On Friday 23 November, Adventure Bay Charters were named winners in three categories at the South Australian Tourism Awards including Best Major Tourist Attraction, Best New Tourism Development for the Ultimate Ocean Safari and the Best Adventure Tour for the third year in a row, entering them into the Hall of Fame. It is with great pleasure and appreciation Matt Waller accepted these awards thanking his staff, family and friends.

He also made a special mention of all the business and promoters of the Eyre Peninsula who work so hard to bring this region into the same regard as Kangaroo Island and the Barossa Valley.

Matt admits he wouldn’t be where his is today if it wasn’t for the support of these people and the un-relentless determination of his competitors pushing him to be better than he was last year.

Adventure Bay Charters plan to make the most of this recognition for the company and region alike by continuing to bring amazing experiences to their visitors, particularly with the Sea Lion and Great White Shark tours and by focusing on environmentally sustainable tourism practices and expanding the Great Whites taste in music!

There has been a lot of media coverage of late of the infamous “Super Trawler” which is docked in Port Lincoln. With it came a whole lot of mixed feelings in the community and it wasn’t until recently I was told of the first super trawler to ever come to Port Lincoln; the Tacoma which had the exact same effect on the locals all those years ago.

The construction of the Tacoma started in 1944 by the Haldane brothers who weren’t afraid of a bit of hard work. 7 years of hard work to be exact. With cranes unavailable they chopped, carved and carried huge logs of wood, the longest measuring at 70ft and all of them weighing up to 25 tones in total. The brothers had different ideas of what they were going to use the ship for but alas, life happens and plans changed. It was destined to revolutionise the South Australian fishing industry with nets capable of catching up to 1000 tones, it was a super trawler in every sense of the word in those days.

After moving their families from Port Fairy in Victoria to Port Lincoln the brothers had an unsuccessful start but eventually they went on catch the first Southern Bluefin Tuna in Australian waters using a net.

That was just the beginning of  what was to be a long and remarkable adventure which you can now hear all about from a select few that were there from the start. The Tacoma still sits proudly in Port Lincoln waters as a testimony to good old fashioned hard work and persistence  Tours of this magnificent boat are available every Friday at the modest cost of $12 per person. Whether it be the original skipper, crew members or children of the Haldane brothers you will be taken on an adventure, learning how to catch Tuna with long fishing poles and what the crew’s favourite pass times were, not to mention a tasting of the delicious famous scones made in the old wood oven.

For those of you who want the real experience the Tacoma runs an annual Tuna trip where you can fish for Tuna just like they did back in the day, with the overalls, hard hats, poles and all. Be warned it’s not for the fainthearted. Eleven days out at sea living in each others pockets but trust me when I say it’ll be a trip of a life time that you’ll be proud of. For more information call on 08 8682 1124 or visit their website at www.tacoma.org.au.

Now I bet you didn’t know that!

By now I’m sure you’ve all heard of our Ultimate Ocean Safari, only the best marine Adventure on the Eyre Peninusla! When this tour was first released it was to be all onboard an expidition ship that sleeps a maximum of 9 people but having an idea’s man like, Matt running this business there was sure to be a better way. As a result anyone booking to come on our Ultimate Ocean Safari will now be staying on the private, secluded land that is Thistle Island! The dubbed, Thistle Island Safari Camp is perched high on the sand hills over looking a private beach complementing the surrounding cliffs and clear blue water. Here guests can relax and reflect on the days adventures in this motion-free hide away whislt enjoying a beautifully prepared seafood dinner.

Now don’t you think this makes the adventure even better? We certainly do! Not only will you experience the wonders of the underwater creatures that call this part

of the world home, you will also have a chance to get upclose and personal with the inhabitants of this land such as the Black Footed Rock Wallaby, a breed of Wallabies that are very rare! Possums and Bilbies are also a common sight on this island so keep your eyes peeled and camera ready!

This is truley the way to see the Australian outback with the aim of seeing the “Big 5″ as the main objective combined with the breath taking scenery of Thistle Island you couldn’t ask for a more memorable trip! If you can’t wait any longer enquire now! Our next trip is going on the 17th and 18th of November and it is sure to book out quick.

Hi All!

This is early warning that Father’s Day is just around the corner! Sunday September 2nd to be precise. You don’t need to spend agonising days or even weeks to decide what to get him this year. Just read this article below, it has plenty of great ideas! In particular our Swim with the Great White tour and there is a special offer included in this as well so check it out now!

http://www.weekendnotes.com/fathers-day-adelaide-south-australia/

As a company who’s business it is to take people out to witness Great White Sharks in their natural habitat we have a lot to loose when Sharks don’t turn up and it’s not only the customers who are disappointed! Our crew sought out a job with us not for the money but for the experience of working up close and personal with marine wildlife and that’s exactly why we got into the business in the first place. We want to share our backyard with everybody and anybody who comes with us on one of our tours whether they live here in Port Lincoln or if they’ve come across from the other side of the world. When it comes down to it Great White Sharks are wild animals with minds of their own and we cannot control whether they want to rock up (or out) on any given day.

