A hands on Whitsunday sailing experience

Derwent Hunter is one of the oldest sailing ships still working in Australia. Join us for an incredible day trip, where you get to help hoist the sails, the old-fashioned way! The sailing has been pretty amazing lately, and we’ve been loving the journey to and from our snorkelling sites.

The Whitsunday water is a blue as ever, and we’ve found some good snorkel sites near Stonehaven Anchorage. There are some great fish and some lovely soft corals, which are already growing back! We have two large tenders to ferry guests to shore, and can provide very personalised service. We take guests to the best coral locations, and make sure everyone gets plenty of time to explore at their leisure.

Our eco guides are loving having a chat about the Whitsundays, and the history of the vessel itself. Even the kids don’t mind sitting in and listening while they learn about all the fish and marine life that call this fascinating area of ours home.

Customers can grab a beer, wine or cider, and sit back and soak up some lovely May sunshine while we cruise through the Whitsunday Islands.

The wildlife has been really interesting of late. We have had a turtle come right up close to the boat, and a bird hitched a ride in the rigging! And after all the rain, we have been able to show our customers a beautiful waterfall in a secret spot of ours!

“The sea water is too salty” and other amazing reviews!

We’ve been really enjoying reading the reviews we’ve been getting after the recent events, some of them have been hilarious! We’ve been lucky enough to show a vast array of international tourists how we sail the Whitsundays, and some of these visitors have never seen the ocean before, let alone sailed an old pirate ship.