddy.  Your staff were so friendly and helpful, everyone had a great time.   It has been the highlight of their trip so far and thanks for the rod and reel, that was so nice of you guys.” 

After ferrying the Coastrek participants from La Balsa Pontoon to The Public Boat Ramp in Mooloolaba on Friday, we headed out whale watching for the afternoon.  Had a lovely encounter with a few mum’s and calf’s.  The whales are starting to come in a lot closer now which is good as they are generally more playful and active.

Last weekend was all about fishing.  Corporate events and bucks parties followed by our big overnight trip.  We were lucky enough to have a company from Toowoomba on board on Saturday and his was kind enough to put up a google & Trip Advisor review.

“The staff were fantastic, they made the trip something to remember. It was a real pleasure to be on the water,  I would definitely recommend this charter for everyone.” – Michael

Our 18 hour, overnight trip was filled with all sorts – On the way out we were lucky enough to experience a pod of dolphins riding the waves and the bow of Crusader 1.  Enjoying a few drinks and nibbles while watching the sun set, a nice big feed of eye fillet steaks and a variety of other meats.  Breakfast was croissants, bacon, eggs, hash browns and anything else you want.

Some fabulous fish caught, but instead of rattling them off – watch the video: –  Enjoy.

If you would like to know more about our Fishing Charters, Whale Watching, Cruises – just call Paddy on 0412 155 814 or check out our website – www.sunshinecoastafloat.com.au

Make your Sunshine Coast Holidays even more fun!

If you are visiting the Sunshine Coast for a holiday, or maybe you have family and friends visiting. To see and show the Sunshine Coast at it’s best, you need to check out some of the fun marine activities we have on offer. Whether you are after something relaxing, fun, adrenaline pumping, romantic, family orientated, by yourself or with a group,  we have something that will suit all occasions.

Whale Watching

We can offer you two types of Whale Watching.  Some fast, fun action getting out to the whales quicker but no need for bulky life jackets and you don’t get wet!  Hela-Va Jet is one of only 3 in Australia. A very unique machine.  We open the doors as we get closer to the whales so you can enjoy being close to the water and amongst it all.

Our other vessel – Crusader 1 is a 3 hour cruise on our 55 ft vessel.  Enjoy the open deck where you can move around easily and have a rail side view at all times – ready for that photo moment.  We only take a maximum of 22 passengers – so no crowds!

For more information on our very special whale watching tours have a read HERE.

Deep Sea Fishing

We offer Deep Sea fishing and Spanner Crabbing charters ranging from 5 hrs – 18 hour over-night trips.    These trips are great for the family, individuals or groups.  This time of the year there is lots to see out on the water – Dolphins, Turtles, Whales along with the Spanner Crabs and fish.

Ocean Jet Boating

Enjoy the thrill of a roller coaster on the water but you don’t get wet.  This ride includes all the usual tricks and turn you would experience on a calm water jet boat ride but you are out in the ocean to enjoy the coastline.  If there is swell we will even ride the waves.  You don’t get wet nor do you have to wear life jackets so it’s about sitting back enjoying the music and thrills.

Guided Kayak Fishing Tours

Another great adventure for the family.  Our guide will take you up in amongst the estuaries where boats can’t get to and teach you about kayak fishing, or simply enjoy being out on the water with the family.  The tours are great if the swell is too high in the ocean.

Romantic or fun Cruises for Two or more

We offer various types fo cruises from private two person trips complete with a picnic all all conducted in our beautiful waterways, to group cruises for up to 23 of your closest friends and family.  Check out our Facebook page for the latest trips we have done to get an idea.  All our cruises are adapted to completely suit your needs. All you need do is select your cruise, a picnic and swim – we can assist with your request.

Like the idea of a cruise with a difference?

We hope to, with this blog post explain, why you should have your next adventure with us, at Sunshine Coast Afloat.

Simply put, if you love the sun, salt and sea then look no further than Sunshine Coast Afloat!