Having said that our crew are fantastic at what they do and will do everything they can to make sure you have a memorable experience. Just read what one of our guests recently posted on Trip Advisor about a tour they came out on where no Sharks were to be seen.

“ First off, I’ll prefix this by saying we unfortunately didn’t see any sharks. This didn’t deter from the experience. The guides were nice, honest and quite blunt regarding our chances later on in the day. They made the whole trip enjoyable, were social with everyone on board and clearly knew what they were talking about. There was plenty of food (Note: I ate a lot of it) and there were coffees available at all time. The feeling of having a coffee at 7 in the morning with the sun rising was amazing!
We spent a reasonable amount of time in the cage and didn’t have to pay a cent (for the experience of jumping into the cage) as a result of the lack of sharks! We saw dolphins, a ray, amongst a few other things. If you’ve never done it before, I recommend it, it was a really surreal experience. Breathing through a tank might seem daunting, but the guides were incredibly nice and patient about it all. Believe me when I say you get used to it and you don’t want to come back up.
Just for anyone wanting to go, have some seasick tablets. We had a few people who were quite sick on bored and although they were taken care of quite well, I can imagine it made an unpleasant ride for them! One more thing: Don’t book too far into the future. I know this may seem a bit difficult, but it increases the chances of seeing sharks substantially.
I plan on coming back sometime. The chances of me going with them again are very high. I’ll attempt to make the chances of seeing a shark incredibly high as well. For a first time, I strongly recommend this company.”

I’ll finish by saying if you don’t take or make the opportunity to come on one of our Swim with the Great White tours then you definitely won’t see any Sharks! If you want to make sure you’re getting in your best chance to see Sharks give us a call before you book and our office staff will tell you what the recent sightings have been like and advise of when the best time to come is. We aim to please!

Recently Michelle from GoDo wrote a blog about our Swim with the Sea Lion adventure!

Here’s what she had to say…

Swimming with the Sea Lions – Port Lincoln, South Australia

Now as I’ve mentioned in a previous blog, my first blog in fact, we have all sorts of wonderful creatures that live in our office here by the Marina. Its funny how many locals have no idea it’s here and it’s always so much fun to watch the surprise on their face as they accidently walk into our office thinking it’s the entrance to the local swimming pool and seeing all the things that hide here. For Marine lovers like us this blogs for you!

So we have 6 big aquariums that sit on the right hand wall of our office as you walk in. They stretch the length of the wall and each one contains something completely different to the last. We have Salmon, Australian Herring (aka Tommies), a little Nannygai and one leather jacket in the first of our tanks. They all live relatively happily together apart from the Leather Jacket which for those of you who don’t know isn’t the friendliest of fishes. He’ll flare up and try to scare the others away when it’s feeding time and personally, I hate them! Despite their pretty purple colours and unicorn style horn on their head I feel they are bullies and too be honest I pull up more than I’d like of these when I go fishing!

Ahhh just as we speak Jezza is proudly explaining his aquariums to someone who’s walked in and like everyone else is pleasantly surprised by the marine wildlife we have right here. Jezza of course is the man behind it all. He is dedicated to these aquariums cleaning tanks and feeding all of the different creatures we have. Some might even say he’s very brave for what he does on a day to day basis. That might sound strange if you’re unaware of the extremely dangerous creature we have living in one of our tanks. A Blue Ringed Octopus… This golf ball sized octopus can cause death in just minutes if you’re not careful as it has a certain poison in which it will paralyse your whole body apart from your sight and hearing.  The only way to survive is to have someone constantly resuscitating you until the poison leaves your system which usually takes around 4 hours. So naturally I will get up from my desk every now and then and wonder over to the aquarium just to make sure he hasn’t escape as Matt and Jezza seem to find much amusement in telling me that I might one day find him under my desk.

Other than that we have some Cowfish, Zebra fish, Sea Horses and an 8 year old Crayfish called Bruce (and no he’s not for sale!) but the point is on your day off when you have nothing to do come on in and have a look at what we’ve got here for you! Jezza is always looking for new things to put in his aquariums so if you happen to come across something of interest or anything at all in fact don’t be shy, bring it in and we’ll take care of it for you!

