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Dive deep into relaxation! Discover the Great Sandy Strait Marine Park with the Turtle Discovery tour aboard the Milbi. The vessel is a purpose built 12m glass-bottom boat. The journey gently takes you through the straits, offering opportunities to spot marine life such as resident turtles and dolphins, sea birds, and even the chance of encountering a reef shark or dugong.
The tour includes time spent on a remote scenic island, where you can enjoy swimming, snorkeling in crystal-clear waters, playing beach cricket, or simply relaxing on the sandy beaches. The Milbi accommodates small groups, ensuring a personalised and friendly experience.
Morning or afternoon tea is included. Bar facilities available, cash on board only. Sorry no eftpos.
This Hervey Bay marine getaway is an easy 3 hour tour. Due to maximising opportunity to view the coral departure times are subject to tides, please check the calendar for times. We offer various amenities onboard, including bathroom facilities and the availability of alcoholic beverages.
Bathroom facilities onboard, and the tour is pram/baby-friendly.
Snorkeling equipment is available for hire for $10 per set upon check in. Snorkelling opportunities over sand at the beaches.
Departure point: Shop 6/17 Buccaneer Drive Urangan Qld 4655 Great Sandy Strait Marina Terminal. (opposite Cafe Baleana).
Important to note: we cannot guarantee marine life and wildlife, each day is different on the water. Tides and conditions will determine where travel to, and whilst we aim to provide the best marine experience possible, the tour may vary.
Feel free to contact us at +61 (07) 4125 6888 for availability or any other queries.
Cost:
- $109 for adults
- $79 for children
Join us aboard the Milbi for a memorable marine excursion in the stunning Great Sandy Strait!
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Leaves from Hervey Bay boats Harbour and for a full day of reef fishing with all tackle and equipment supplied.
Good spots for fishing although we only caught small reef fish
So lots of Wales today
Another fisherman donated their fish to our family which I was very grateful for thank you Jimmy!
Lunch was amazing
The crew was nice and answered questions, but there wasn't any guide on board telling us about the local turtles or traditional knowledge. So I'm not sure what the Turtle discovery was about.
Pelican bank would've been the highlight but depite apparent mint conditions, we were told it was unsafe to go... Based on other reviews, it seems this has happened a number of times...
So maybe the way this tour is advertised needs to be reviewed: for me it over-promised and under-delivered.
The glass bottom boat is old, and incredibly slow, makes a trip to the islands you visit longer than the time you are able to spend snorkelling. The ‘glass bottom’ is in a state of disrepair and has rusty water across the top. There was never any reef below us and no mention or attention drawn to the glass bottom at any point during the trip.
There was never any discussion about the process for snorkels and it was not made clear that you would not be provided with fins. Snorkels are ‘sanitised’ in a bucket and put back for use afterwards. If we had of been informed there would be no fins provided we would have hired some elsewhere.
There was a brief discussion about the traditional owners of the land and what name they use for the places we were visiting but not much discussion in terms of the cultural aspect of their people and how they care for the land. It did not meet the description of ‘hearing the legendary tales of the Butchulla people’ as advertised.
I am unsure what about the tour classifies it as being ‘eco’ as it is an old, slow boat that I cannot imagine is very eco friendly.
There was no aquatic life to be seen. The first spot we were taken to was a sand bank that had some pelicans on it but it was just sand, there was no reef on the side of the island we went to so there would be no chance of seeing any interesting marine life. We were given 25 minutes at this first location.
After a disappointing ‘snorkel’, which was really more of a short swim, we went to the secondary location which was another sand bank but with much grittier sand and a few shells here and there, but again, no reef and no marine life. Here we were given 15 minutes to ‘snorkel’ around before returning to the boat and heading back to the marina.
Overall an incredibly disappointing journey for what was advertised, 3 hours on a slow boat for a lousy 45 minute swim on a beach.
The skipper and his assistant were friendly and the food was fine.
I would not recommend this tour as the value for money is not there, it didn’t meet expectations. I would not book again if I had the choice.
Then taken to mud flats of round island which was swampy and dead and nothing to see at all..
Also the tour was overbooked, there wasn’t enough seats for the passengers and we were crammed in.
Pelican Banks is unbelievably beautiful!
5 stars, we have already told our family and friends about this amazing package and can’t wait to go again ourselves
Was a wonderful time
Would recommend this cruise
Will be going back for another cruise highly recommend this
They sell it as Turtle Discovery tour with the chance of seeing Turtles, dolphins, plus other wildlife.
We saw a few dolphins from distance. This wasn't my main gripe tho as nature can elude you.
We got loaded on a boat and travelled for 1 hour to Pelican Sand Bank - didn't really look like the pictures. We got a story about the tides and conditions not suitable for us to dock. Which is fair enough but a good skipper should know the tide times so perhaps we shouldn't of bothered heading out there with the tides predictable.
The lunch was a subway 6 inch and if you didn't like it there was biscuits and a chocolate at the end. I was expecting something a bit Less commercial from an eco tour.
