Captain Cook Cruises is an Australian cruise operator. As of January 2018, the company operated 21 vessels on Sydney Harbour, providing a range of Government contracted and non-contracted Ferry services, Sightseeing, Dining and Charter Cruises.

History

Captain Cook Cruises commenced operating on 26 January 1970 on

Port Jackson Port Jackson, consisting of the waters of Sydney Harbour, Middle Harbour, North Harbour and the Lane Cove and Parramatta Rivers, is the ria or natural harbour of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The harbour is an inlet of the Tasman ...

, Sydney with the ''Captain Cook'', a modified 1943

Fairmile B motor launch The Fairmile Type-B motor launch was a type of motor launch (often referred to as MLs) built by British boatbuilder Fairmile Marine and others during the Second World War for the Royal Navy for coastal operations. Design While the Type A had ...

. The business was founded by Trevor Haworth taking its name from James Cook who led the first European contact with the East Coast of Australia in 1770. Initially operating charters, on 1 May 1970 regular cruises began operating from

Circular Quay Circular Quay is a harbour, former working port and now international passenger shipping port, public piazza and tourism precinct, heritage area, and transport node located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia on the northern edge of the ...

Middle Harbour Middle Harbour (or ''Warrin ga''), a semi–mature tide dominated drowned valley estuary, is the northern arm of Port Jackson, an inlet of the Tasman Sea located north of Sydney central business district on the coast of New South Wales, Aust ...

. In November 1971 a second cruise commenced via the

Lane Cove Lane Cove is a suburb on the Lower North Shore of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Lane Cove is nine kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local governmen ...

and

Parramatta River The Parramatta River is an intermediate tide-dominated, drowned valley estuary located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. With an average depth of , the Parramatta River is the main tributary of Sydney Harbour, a branch of Port Jackson. S ...

s as far as the

Gladesville Bridge Gladesville Bridge is a heritage-listed concrete arch road bridge that carries Victoria Road over the Parramatta River, linking the Sydney suburbs of Huntleys Point and Drummoyne, in the local government areas of Canada Bay and Hunter's Hil ...

. In August 1975, the custom-built ''Captain Cook II'' built by

Carrington Slipways Forgacs Shipyard is a shipbuilding company located at Tomago, New South Wales on the Hunter River Hunter River may refer to: *Hunter River (New South Wales), Australia *Hunter River (Western Australia) *Hunter River, New Zealand *Hunter Rive ...

Tomago Tomago is a combined industrial/semi-rural suburb of the Port Stephens local government area in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia. It is located just north of the Hunter River and west of the body of water known as Fullerton Cov ...

was commissioned. In August 1978, the ''Lady Geradline'' was built by Millkraft Shipyards,

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

. This was followed by ''City of Sydney'' built by Sims Engineering,

Port Chalmers Port Chalmers is a town serving as the main port of the city of Dunedin, New Zealand. Port Chalmers lies ten kilometres inside Otago Harbour, some 15 kilometres northeast of Dunedin's city centre. History Early Māori settlement The orig ...

in 1981. In 1978 the original Northbridge marina was sold with a new facility purchased in

Neutral Bay Neutral Bay is a suburb on the Lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Neutral Bay is around 1.5 kilometres north of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of North Sydney Council. Neutral Bay t ...

In May 1984, the John Cadman Cruising Restaurant business was purchased. In 1987, Captain Cook Cruises began operating cruises on the

Hawkesbury River The Hawkesbury River, or Hawkesbury-Nepean River, is a river located northwest of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The Hawkesbury River and its associated main tributary, the Nepean River, almost encircle the metropolitan region of Sydney ...

and

Pittwater Pittwater is a semi-mature tide dominated drowned valley estuary, located about north of the Sydney central business district, New South Wales, Australia; being one of the bodies of water that separate greater Metropolitan Sydney from the ...

with the ''Lady Hawkesbury''. In November 1987, the Hegarty Ferries business was purchased from Stannard Bros, primarily to give Captain Cook Cruises exclusive access to wharf 6 at Circular Quay. It operated services to

Jeffrey Street ''Jeffrey Street'' or ''Jeffreys Street'' is a street located in Kirribilli, famous for being one of the most popular vantage points for views of the city skyline of Sydney, the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Sydney Opera House. The street is lo ...

Milsons Point Milsons Point is a suburb on the lower North Shore of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The suburb is located 3 kilometres north of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of North Sydney Council. ...

and

McMahons Point McMahons Point is a harbourside suburb on the lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. McMahons Point is located 3 kilometres north of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of North Sydney Counci ...

. In May 1988, the business of Murray River Developments was purchased with the '' Murray River Queen'' and '' Murray Princess'' on the

Murray River The Murray River (in South Australia: River Murray) ( Ngarrindjeri: ''Millewa'', Yorta Yorta: ''Tongala'') is a river in Southeastern Australia. It is Australia's longest river at extent. Its tributaries include five of the next six longe ...

and the ''Brisbane Explorer'' on the

Brisbane River The Brisbane River is the longest river in South East Queensland, Australia, and flows through the city of Brisbane, before emptying into Moreton Bay on the Coral Sea. John Oxley, the first European to explore the river, named it after the G ...