Its days like today you do not want to be out on a boat! Think about it… It’s not only cold but also so windy which makes it 100 times worse! Unfortunately its days like today we have no choice but to cancel a tour if we have one going. We hate it as much as you do, trust me. We want everyone to have a fantastic time and how can we deliver that if everyone’s getting sea sick but more importantly if it’s actually too dangerous to go out.

I know that some people wait forever to get time off from work to just do this or have spent a lot of money in getting here but wouldn’t you rather live to tell the tale of when you came to Port Lincoln! Of course we do everything that we can to rearrange the tour and hope our guests have a spare day or two up their sleeves in case something like this happens but worst case scenario we will refund your money as believe it or not we’re in it to give people a glimpse of the passion this company was created from not for the money.

I guess you could say that’s why we give you a part refund if you don’t see Sharks on the day and why we think watching a Shark peacefully rocking out to ACDC is the best way to respect these amazing creatures!

What to take from this? If you do get the chance to come and dive with the Sharks then try to give yourself as much time as possible. Have at least another day in Port Lincoln in case weather is bad and if nothing changes then you’ve got an awesome opportunity to take a tour of this beautiful little town and I promise you won’t regret it!

Now a lot of people out there may start stressing out when they hear there is no smoking on board out boats! Especially if they’re going on the Shark trip and that’s for two reasons, a) it’s a 10-12 hour tour, and b) THEY’RE GOING DIVING WITH GREAT WHITE SHARKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Never fear I have found the solution!

I started smoking about 3 or 4 years ago. I think I started for many different reasons. My boyfriend at the time was a smoker and being the ripe age of 18 I was quite impressionable! I would excuse this behaviour by saying that I do everything else in life just the way I should. I work hard, I’m a caring daughter, sister and friend, always trying to make sure everyone was happy and things were all ok so hey, if this was one of my few bad habits then I’m doing pretty well! Obviously there’s always that part of you, especially at that age, that thinks it make you more of an adult, just a bit tougher but I, like many smokers before me, wished I could go back to before that first cigarette and just snap it in half!

Enough about how I started smoking I’m sure all you eager smokers are wanting to know what the solution is to getting through 12 hours without a cigarette!! The answer is simple. Quit! Don’t stop reading! I’m not just going to leave you with that. I will tell you how. Allen Carr’s Easyway to Stop Smoking by Allen Carr. I tell you what, I read this book and it changed everything for me. Given it’s only been a week and a half since my last cigarette but I could not feel happier! I feel healthy and energised and haven’t even had any cravings!

You probably don’t believe me and that’s fine. I’m not trying to get you to believe me. All I’m saying is read the book tell me I’m wrong! With a 90% success rate what better time than now, right before you come on an adventure of a life time, to quit. You don’t want to have the negative of craving a cigarette ruin the excitement of seeing Great White Sharks up close and personal and this is the way to do it.

You can find more information about Allen Carr and his books at http://www.allencarr.com.au/ and I will keep you updated with my progress. Please, keep me updated with yours! Comment on this or catch me on our facebook page as I’m on there every day! If you read this book and it doesn’t change anything at all then be my guest; tell me how wrong I am.

 We’ve teamed up with the stunning Anchorage Holiday Apartments to offer you an amazing deal!

It may be cold outside but winter sees the best Great White Shark action so why not take advantage of our special accommodation and shark cage dive offer and be the envy of your mates!

Offer includes:-
Full day tour with Adventure Bay Charters to Shark Bay located at the Neptune Islands – $295 per person which includes tea, coffee, lunch, morning and afternoon tea. For those adrenalin seekers, you can upgrade to cage dive with these amazing creatures of the sea for an additional $100 per person which includes mask, snorkel, wetsuit and cage access.
As an added bonus, we are offering a T-Shirt, stubby holder & hat as a momento of your trip!

Accommodation for 2 guests in our fully self contained Channel View apartment with stunning views, located on the entrance to the Lincoln Cove Marina – a bottle of wine to enjoy on arrival, a complimentary starter pack and generous breakfast provisions for only $175.00/night (min 2 night stay – including all linen – byo beach towel).  Want to extend your stay? – we are offering additional night’s accommodation at the super low rate of $150.00/night

Interested …… then email us at info@adventurebaycharters.com.au to check availability, but hurry, this offer won’t last long with over $125 of savings on regular prices, don’t let this deal get away!

Valid June – September (excluding school and public holidays)
To take advantage of this special, both the accommodation and shark cage dive must be booked in one transaction.
Accommodation is for 2 guests – additional guests can be catered for at a cost of $20/person/night – maximum 4 guests.

Day tours and cage dives are quoted per person
This offer is subject to rescheduling/cancellations in the event of bad weather
Adventure Bay Charters departure point is within easy walking distance from the apartment