Whale and Dolphin Cruises with Jervis Bay Wild

Almost everyone who goes out on the water at Jervis Bay goes out with Jervis Bay Wild. They have been running cruises from Huskisson for more than fifteen years, they operate 365 days a year, and they have five boats, which is the largest fleet on the South Coast.

That fleet is the reason this is worth a guide rather than a listing. Their cruises are not one trip sold four ways. The boat changes, the season changes, the length changes, and the difference between booking the right one and the wrong one is the difference between two hours you talk about for a decade and two hours in the wrong month.

The whale cruise, mid-May to mid-November

Two hours, and the only one of their trips with a hard season on it. Humpbacks pass Jervis Bay on the migration their crew call the Humpback Highway, and the bay sits right on it.

The season splits into two halves that feel completely different.

May to August is the northern migration. The whales are heading up to warmer water to breed, they are moving with purpose, and they are boisterous with it. This is when you get breaching and tail slapping against the cliffs. It is also when you might see a heat run, which is several males chasing a female at speed. It is the loudest, most physical version of whale watching there is.

September to November is the southern migration. The animals are heading back down, and mothers with new calves come into the bay to rest in the protected water. It is slower and much closer in. Calves learning to swim beside their mothers is a different kind of good, and if you are taking small children it is the half of the season to aim for.

Humpbacks are the ones you will almost certainly see. Their own species notes also list minke, pilot, southern right and false killer whales in the bay at various times, so a sighting outside the usual is not unheard of.

The dolphin cruise, all year

An hour and a half, and it runs every single day of the year. This is the one to book if you are down for a weekend in February and the whales are a thousand kilometres north.

Jervis Bay has a resident bottlenose population that never leaves. Their FAQ puts it at 80 to 90 animals living inside the marine park, and because they are resident rather than migratory, the cruise is not a gamble in the way a whale trip in the wrong month would be. Dolphins bow ride, which means they surf the pressure wave off the front of the boat, so the sightings tend to be metres away rather than through binoculars.

It is the better first cruise for young kids. It is shorter, it is inside the bay, and the water is calmer.

Boom netting, over summer

Boom netting is an add-on to the dolphin cruise in the warmer months, and it is the thing people come back for. A net is slung off the back of the boat, lowered into the water, and you get in it while the boat is under way. Their own description is a cruising ocean spa bath, which is exactly right.

Two things worth knowing before you book it. Children under one are not permitted on the boom net at all, and children between two and fourteen have to be accompanied by an adult, seated on a parent’s lap if the crew ask. And it is available on Port Venture, which matters if you are booking for a wheelchair user, because that is the vessel set up for it. Their advice is to contact the team ahead to confirm suitability, which is the right call rather than turning up and hoping.

Bring a towel and swimmers. Nothing else on their list changes.

The other three cruises

Worth knowing about, because two of them are better trips than the headline ones if wildlife is not your only reason for going out.

• Jervis Bay Passage, two hours, mid-November to mid-May. The scenery cruise. Point Perpendicular lighthouse, sea caves, ancient rock formations and the white sand beaches, with dolphins turning up along the way rather than being the point.
• South Coast Passage, two and a half hours, November to May. The big one. It leaves the bay entirely and runs the Beecroft Peninsula cliffs, goes inside a sea cave in a rigid inflatable, and visits a seal colony. If you have already done the whales and want something else, do this.
• Sundowner cruise, two hours, November to May. The pontoon boat up Currambene Creek at dusk, BYO wine and nibbles, sea eagles and kookaburras rather than dolphins. It is the quiet one.

Which boat you get, and why it matters

The fleet is five vessels and they are genuinely different experiences.

Port Venture is the flagship: an 18.5 metre catamaran with five viewing levels, an inside cabin, two shaded back decks, a licensed bar and complimentary tea and coffee. It is the whale and dolphin boat, and it is the accessible one. Level walk-on and wheel-on ramp, three wheelchair accessible toilets, pram access, and it is the only vessel on the South Coast set up that way. It is also pet friendly for small pets and support dogs.

Adventure is a 14 metre rigid inflatable with four engines behind you and space for 48. Sensational takes 36 and is the small-cruise option. ECO1 is a 10 metre rigid inflatable for 20, with a drop-down step at the bow for beach landings. The pontoon boat takes 20 and does the creek.

The short version: for a big family group, anyone with mobility needs, or a cold winter whale trip where you want to get inside and warm up, ask for Port Venture. For speed and spray, the inflatables. Their booking pages note which boat each cruise normally uses, and they also warn that boats and times can change with the tide, so treat the vessel as likely rather than guaranteed.

Where it leaves from, and getting there

Everything departs Huskisson. The cruise terminal is inside Fishermens Wharf at 15 Field Street, west of the Huskisson public wharf, and the landmark to look for is the row of large white umbrellas on the waterfront. Their separate booking office is at 58 Owen Street. There is a public car park close to the wharf.

Check in is 30 minutes before departure, at the vessel, with the QR code from your confirmation email. Their FAQ is blunt about the next bit and it is worth repeating: the boat departs strictly on time.

Huskisson is about two and a half hours from Sydney and about the same from Canberra.

What to bring

Straight off their list, and it is short because you stay on the boat for the whole cruise:

• A hat in summer, a beanie in winter
• A jacket or jumper, warmer than you think, because it is colder on the water
• Sunglasses and sunscreen
• Drinking water
• A camera
• Towel and swimmers if you are boom netting

Every boat has some shelter. Port Venture has the cabin and the shaded decks, the others have a canopy.

Booking and current prices

Cruises run every day including public holidays, whale season has more than one departure a day, and times shift with the tide. Prices and timetables both move, so check the Jervis Bay Wild website or ring them on 02 4441 7002 rather than trusting a number on someone else’s page.

They are worth a follow before you go, because both feeds are mostly footage from that week’s cruises, which is the most honest preview of conditions you will get: Jervis Bay Wild on Instagram and Jervis Bay Wild on Facebook.

Make a weekend of it

The cruise is two hours. The bay deserves longer.

• Things to do in Huskisson, the town the boats leave from
• The Huskisson waterfront walk, which starts a few minutes from the wharf
• The White Sands Walk between Greenfield Beach and Hyams Beach
• Booderee National Park on the southern headland
• Everything in Jervis Bay

All photographs on this page are by Jervis Bay Wild and are used with their permission.