For starters, if anyone knows a good time it’s our team! We have extremely experienced guides and state of the art equipment – this combination leads to the ultimate, enjoyable way to see the beautiful Sunshine Coast. Together with this we offer an amazing range of water-based activities, all of which can be modified according to the conditions of the day. And every budget is catered for! We offer deep sea fishing & crabbing charters, whale watching, ocean jet boat thrill rides, bucks and hens parties, guided kayak fishing tours, coastline & canal cruises, water taxi services and much much more!!

This adventure brought along their surfboards, drinks and a massive breakfast cook up – things that are all encouraged when booking with us at Sunshine Coast Afloat. Toby and Rob were the skippers that looked after the boys on this trip. Touring them around Mooloolaba and even taking care of the breakfast cook-up so the boys could make the most of the surf! Each and every party can be catered the way you want, with this one really focusing on the boys and just having the best and most chilled out day possible! They had such a great time they are considering making it an annual outing!!

Cooking a Breakfast Feast on the BBQ on Crusader 1.
Cooking a Breakfast Feast on the BBQ on Crusader 1.

Another great thing about Sunshine Coast Afloat is that if you have an idea, just ask us and we will find a way to make it work! We pride ourselves on finding ways to organise and alter the trip the way you wish; whether that’s bringing your own music, drinks, food ect. We want you to have the most memorable day, so we will go to all lengths to make this happen!

Another recent review after a fishing charter:

“We had an excellent experience with Sunshine Coast Afloat! Not only would we recommend them to others but we would happily go again. The staff were super helpful and happy to chat and get amongst the people. Great knowledge of fish and awesome enthusiasm! Personally what impressed me the most was the attention to safety and the pride they took in keeping the boat clean”

Felicity Tripp 2017 (Google Review).

Sunshine Coast Afloat were the winners of the 2014 Sunshine Coast Business Awards, and runners up in 2015! It was a privilege to receive the top prize and realise our efforts and promises were paying off!

We will do everything possible to ensure you will have an amazing time!

The highlights from July 2017

What a fabulous July we had on the Sunshine Coast!  Spectacular weather with temperatures in the mid-twenties, you would think we were in Spring rather than Winter. We have not experienced the normal winter weather at all this year. In fact we are even still seeing some pelagic out there!  Overall fishing has not been too bad at all. The crabbing has been rather dismal with only 1 in every 5 trips hitting any real volume of crabs.

The weather certainly resulted in a massive influx of bookings and has allowed us take on a variety of different activities this month. All of which which has kept us on our toes and excited.

The great weather even allowed us to get TWO overnight charters out in July! The first of these being a single group booking, celebrating a couple of birthdays. The other overnight charter consisted of a lot of our regular customers, which is always a lot of fun for everyone involved!  Of course both trips were very different, but both successful in different ways.  Everyone certainly said they enjoyed the trips and almost all are asking about when we will be doing our next!

Night Fish often gives excellent fishing results as can be seen by this huge Sweetlip.
A nice Tusk Fish on one of the evening deep Sea Fishing Charters on Crusader 1

We decided to give August a miss – a good call as it turned out – as we tend to experience the strong Westerly winds in that month. In the 3 years of doing these trips we are yet to have a comfortable August overnight charter happen! The date we had pencilled in before we decided to “play safe” saw strong winds and high seas. So we made the right call and did not need to disappoint anyone that would have had a booking!

July saw a massive number of “common” fishing charters completed. Certainly nothing like the 60% cancellation rate due to unsuitable weather the prior months had been impacted by! Perhaps this is also one of the reason the fishing was often much better than expected.

The smile says it all! An awesome size Tusk Fish makes all the effort worthwhile!
Any Coral Trout is an exciting catch. Especially this size!

As a company we are always looking at ways to improve the experience we provide us customers. Fishing isn’t becoming any easier with the ongoing increases in boat numbers and without doubt the impact of huge overseas commercial fishing vessels. Large fish grow large for a reason. They have learnt to survive! So catching a large size fish requires more than just pure luck. Skill and technique are more often than not the key. And to assist in this we trialled a number of different “plastics” in July. Some more successful than others. These plastics need to be matched with the correct hooks etc. So we ended up getting our own designs made for us to ensure we were able to get the best possible results. And we believe the result are more than encouraging. We’ll never remove bait fishing entirely, but the impact we are seeing from the plastics is so strong we feel it will become a very key component of our setup moving forward.

