K'gari Boat Tour with Lunch from Hervey Bay

Embark at 08:00 h at the Tasman Venture jetty, Great Sandy Straits Marina, where you are greeted with tea, coffee and homemade pastries. During the 50-minute cruise through the strait, the guide points out schools of dolphins and green turtles escorting the bow.

Arriving on the west coast of K'gari, the captain anchors in Wathumba Creek: water so clear it's like a swimming pool and deserted beaches lined with casuarinas. Equipped with mask, snorkel and fins, you'll discover hard coral gardens populated by parrotfish and spotted stingrays. Those who prefer the surface can paddle a transparent kayak to look for starfish and fiddler crabs on the sandbanks.

Back on the catamaran, a hot and cold buffet replenishes your energy: fresh salads, marinated chicken, local prawns, artisan breads and tropical fruit. After lunch, the signal sounds for the most fun activity: tube ride; an inflatable doughnut gently towed by the boat-perfect for adrenaline rushes or, if you prefer, to laugh and watch your friends splash around.

The afternoon continues at Awinya Creek or Bowarrady Creek (depending on the tide). A guided bush walk leads to singing dunes and lookouts where endemic vegetation - kauri pines, banksias and eucalypts - frame postcard photos. The guide interprets recent dingo tracks and explains how the Butchulla, the island's custodian people, live in harmony with this fragile ecosystem.

At 4.30pm the catamaran sets sail for Hervey Bay. With afternoon tea and macadamia biscuits in hand, you watch the sun dyeing the silica sand golden while the captain slows down if a pod of dolphins capsize the afternoon in leaps and bounds. Estimated arrival at 17:00 h, just in time for a sunset on the esplanade.