Experience a close encounter with humpback whales without having to leave the city on this thrilling 2-hour speedboat tour from Sydney. Hop on-board the city’s fastest commercial ship and blast off across Sydney Harbour, past iconic landmarks like Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Sydney Opera House. Leave the city behind and speed out into the Pacific Ocean, where you’ll have chance to spot majestic whales swimming and playing in their natural environment.

2-hour whale-watching tour from Sydney by speedboat
Zip across the waters on Sydney’s fastest commercial boat
Enjoy a close encounter with migrating whales in their natural environment
Multiple departure times and locations available
Seasonal tour
Once-in-a-Lifetime Experience

What's Included

All taxes, fees and handling charges
Driver/guide
Wind/waterproof jackets

Food and drinks
Hotel pickup and drop-off

Meeting And Pickup

Meeting point

27 Circular Quay W
27 Circular Quay W, The Rocks NSW 2000, Australia
Campbells Cove Pontoon is located on the western side of Circular Quay. It is at the end of the Overseas Passenger Terminal and in front of the Squires Landing pub, You must arrive 15 minutes prior to your departure time.

End point

This activity ends back at the meeting point.

What To Expect

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received within 48 hours of booking, subject to availability
24 hour cancellation/rescheduling policy applies
Passengers must be 12 years old
Passengers with back, neck, shoulder injuries or heart conditions, or those who are pregnant or who have injuries/conditions that may cause a risk to their health are not permitted to ride on the boat
For directions to the departure location; type "Campbell's Cove Pontoon" into google.

Not wheelchair accessible
Near public transportation
Most travellers can participate
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 21 travellers

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.
Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.

Cut-off times are based on the experience’s local time.
This experience requires good weather. If it’s cancelled due to poor weather, you’ll be offered a different date or a full refund.
This experience requires a minimum number of travellers. If it’s cancelled because the minimum isn’t met, you’ll be offered a different date/experience or a full refund.

Traveller Photos

Traveller Tips

Highly recommend - the speedboat with it's versatility can "go" anywhere swiftly and this flexibility makes it easier and quicker to get to the whales.

Reviews

5.0

232 reviews

Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews

Reviews by Viator travellers.

Showing 1-10 of 232 reviews

A great whale watching experience.

Gary_T, Nov 2022

Fun boat ride, knowledgeable skipper, and saw a dozen whales. This was a great experience! I would recommend this tour to everyone.

A fun trip!

Julie_A, Nov 2022

A great trip! Fast and fun boat to the ocean for whale watching. Our captain Blake was great! Highly recommend.

Amazing experience!

Lisa_F, Oct 2022

We were fortunate to see a mother humpback and her calf, which we cruised nearby for multiple sightings. At one point they circled our boat for close up views. We were close enough to see and hear their “blow” when they surfaced. Definitely a wonderful experience. The speedboat allowed for more time with the whales instead of lengthy travel times back and forth to port. The guide was very informative about the whales and their dive characteristics which helped us to find them again when they surfaced. I would highly recommend this experience with a small caution: You need to be able to lift your leg high enough to sit astride the seat like a motorcycle, so don’t wear a skirt/dress. ENJOY!!

Amazing experience

Najihah_A, Oct 2022

Before departing, our tour guide (10 Oct 2022, 11am) briefed us on the expectation. He is very knowledgeable and experienced in spotting the whales. While searching for them, he filled up the time by sharing information. We caught sight of a few whales, including a calf. While it's unfortunate that they didn't breach, it was still very fascinating for us! Overall, it was reasonably paced. Plastics are also prepared for those feeling nauseous. Tour guide is fantastic, highly recommended!

Amazing, 10/5 stars!