Of course this time of year whale watching really starts to hit its strides. Especially towards the end of July into August. The now clearly rapidly growing numbers of whale migrating up the Eastern coastline is making for more and more frequent amazing encounters. Both Crusader 1 and Hela-Va Jet offer very personal and special viewing of these special animals. The growth in our booking for whale watching trips is fantastic and we believe down to both our brilliant crew and the very private feel we have aboard our boats. Our focus is on giving the best possible viewing of the whales, and the only way to do that is have small passenger numbers on our vessels. With some mind blowing encounters already in July we can’t wait till August and September!!

Whale Watching aboard Hela-Va Jet on the Sunshine Coast
Another group enjoying the amazing Humpback Whales from HEla-Va Jets unique perspective
HEading out whale watching on Hela-Va Jet is exciting in many ways!
A pod of Humpbacks sees one whale head straight for Crusader 1
A curious whale pops up right next to Crusader to see what all the fuss is about.

July also saw our 2nd Pelagic Bird watching trip for the year. See the full post on that here. It’s funny how it goes. Fishing and whale watching needs to ideally have light winds, whilst we are told the pelagic birds are much more plentifull with winds speeds of 20 to 25 knots. Both Pelagic Bird trips have seen the most gentle of conditions of course! I bet our fishing and whale watching customers had that same luck every time!

 

Getting the best positions for the Pelagic Bird Watching trip in July 2017
Birds on the Bow of Crusader 1 on July’s Pelagic Bird Watching trip

Of course we had a number of other trips on as well. Cruises, Hens and Bucks parties to name a few. And of course a large number of the more common or standard fishing charters. See below images for a few images taken during those trips. Some great fish were caught. Just a bit of a pity the spanner crabs did not play the game as much this month.

A common sight on a nice day is the dolphins swimming and playing in the Bow wake of Crusader 1 as we steam along.
One of the local dolphins trying to get the attention of the passengers aboard Crusader 1
The spectacular Sunrises on offer over the Coral Sea from Mooloolaba never fail to impress!
Heading out before the Sun has risen gives a great sunrise over the ocean every time. It never fails to make an impression!
Steaming back in as the Sun prepares to set on another day of fun deep sea fishing aboard Crusader 1

Well that wraps up July 2017. A great month by any measure! Here is hoping to more of the same in August!

Sunshine Coast ESS Training Assistance

Crusader 1 and our team here at Sunshine Coast Afloat recently had the pleasure of assisting a bunch of great guys from Hall Engineering out into the Mooloolaba Bay to participate in the practical component of their Elements of Shipboard Safety (ESS) course with Sea School.

This course qualifies a person to work as a deckhand on a commercial vessel. It is also a prerequisite for anyone applying for a certificate of competency as Master/Skipper or Engineer of a commercial vessel.

It is also suitable for anyone who is embarking upon a career at sea and participants include recreational boat owners, volunteer crew, sailing club members, competitive sailors, and is a compulsory OHS unit for GPH Deckhands, Coxswains, Engineers and Masters.

The knowledge gained from doing this sort of course is valuable even if you own a boat or partake in boating just in a recreational sense on a regular basis.

The course includes face-to-face teaching in the classroom as well as demonstrations putting on a life jacket, use of the EPIRB, safety equipment checks, crew drills, how to use a fire extinguisher and line handling basics, and the essentials in the grab bag. Understanding the key safety elements aboard commercial (and hopefully recreational) vessels are looking at in exact detail. Possibly even more essential is the practical experience gained which is obviously of massive benefit should an emergency ever arise out at sea. Even the more simple areas such as abandoning ship with a life jacket on are covered.

Michael demonstrates stepping off a vessel and entering the water with a life jacket.

During the in-water sea survival drills and tasks, the trainer will activate a real life raft and you will be involved in many exercises relating to abandon ship scenarios. This may all look and appear like fun judging by the smiles on everyone’s faces, but it certainly has its challenges as anyone would contest to that has had to climb into a life raft at sea.

