Charter Chatter

- Noosa Dreamboats offer personalised Noosa River cruises for up to five passengers aboard a six metre handcrafted mahogany runabout, Noosa Dream, built in the style of the classic 1940s and 1950s American powerboats. Cruise around Noosa Sound then pick up speed and head up river towards Tewantin and Lake Cooroibah.

- Whitsunday Rent a Yacht, located at Shute Harbour, was one of the businesses hardest hit by March's Cyclone Ului. But after days without power, phones, and email and a damage bill of more than $2 million, they're now back in business, albeit with a smaller fleet, but new boats are arriving in July.

- The latest edition to the Freedom Fast Cats Fleet is the Freedom Monarch, a new 305-seat luxury catamaran especially designed for cruising Keppel Bay off Central Queensland. Freedom Fast Cats offer transfers to Great Keppel Island from Yepoon, as well as scenic lunch cruises, coral cruises, fish feeding tours and boom netting. The new vessel features three decks, a top deck for sun-bathing, air-conditioning, wheelchair access, a kiosk, large tinted windows, seven LCD screens and extra wide walkways.

- World Heritage Cruises’ 222-passenger cruise catamaran, Eagle, set a new world record of 114 skiiers, towed by a single boat over one mile at Strahan, Tasmania. The 35 metre vessel usually cruises the Gordon River, departing from Strahan.

- Whale and dolphin watching specialist Moonshadow Cruises operates a new ‘Cruising Classroom’ interactive educational cruise on Port Stephens, NSW. Half an hour before the cruise departs students meet onboard with an education officer for an interactive marine life discussion, tailored specifically for the students. They are given workbooks to complete either during the cruise or afterwards at school.

- Captain Cook Cruises offers Mother’s Day breakfast, lunch and dinner cruises on Sydney Harbour on 9 May.

- Two new routes have been introduced for Sunsail Sailing School’s unique rallies around the Whitsundays. Designed to improve sailing skills in a fun, sociable environment, the rallies combine expert supervision with enjoyable sailing. The Northern Route will head north from Sunsail’s base on Hamilton Island to the unspoilt Cape Gloucester, then on to Edgcumbe Bay and the Cape Gloucester Eco Resort. The Southern Route will take in Brampton and Goldsmith Islands, off Mackay, as well as a stop at the Ocean Resort on Long Island.

- Coral Princess has dropped its single supplement charge for solo passengers cruising on its three, four and seven-night Great Barrier Reef voyages aboard Coral Princess II, which accommodates 44 guests and 12 crew. Passengers who are cruising alone can now have their own private cabin at no extra cost.

- The largest fish in the ocean – the mighty whale shark – has made an early appearance at Ningaloo Reef on Western Australia’s Coral Coast. These extraordinary marine creatures, which can grow up to 16 metres long, usually visit the pristine waters of Ningaloo Reef between early April and July each year following the mass spawning of coral in the area. Easily accessible from shore, Ningaloo Reef is the largest fringing reef in the world and one of the most biodiverse. Visitors can swim with the harmless gentle giants by joining one of the specialist whale shark tour boats that operate out of the small coastal towns of Exmouth and Coral Bay. Western Australia.com.