….Four words to describe how muchFUN summer is on board Imagine Cruises!

So here we are, January is  nearly over and before you know it we’ll be wondering where summer went!

Imagine’s Dolphin watch Cruise and Marine Discovery cruise have been as popular as ever with everyone always commenting on the intimacy of a smaller vessel, the friendliness of the Bottlenose Dolphins, as well as our commentary and genuine love of the area and its wildlife. “How good is the sailing?” is a common cry during summer, people just don’t know how good it is to cruise along under wind power listening to some lazy summer tunes.

There’s a touch of the islands further North on the Marine Discovery cruise, especially when it’s particularly hot and sunny! This year we have been lucky to see some of the largest Wobbegong Sharks as well as spending some time with the resident Green Sea Turtle!

The end of the day is definitely not the end of the fun for us, at 5:30pm we head off for our last trip of the day, the Sundowner Sail. This relaxing and kid friendly cruise is a great way to take in the sights of the Bay at the best time of the day. It’s always cooler on the water so what better way to end the day and kick off the night than with a free cold one and some nibbles. It’s not a Dolphin Watch but we do often see the dolphins as we sail by. After all, it’s THEIR time to relax too after a hectic day hard at work being looked at.

So that’s it for now. We hope everyone’s enjoying their Summer and all is going well for you. Please give us a call soon to book a time to come out and enjoy what we have to offer!

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The whale season from June to September has been a great time for seeing everything that the Port Stephens waterways have to offer! We have seen just about everything on the bingo card so far: Humpbacks breaching, Pacific Common Dolphins in pods of over 1000, Little Penguins drifting about, Australian Fur Seals laying back in the water and on the rocks at Cabbage Tree Island and, of course, Sea Turtles, that Sandy Plankton says can reach over 100 years old!!!

About the only thing we didn’t get to mark off was Migaloo, we have heard that he was already up on the Gold Coast and he must have snuck past Port Stephens and Nelson Bay during the night on the way back down!

So as October greets us, so do the Humpback mothers and their newborn baby whales! They are travelling in full force down the coast keen to “show off” and October is always a great time to mark of the wildlife Bingo card. We even still see some other species of whales as the year progresses like Southern Right whales, Sei whales and False Killer Whales to name a few!

2009 has been one of the best Southern migrations of Humpback Whale mothers and calves we have had so far!

We love to think that this is in part thanks to growing population numbers and a cease in hunting Humpbacks!

We are into our first week in November and have had excellent sightings every day of breaching calves enjoying the great weather. It is really going to round off a great October and we still have a couple of days to go yet!

Imagine is going to run a whale watching trip every day until the 15th of November, which is when we have seen a drop in sightings in the past. So come and see the Mums and their newborn babies before whale watching finishes in 2009!

What a terrific summer it’s going to be!

The Marine Discovery is always a big hit. We have four Divemasters now, Jane, Hazel, Roger and Didj. It’s difficult to tell who has the most fun, us or the people we take snorkeling! I suspect Didj may actually be part fish as he can hold his breath for so long! Some of the interesting creatures we have spotted in the past include wobbegongs, banjo rays, stingrays and blue gropers. The Marine Discovery trips are usually to Cabbage Tree Island or Fingal Island. The scenery at both locations is spectacular.

Summer will also been busy with the Dolphin Watches, with several new additions to the local bottlenose dolphin population (they’re so cute) and of course the Sundowner Sail! Come out for a trip with us soon, you never know what interesting sights you’ll see!