Whitsundays Bareboat Charter

[TK01]

Hi guys

Planning a trip to the Whitsundays in Sept 2018 and hit a snag already.

The idea is to hire one of those large power cats for a week for a family holiday.  I want to take my boat to use as a tender but also as a satellite to the mothership so I can get out and do some serious fishing.  It appears that you are not allowed to bring your own boat though, something to do with insurance for the hire company.  They provide you with a small tender vessel and that's it, non negotiable.

Has anyone done a trip like this before and know of any way I can get around this issue?

Cheers

[JonD]

I recently took my boat up to 1770 and headed out to the reefs 75km offshore, the fishing and snorkelling was fantastic, Unfortunatly the weather turned bad on us so we had to head home.

At the same time a fishing buddy headed up to the Whitsundays hiring a boat like you describe. He imagined he would be snorkelling over reefs similar to what I had been doing and fishing from the cat everyday. 

Before he left I gave him a zoning chart of the Whitsunday area and explained the reef is approx 90km offshore and he would not be allowed to take the hire boat that far. He thought I was joking!!!!... he saw no reef and not one of his family caught a fish. 

My advice would be to buy a copy of the fishfinder magazine and find a few spots to fish where you can take those boats and not just rock up thinking the fish will be everywhere as my buddy did.

If you are keen on taking your own boat why not just do that and save yourself a small $$$$$. The camping, caravan and cabin site has excellent facilities, with plenty for the kids including pools with water slides and outdoor movies every night. The ramp facilities are very good with pretty good fishing not far from the ramp.

I took my boat there a few years ago and even though it was pretty blowy most of the time we did find shelter behind the islands to fish. We also did a family trip 90km on one of the tour boats to the reef, they had a semi submerged boat out at the reef for doing tours as well as a platform with waterslides and snorkelling etc. There are also some sheltered river systems for Barra fishing in the area.

fishfinder mag http://www.fishfinderbooks.com/

[TK01]

Thanks Jon

I've just always really liked the idea of doing this.

Your mate's experience doesn't surprise me and is a big part of the reason why I'd want to have my own boat with me so I can make a run further afield from the mothership to fish the reef, or chase schools of pelagics around (and having decent electronics at my fingertips too).

If I can't take my boat a lot of the appeal is lost for me.

Thanks for the link too.

[JonD]

36 minutes ago, TK01 said:

Thanks Jon

I've just always really liked the idea of doing this.

Your mate's experience doesn't surprise me and is a big part of the reason why I'd want to have my own boat with me so I can make a run further afield from the mothership to fish the reef, or chase schools of pelagics around (and having decent electronics at my fingertips too).

If I can't take my boat a lot of the appeal is lost for me.

Thanks for the link too.

There are several companies with those boats up there, have you tried them all?

[TK01]

8 minutes ago, JonD said:

There are several companies with those boats up there, have you tried them all?

No not yet, this shout out was to hopefully get some suggestions on this.  I'll keep looking.

[Amy]

Did you manage to get anywhere with this or they’re all the same?

[noelm]

Even though this is an older thread……Bareboat charters are great, but, they are not cheap, plus you still have to sail, cook, clean, buy food and everything else. Most charter boats are sailing cats, easy to sail, slow as a Tortoise, and roomy enough for a couple of small families, or three couples to share the costs, but, living with others in close quarters for a week or so can be “trying” to say the least. As far as cruising the “Barrier Reef” is concerned, forget it, no operators will let you go anywhere near that far! Fishing can be OK, if you know what you’re doing (naturally) diving can be very hit and miss, the water is nearly always “milky” with poor visibility, it’s not dirty as such. Been there lots of times (my good mate had two bareboat yachts there) and sailed around everywhere at one time or another, he has recently sold one, and the bigger one is in Sydney now for the summer. Just to give you an idea, most have a double bedroom in each “corner” though some have a bigger bathroom in one corner, most have at least two toilets and a couple of showers, a decent galley to prepare meals and the main deck/cabin is the lounge area, with lots of space and ample seating. Most have bean bags to lounge around on the front deck (while someone else drives) and a water level set of steps to get aboard after swimming or using the small tender. Almost all are setup to sail easy, with electric winches and stuff to make life easy.