ABOUT US
Our mission is to help you connect with the ocean.
We believe that the ocean is full of inspiration and are passionate about taking you on a journey of discovery.
We have owned and operated the Merimbula Marina since 2008. When we purchased the business it was primarily a fishing charter business that did some dolphin and whale watching tours.
We soon realised that whale watching was our passion and started to build this arm of our business. Back in those early years winter was a quiet time in Merimbula with not many people holidaying at this time of year. So with a young family to support we decided to take a risk and took our boat to Sydney for the winter.
We figured that there were plenty of people in Sydney year round and thankfully the whales migrated past on their northern migration May to August. It was a success and what started as a way to get us through the winter has turned into a year round business - 'Go Whale Watching'. Running a business in Sydney gave us the income we needed to buy new boats and develop the whale watching tours we offered in Merimbula and helped us to become the company we are now.
WE HAVE A GENUINE LOVE FOR THE MARINE ENVIRONMENT
We are passionate about whales, dolphins, seals and the marine environment.
We are committed to helping to educate people about the threats that our ocean faces in today’s world.
It is our hope and prayer that by helping people to connect with the ocean and its amazing diversity that they may take actions to preserve and protect it.
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Our dog Roger loves to accompany us on our tours and is quite a good whale spotter these days!
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FURTHER CHALLENGES
The 2019/20 Bushfires and then Covid has presented many challenges to tourism business'. It has forced us to rethink our business and re-invent ourselves.
So our business continues to evolve and Merimbula Marina is becoming Sapphire Coastal Adventures. New look, new website, new location - same friendly, welcoming, adventurous crew!
Our primary vessel Bubbles lives in Sydney, whale watching May to August and operating private Harbour cruises throughout the summer. She will have a short holiday in Bermagui for the southern whale watching season August to November.
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And we have purchased a new shallow draft boat, Sensational II for Merimbula. She is a fast, high powered adventure RIB. She lives in Merimbula and conducts super fun whale watching adventures and ocean adventure tours during the summer months!
Read more about our vessels.
We like to think that we are a friendly, welcoming crew. We love having fun on our tours and sharing our passion for the ocean. We have so many people that come and visit us each year for their annual ‘whale holiday.’ It is always a joy to us to welcome back familiar faces.
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Our ‘Whale Family’ continues to grow and we invite you to join us on our future adventures.
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Simon, Jessica and the team at Sapphire Coastal Adventures
SAPPHIRE COASTAL ADVENTURES
What we believe in .....
Adventure
We love the changing and unpredictable moods of the ocean.
The ocean is wet, it can be windy,
it is always wonderful!
respect
We believe the ocean is the source of all life and demands our respect.
We believe that if we all respect ourselves and one another the world can be a better place.
Ocean Education
Education brings understanding - Understanding brings appreciation - Appreciation brings Change
Thankfulness
We are grateful that we get to spend our days on the ocean. And we are thankful that there is an ever increasing number of people committed to protecting the health of our oceans.
Connection
We protect what we love. Our hope is that by helping people to connect with the ocean, they will grow to love and help protect it.