We were then taken to Round Island which wasn't worth the time. It's not suitable for Snorkelling especially at low tide and quality of the swimming beach is barely worth getting your swimmers on for. We had looked forward to the guide talking us through traditions of the land but the skipper dropped us off 700m from where this was held on the island and dragging our two young kids through sinking sand wasn't practical so we missed it.
Overall we spent 3 hours on the boat and 1 on an island which wasn't worth the visit.
The best part was the Yidaki song at and speech at the the end.
Overall I was unsure what made this tour Eco and wouldn't recommend it with Young kids or if it's low tide.
They sell it as Turtle Discovery tour with the chance of seeing Turtles, dolphins, plus other wildlife.
We saw a few dolphins from distance. This wasn't my main gripe tho as nature can elude you.
We got loaded on a boat and travelled for 1 hour to Pelican Sand Bank - didn't really look like the pictures. We got a story about the tides and conditions not suitable for us to dock. Which is fair enough but a good skipper should know the tide times so perhaps we shouldn't of bothered heading out there with the tides predictable.
The lunch was a subway 6 inch and if you didn't like it there was biscuits and a chocolate at the end. I was expecting something a bit Less commercial from an eco tour.
We were then taken to Round Island which wasn't worth the time. It's not suitable for Snorkelling especially at low tide and quality of the swimming beach is barely worth getting your swimmers on for. We had looked forward to the guide talking us through traditions of the land but the skipper dropped us off 700m from where this was held on the island and dragging our two young kids through sinking sand wasn't practical so we missed it.
Overall we spent 3 hours on the boat and 1 on an island which wasn't worth the visit.
The best part was the Yidaki song at and speech at the the end.
Overall I was unsure what made this tour Eco and wouldn't recommend it with Young kids or if it's low tide.
It was a nice day discovering nearby islands and learning about the Butchella culture and beliefs. Travis was very friendly and shared with us so much that we felt privileged of living this experience.
The only downside was the weather and so we did not get to enjoy snorkelling.
However, this was more than compensated for by our marvellous guide (Tiga??) who entertained us with ‘First Nations’ stories and folklaw, as well as some traditional dance and didgeridoo playing on Round Island.
A great experience. Good value for money. Thanks for a fun outing.
David and Irene.
Thank you
What a wonderful walk we had with Jojo! We got learn to all about the history of the Butchulla tribe of Hervey Bay … the traditional owners of K’gari. We got to know a little bit about the culinary and medicinal values of the native flora, a little bit about the fauna and finished up with a little rest in a park while Jojo told stories on his didgeridoo for us! He is a very entertaining guide! The walk was very easy … easy enough for a lady on a walking stick to negotiate it. Well worth the time and money.
We got to snorkel and swim and the islands were beautiful. Very relaxing.
The tour itself was also disappointing. The glass bottom boat was useless and so was the snorkeling. They blamed it on the current water conditions which I do understand. I also felt they didn't really care about trying to find turtles. We went straight from point A to point B. Even if they thought one was spotted there was no attempt to get closer or even wait to see if it would come back to the surface. Not all was bad, Bruce our guide was very nice and his aboriginal presentation was great.
If you just want a slow boat ride and do not care about the snorkeling then I think you will appreciate the trip. In our case we were hoping the kids would see turtles or fish which the tour did not deliver but again the aboriginal part was great. Customer service throughout was also good other than the change of schedule.
Spotting Dolphins and Turtle's.
Very interesting cultural information and show. Wish it could have been more.
Unexpected rescue of a floating turtle by the crew, will be a memory to hold dear. ( doesn't happen often thankfully).
The drinks and food were good and plentiful and loved the Digeridoo (Yidaki) playing and sunset was great too.
The captain and our guide were both excellent hosts and knowledgeable.
We could only get to two of the islands, sadly not pelican Island but safety first. The glass bottom boat is good in theory, but not really helpful in anyway on the sea. You can see much but bubbles.
Dinkadink (Willywag tail) and the skipper were helpful, friendly and did everything they possibly could for everyone. Welcome to country and local information was great. There was only one chance to snorkel and being from a dessert city, was still fun.
Sadly, I didn't see and marine life, but others had spotted a turtle or two.
Lunch was modest, and filled the whole. Head office just need to get their quantities correct.
In conclusion, would we do it again absolutely!
Dingka Dingka was such a kind man and did a really excellent job. He showed as different kind of plants and told us for what they are usefull. Besides he told us a lot about his culture and tribe.
I was deeply touched by the dreamtime stories and the dance and sing performance. Thank you sooo much for this wonderful day. ️
Our indigenous guide Aaron was excellent he walked on Round Island with us, smoked fresh oysters and we tasted native spinach, he played the didgeridoo.
John the skipper was excellent as was Jackie in the office.
Our drinks and platters were delicious.
Tonight the weather was perfect as was the sunset




































































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