Maria_L, Oct 2022

Let me first start by saying the day of our excursion weather was less than ideal, rainy, windy conditions. Blake contacted us the morning of to let us know he was still planning to proceed with our tour and we were appreciative for the communication and updates. Once we arrived, rain was still expected and Blake offered anyone a refund if they didn't wish to continue in the rain. The whole group decided to stay and even with the conditions as they were this was an incredible experience! The boat ride itself was quite fun and seeing the whales so close was truly amazing. Blake was even able to get us some wonderful photos of a calf breaching. I would highly recommend this tour to everyone and anyone, it was the highlight of our time in Sydney. Thanks Ocean Extreme for the incredible memories!

Great experience and well run

Michael_H, Sept 2022

Exciting but safe boat ride, the good whale information and education from the host and the beautiful scenery throughout

Great experience

Julia_F, June 2022

Great experience, well worth going by speed boat. Made it easy to move to the whale sightings quickly.

Amazing!!

Rivka_v, June 2022

Amazing! Loved the boat ride and we watched whales for a verry long time. The captain gave us interesting information.

Great experience

Sylvio_P, May 2022

High recommendation!! Amazing team and explanation! Great time, had quite a nice show, whales came pretty close to the boat

A Great Experience!

Carol H, Nov 2019

A very exhilarating way to see Sydney Harbor, the coastline cliffs, and dolphins. We were unfortunate not to see whales, but not for lack of trying. Also the boat zips around and we were able to get quite close to everything - I can only imagine how cool it would be to see whales from it! There is a guarantee to ride again if you don't see whales - unfortunately I don't live in Australia but you never know!

Exilerating experience

StephenPayne2015, Nov 2019

Fast and bumpy but great. We saw lots of whales many close to us and some leaping out of the water Great driver guide

We loved it!

LCross24, Oct 2019

This is an awesome way to see whales! We loved being on a smaller boat so that we could see the blows and tails and fun of the whales regardless of which side of the boat they popped up on. Blake is really knowledgeable and makes the speedboat part of it super fun too. He also took a lot of photos and emailed them to us free of charge later that day. This allowed us to really pay attention and be present with the whale watching experience while out on the water. I would do this again in a minute!

Brilliant Tour

Karen_M, Oct 2019

This tour was brilliant. The guide was punctual and helpful. The Rib was exhilarating but still felt safe. The scenery from the ocean was beautiful and The Whales were awesome. A nice extra touch was him emailing us more photos. Do this tour.

Highly recommend

Tim C, Sept 2019

I highly recommend this experience. Blake is great and very knowledgeable and experienced. Went out 2 days bc the 1st day we didn't see any whales. Blake offered to take us out again before we left Sydney at no charge. Can't say enough good things about this experience .

Excited and amazing experience!

Youna_L, Aug 2019

We saw several whales! And the riding was very excited! The captain tried his best to show us as many whales as possible.

Sydney Whale Watching

William_S, Aug 2019

Wonderful beautiful winter day - seas were calm. Saw many whales and even a few breaches. Highly recommend - the speedboat with it's versatility can "go" anywhere swiftly and this flexibility makes it easier and quicker to get to the whales. And it is so low to the water I could reach over and hit the water with my hand. Love this close experience!

One of the best tours i ever had

WeiSum_W, July 2019

Amazing trip. Blake is very friendly. He explained patiently and prepared wind breaker for us Love the bumpy ride when we headed back to circular quay after whale watching. A wonderful experience. Five stars.

Awesome experience

Graham_M, July 2019

The trip was awesome and great value for money. The guide was excellent and sent us some great photos later in the day. Would 100% recommend this trip.

Loved the trip, Blake was very...

Lydia W, Oct 2017

Loved the trip, Blake was very friendly and informative, we got to see a dolphin, some whales which was well worth seeing, on the way back we saw some new Zealand fur seals. If you get sea sick then take travel sickness tablets and sit in the middle of the boat for the back of the boat.

Brilliant way to see the whales off...

Cluny_M, Oct 2017

Brilliant way to see the whales off Sydney. Our guide Blake was very informative and had a brilliant eye for spying the whales. Only took about 10 mins, when we did hit the open sea, to see some humpbacks. Also saw dolphins and brown seals. Fantastic to see these creatures in their natural habitat.