Where to Swim With Whales in Australia: Gold Coast to Ningaloo

You can swim with humpback whales in two parts of Australia: along the Queensland coast, from the Gold Coast up to Hervey Bay, and on the Ningaloo Coast in Western Australia. Each runs as a guided tour, only in the migration season, and each works a little differently; at Ningaloo the operators are licensed by Western Australia. The Gold Coast is the southernmost and the most open water; Hervey Bay is the most sheltered; Ningaloo is the most remote.

Gold Coast

The Gold Coast swim bookable on GetYourGuide is Cooly Eco Adventures’ 4-hour trip from Chinderah, on the Tweed River just over the New South Wales border, from US$313 per person and rated 4.8 from 14 reviews. Cooly says it was the first Gold Coast operator to offer whale swims. You need to swim unassisted, have snorkelled before and be at least 15. The trip searches open water off the southern Gold Coast, where the whales pass close to shore, and runs in the season from about June. Sea The Gold Coast, based at Southport, also offers swims.

Mooloolaba, Sunshine Coast

Sunreef in Mooloolaba launched what it called Australia’s first swim-with-humpback-whales trips in July 2014. Snorkellers hold a floating line attached to the boat, which idles at least 100 metres from a whale before anyone gets in. The current trip runs about 4 hours for up to 15 swimmers, from age 8, with wetsuit, mask, fins and snorkel included. If no whale is seen, which Sunreef says is never guaranteed, you get 50% off a return trip.

Its GetYourGuide listing was US$188 in October 2026 but had only 6 reviews, averaging 1.9; the low ones describe no swim, seasickness and a cancelled trip. That is too small a sample to judge the operator, but read recent reviews before you book. When we checked, its next date was 26 June 2027.

Hervey Bay and K’gari

Hervey Bay’s whale swims began in 2014 and became a permanent activity there in 2017. The bay is sheltered by K’gari, formerly Fraser Island, so the water is usually calmer than the open coast, and the whales often rest there. Tasman Venture’s 9-hour day from Hervey Bay, US$188 and rated 4.9 from 529 reviews, crosses to the remote western side of K’gari with lunch, kayaks and snorkel gear, and includes an optional whale immersion “in a controlled environment and subject to conditions on the day.” Pickups run from about 65 Hervey Bay hotels and parks.

A 2021 study in Frontiers in Marine Science found that humpback behaviour in Hervey Bay changed in response to swim-with-whale tours, and recommended education, enforcement and monitoring. Is it safe to swim with whales? has more on what that means for choosing an operator.

Ningaloo, Western Australia

The Ningaloo Coast is the only place in Western Australia where in-water humpback tours are allowed, and only with licensed operators, most of them long-running whale shark operators. The in-water trial began in 2016. Tours have started from Coral Bay on 1 July and from Exmouth on 1 August, running to late October, though the dates move with the migration each year. Licensed boats may approach to 75 metres from the side of a resting whale. It is on the other side of the continent from the Gold Coast, so it is a trip of its own.

Side by side

What about Sydney and the rest of the coast?

Further south the same humpbacks pass New South Wales, but the rules there keep swimmers 30 metres from a whale and forbid entering the water within 100 metres, and whale watching from boats is the norm. sydneywhalewatching.tours covers the cruises from Sydney, where the whales pass on the same migration.

See dates for the Gold Coast whale swim

For the Gold Coast season month by month, see the best time to swim with whales. For the cost of each option, see what a whale swim costs.

History from Sunreef’s 2014 launch notice, Stack et al. (2021) and Queensland and Western Australian government notices; tour details from the listings on 21 October 2026. Checked October 2026.