Whale Dreamer has come home to the Sapphire Coast: 5,300 nautical miles, a 40th birthday and a wake-up call for our oceans
G’day from the Sapphire Coast,
It’s not every day you get to welcome a brand-new whale watching boat into your home waters, but that’s exactly what happened in Bermagui this season. After two years in the build, 35 days at sea, and 5,300 nautical miles in her wake, our newest vessel, Whale Dreamer, has finally arrived. She’s the boat we’ve been dreaming about for years, designed from the keel up to take whale watching on the Sapphire Coast to a whole new level, and there’s something pretty special about the fact that her very first port of call in Australia was right here at home.
After stepping off from the long delivery voyage from Thailand to Bermagui, I wanted to share a few stories from the journey, the good, the breathtaking, and the bits that gave us pause to think about the state of our oceans.
Two years in the build
Whale Dreamer has been a long time coming. She was built in Thailand by the same expert boatbuilder who crafted Bubbles, a team we trust completely after years of seeing how well Bubbles handles the waters off Eden and Bermagui. From the very first sketches, we had one goal in mind, to take everything we love about Bubbles and make it even better.
Two years of design, build, refinement and finishing later, she was finally ready to come home. Watching her transform from an aluminum hull into the finished vessel was something pretty special. She was even officially blessed by a local monk before setting off, which felt like the right way to send her on her maiden voyage across the Indian and Pacific Oceans.
5,300 nautical miles, 35 days at sea
From The Gulf of Thailand we headed south through the Java Sea, around the top of Australia, and down the east coast to Bermagui, where Whale Dreamer will be readied for service before joining our Sapphire Coast fleet.
Thirty-five days at sea gives you a lot of time to take in the world from the wheelhouse. There were sunrises so soft and pink they didn’t feel real, sunsets that lit up the entire sky, glassy seas where you could see for miles, and big rolling swells that reminded us pretty quickly who’s in charge out there. And the quiet. A real, deep quiet you only ever find a long way from shore.
We had whales, dolphins, flying fish, seabirds, and even a few unexpected boardings from the odd squid. It was the kind of trip you spend a lifetime hoping to do.
A 40th birthday at Lady Elliot Island
A real highlight of the journey was pulling into Lady Elliot Island, the southernmost coral cay on the Great Barrier Reef, and a place I’ve always wanted to visit. As luck would have it, I happened to turn 40 while we were there. I spent the day swimming with green turtles and gliding alongside huge manta rays in some of the clearest water I’ve ever been in.
There aren’t many milestone birthdays you can mark by being eye to eye with a manta ray. It’s one of those days I’ll be telling stories about for the rest of my life, and a beautiful reminder of just how extraordinary our part of the world really is.
Coming into Bermagui
Pulling into Bermagui after 35 days at sea was a moment I’ll never forget. There’s nothing quite like the feeling of bringing your new boat into your home waters for the very first time. Familiar headlands, familiar swell, the same coastline we’ve worked for years, and now a new vessel ready to share it with all of you.
The Sapphire Coast is one of the most special stretches of coastline anywhere in the world, and we feel incredibly lucky to call it home. Whale Dreamer is going to be a beautiful new chapter for whale watching on the Sapphire Coast, and we can’t wait to start sharing her with our guests from the Spring.
A wake-up call for our oceans
It wasn’t all postcard moments though. One of our most lasting memories from the journey is just how polluted our oceans have become. We passed thousands of tonnes of plastic and rubbish floating in the open sea, sometimes drifting in lines that stretched as far as the eye could see.
Our propellers were fouled by ghost nets several times and had to be cleared by hand. We watched dolphins playing with plastic waste like it was driftwood, and motored past hundreds of small fishing boats working waters that, at this point, contain more plastic than fish.
Out here on the Sapphire Coast, we’re lucky to operate in some of the cleanest waters in Australia, but the ocean is one big interconnected system, and what happens upstream eventually finds its way down to us. It’s the kind of problem that can feel overwhelming, but the truth is small, everyday choices add up fast. Refillable water bottles, reusable shopping bags, picking up other people’s rubbish at the beach, supporting businesses that work to reduce harm. None of it feels like much on its own, but multiplied across millions of people, it’s how change happens
What to expect when you step aboard Whale Dreamer
Whale Dreamer has three full levels of walk-around decks, which means plenty of outdoor space for everyone to spread out and get close to the action. Whether you want the front row at the bow, the elevated views from the top deck, or somewhere quiet down the side, there’s a spot on this boat with your name on it.
Inside, the spacious cabin keeps you warm and dry when the wind picks up, with big windows so you never have to take your eyes off the water. She’s been built for comfort, stability and the best possible whale viewing, and her low-impact design means we can share these encounters with the whales in the gentlest way possible.
Whale Dreamer joins our 2026 fleet
She’s joining us in the Spring after a stint in Sydney for the northern migration. It's already shaping up to be one of our best seasons of whale watching on the Sapphire Coast yet. We’re running daily whale watching cruises from Eden, Merimbula and Bermagui from September through November, and we’d love to welcome you aboard.
Book your Sapphire Coast whale watching cruise with us today, and come share the magic of the humpback whale migration with us.
From the deck,
Captain Simon