''.'' In 1991, operations began on the

Great Barrier Reef The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef system composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over over an area of approximately . The reef is located in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland, ...

in a joint venture with

Qantas Qantas Airways Limited ( ) is the flag carrier of Australia and the country's largest airline by fleet size, international flights, and international destinations. It is the List of airlines by foundation date, world's third-oldest airline sti ...

. The was ordered, however problems during its construction resulted in the ''Lady Hawkesbury'' being transferred from the Hawkesbury River to the Great Barrier Reef as the ''Reef Escape'' in July 1992. In turn the ''Brisbane Explorer'' was transferred to the Hawkesbury as the ''Hawkesbury Explorer II''. The ''Reef Endeavour'' eventually entered service in 1995. In 1992, the company began operations in Fiji, purchasing Tivua Island, located 18km off the coast of Port Denarau. Sailing Day Cruises were commenced to the island. ''Reef Escape'' was relocated to Fiji from the

in 1995 and began accommodated cruises through the Yasawa and Mamanuca Islands. On 7 January 2003, the former Hegarty routes ceased. In November 2005 Matilda Cruises was acquired from Amalgamated Holdings Limited (now

Event Hospitality and Entertainment EVT Limited (EVT), formerly Amalgamated Holdings Limited and then Event Hospitality and Entertainment, is an Australian company which operates cinemas, hotels and resorts in Australia, New Zealand and Germany. EVT owns the largest cinema chains ...

), with 11 vessels. In 2011, Captain Cook Cruises was purchased by the SeaLink Travel Group.

Sydney

Network

Captain Cook Cruises operate ferry services connecting Sydney Harbour,

Darling Harbour Darling Harbour is a harbour adjacent to the city centre of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia that is made up of a large recreational and pedestrian precinct that is situated on western outskirts of the Sydney central business district. Orig ...

Barangaroo Barangaroo was the second wife of Bennelong, who was interlocutor between the Aboriginal people and the early British colonists in New South Wales. Barangaroo was a member of the Cammeraygal clan. While Bennelong spent considerable time in th ...

Watsons Bay Watsons Bay is a harbourside, eastern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Watsons Bay is located 11 km north-east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the Municipality of Woollahr ...

, Manly, the

Lane Cove River The Lane Cove River, a northern tributary of the Parramatta River, is a tide-dominated, drowned valley estuary west of Sydney Harbour, located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The river is a tributary of the Parramatta River, winding t ...

and White Bay. The Shark Island and Zoo Express are part of the Hop On Hop Off (HOHO) services which also call at Watsons Bay and Manly. These services will resume during the school holidays on 19 December 2020 after the

COVID-19 Pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

. Resumption dates for the City Loop (Darling Harbour/Barnagaroo), Luna Park, and Fort Denison services are not yet known. *City Loop :*

Sydney Aquarium SEA LIFE Sydney Aquarium (formerly Sydney Aquarium) is a public aquarium that features a large variety of Australian aquatic life, displaying more than 700 species comprising more than 13,000 individual fish and other sea and water creatures fr ...

Luna Park Luna Park is a name shared by dozens of currently operating and defunct amusement parks. They are named after, and partly based on, the first Luna Park, which opened in 1903 during the heyday of large Coney Island parks. Luna parks are small-s ...

:* Circular Quay West *Shark Island :*Circular Quay West :* Shark Island *Zoo Express :*Circular Quay West :*

Taronga Zoo Taronga Zoo is a zoo located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, in the suburb of Mosman, on the shores of Sydney Harbour. The opening hours are between 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Taronga is an Aboriginal word meaning 'beautiful water view'. ...

*White Bay Only operates on days that there are cruise liners at White Bay. So will not resume until the cruise terminal reopens. :*Darling Harbour :*White Bay *Watsons Bay :*A commuter service between

and

commenced on 23 March 2015. *Lane Cove River :*Circular Quay West :*

Kirribilli Kirribilli is a suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. One of the city's most established and affluent neighbourhoods, it is located three kilometres north of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area admini ...

:* Birchgrove :* Greenwich Point :*Bay Street,

Greenwich Greenwich ( , ,) is a town in south-east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. It is situated east-southeast of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwic ...

:* Northwood :* Longueville :*Alexandra Street,

Hunters Hill Hunters Hill is a suburb of the lower north shore of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Hunters Hill is located north-west of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local government ar ...

St Ignatius' College, Riverview Saint Ignatius' College Riverview is an Australian independent single-sex primary and secondary day and boarding school for boys, conducted in the Jesuit tradition, located in Riverview, a small suburb located on the Lane Cove River on the ...

Vessels

References

External links

{{List of public transport operators in Sydney, state=collapsed Ferry companies of Australia 1970 establishments in Australia