Southern Cross Sailing Adventures Reviews

I found an ad on Gumtree advertising that there are volunteers wanted on a diving boat (Tornado Dive). I was in contact with Tony and made an agreement with him a few weeks in advance to fly over to Airlie Beach and get on the boat on the 3rd of Dec for the next 6 days.

Tony picked me up on the 2nd and after meeting the other volunteer and half of the staff, we spent the night on the boat at the marina. In the morning, the rest of the crew arrived on the boat and we took off to the first diving spot. The instructors took the first divers out and while the other girl and myself were on the lookout, the skipper (Limbie) came to us and told us we have to get on Hammer and come back, as according to the main office we are not allowed to be on the boat. Excuse me? Apparently there had been some miscommunication about taking volunteers on the boat. I asked the skipper to get an explanation for why on earth we could not just stay on the boat if we were already out there, there was enough food for everyone, and all staff members were totally fine with us being there. Nothing. No one gave us a proper explanation, and all I knew was that there had been volunteers on the boat before but for some reason this time the HR manager of Southern Cross Sailing did not want us there. Later I found out she (Kylie) is the girlfriend of the skipper. I hope jealousy is not the reason for ruining the experience for me and the other girl because that would make it even worse. Can't think of any other reason, though, as I heard there is always a volunteer on the boat.

If you do have an explanation to give me regarding this totally disappointing and frustrating experience, I am happy to hear what you have to say.

I confirmed various times to make sure it is okay to book a flight here and book a non-changeable bus ticket to leave Airlie on Tuesday night. I guess it's partly my responsibility for trusting you and being too gullible but the way you handled the situation and were not understanding or human at all, is always going to be the most disappointing thing during my trip to Australia. Hope you learn something out of this, I certainly did!

Three hours motoring out. Three hours motoring/sailing back. That only leaves 2 hours at Whitehaven beach and 30 mins snorkeling. Boat smelled really bad and was rundown. Crew was nice and informative though. I would highly recommend doing a multi day trip of some kind or catch a boat to one of the island resorts for a couple days. Travel time to the area and back eats up all the time in a day trip

Excellent staff and good fun, cant wait until I go again.

We had the pleasure of enjoying a sailing cruise on a former America's Cup yacht - 'The Southern Cross' which participated in the America's Cup in 1974. Now a cruise yacht, our G-Adventures Tour took advantage of this vessel. We had a group of 17. There were 3 crew members that expertly sailed the yacht maybe 30 miles for a full day outing.

It is thrilling to put up the sail on the 97" mast and feel the power of the wind! Three of the guest on-board helped raise the sails - awesome!

Food was provided and it was much better than expected. A full lunch and frequent snacks and drinks. We came ashore on a zodiac to Whitsunday National Park for swimming and a tour to the lookout, re-boarded and headed for snorkelling on the Great Barrier Reef. The crew supplied all the equipment including stinger wetsuits - amazing!

I cannot recommend this tour enough! The expert crew made this a lifelong memorable experience!

We chartered this yacht for a day trip on 5/12/18 for our group that was holidaying at Long Island. The crew were fantastic, the 21 of us on board had the best day sailing from Long Island, to Whitehaven Beach, stopping at Hill Inlet & some fringe reef for a spot of snorkeling and back to Abell Point Marina. I had my elderly 84 yr old mother on board, the crew could not have been more helpful with her while we were off exploring Whitehaven & snorkeling. I would highly recommend chartering this yacht, we were even lucky enough on the trip back to kill the motors & sail back to the marina, pure magical day, thanks guys!

Once and never again.
In the beginning, the organization and crew were super nice and talkative.

We started off in the rain, which then lay down at sea. In bright sun we arrived at the island. We had 5min at Hill Inlet and 20min at the beach. The description spoke of more time. We thought it was because we were still snorkeling. There you were then, the disappointment. Despite good weather and clear view of the seabed, we have NOT been snorkeling. We did not get a correct explanation. All other boats were strangely snorkeling. We were then at 15.30 o'clock back at the harbor. As first boat. It was planned 17.00 o'clock but we were not snorkeling. The time could have been used then at least comfortably on the island. NOT RECOMMENDABLE !

Brilliant experience with an amazing crew on the BrItish Defender. Thanks guys