It seems like a LONG time since we have had truly pleasant conditions on a weekend. For the last 5 months the swell has averaged close to the 1.7m mark and winds have averaged around the 18 knot mark! Tough conditions for anyone heading out deep sea! But the forecast for this weekend looks near perfect for deep sea fishing!! :

Sunshine-Coast-Weather-Forecast-for the 27-Nov-2016

The reason I have only put up Sunday’s forecast is because we are already fully booked on both trips for the Saturday, and I would hate to give anyone a false impression that they could still get a spot on one of those trips. However, as is common this time of year so close to the school holidays, Sundays trip is only half full! Just the one trip at this point. a 5Hr charter in what are forecast to be the best conditions of the entire weekend! I honestly cannot recall the last time I have seen a forecast stating “Smooth seas, and add in just 7 knots of wind!!  Should prove to be a lovely time out on the ocean!

We are heading out, so if you think this sounds like a trip you want to be a part of give us a call or book online ( Click here for the 5Hr page on our site ). We would love to have you aboard!

Sunshine Coast Afloat is our new brand name.

The well known, existing brand names – Fish n Crab Deep Sea Charters, Mooloolaba Jet boat and Coastline Cruises will become products moving forward, rather than stand alone brands. The change has been brought about through 2 main drivers.

  1. Social Media. Social Media is a key component of any modern business. It all seems great to have constant updates etc, but when you think about the various social media forums – Facebook, Twitter, Google +, Instagram, Snap chat, Pintrest, LinkedIn etc etc, you start to get a feel for the almost full time job that it is just to keep all of them going for a single business. Imagine that for 3 (Well, 4. See the next point). Add on websites, brochures, advertising, Tourism and business memberships costs and you can imaginer it can quickly become rather overwhelming!
  2. New Product Offering. Guided Kayak Fishing tours is another new addition to our services. Its becoming very apparent that Kayak fishing is not a flash in the pan phenomenon but a true and rapidly growing sport here in Australia. The Sunshine Coast has some of the best estuary fishing for this in Australia, and there is a clear need for the service. We believe that we have been able to put together the best value kayak fishing offering in Australia! Check it out here!

All in all, we are about to bring the next level of marine and water based tourism experiences to the beautiful Sunshine Coast!

Still not content with just offering the same standard trips as you can find pretty much everywhere else, we remain fully focused on making sure that we do things the way you (and we) really want them to be. Fun, adventurous, adrenalin filled or clam and relaxing. Sunshine Coast Afloat is a one stop location where you will be able to choose the activity that suits you perfectly all secure in the knowledge that from the very moment you find us to the the time you get back home you will have been looked after the way you deserve!

Sunshine Coast Afloat – For whatever floats your boat!

And with Sunshine Coast Afloat all direct bookings get a free Rod and Reel to keep!

World wide kayak fishing is growing faster than any other activity!

Commonly referred to a “yak fishing” (who knew the work kayak was too long!) it does take skill and local knowledge to make the best of the advantages yak fishing has to offer. Thats why a guided kayak fishing tour is a great way to head out. The Sunshine Coast estuaries a brimming with all manner of species of fish, in areas motorised boats just cannot get to.

At Sunshine Coast afloat we also want to make sure you not only have a great time, but also the best value for money! As such every direct booking gets a free Kayak style high quality Rod and Reel to keep! Thats a retail value of approximately $200.00 included in your trip for which you are only paying $140.00 !!!!!! We can’t do better than that!!! You walk away with more in value that what you pay for the trip!

Our guides know these waters better than anyone and when you add in the amazing value deal this trip offers you,it will be obvious why only Sunshine Coast Afloat is running guided tours here! Fish the local estuaries, or for the more experienced and adventurous anhers we can, with prior arrangement organise a local dam fishing tour as well! The small additional permit and travel cost are well worth the incredible array and variety of fish available in these controlled waters! Or maybe a different Sunshine Coast body of water has your interest? Let us know and if we can assist we will! Locations such as the Namour river area are a rarely fished location that offer great variety and excellent quantities of fish. Of course the more remote we may need to increase the duration of the tour.