Frequently Asked Questions

What is the EMC?
The Environmental Management Charge or EMC is a charge payable by commercial operators granted permits by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA). This includes operators conducting tourist programmes and non-tourist commercial charters plus those operating facilities in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park . There is no Goods and Services Tax (GST) liability on the EMC.

Visitors to the reef participating in a tourist activity are now liable to pay the charge to the permit holder. The role of the operator in relation to the charge is to collect and remit the charge to the GBRMPA
All funds received as EMC payments are applied directly to management of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park including education, research, ranger patrols and policy development.

At the time of printing a total fee of $7 per person per day is recommended to cover the cost of the EMC.

We are a small family business that strive to offer the best service possible for our guests we understand that sometimes cancellations are unavoidable in some dire circumstances. Please call to discuss if this is the case.

However to be able to operate productively the following cancellation policy’s are in place. We are open and honest and if we can refill your seat a cancellation fee will NOT be charged. Or you can choose to rebook on another day if we have it available.

*Note for direct bookings we hold your credit card in our booking system with a prehold on the amount of charter, until 24 hours prior. It is then charged, when we can confirm weather suitability, this avoids having to process a refund.
However a cancellation fee below can still be charged. If booked online by the customer all refunds due are initiated by the operator ASAP and will clear into your account via the booking platform fare-harbour this can sometimes take up to 5 days (usually sooner) to return to your card depending on your financial institution.

Refund Policy on Private Charter.
Customers will receive a full refund if given 7 days notice of cancellation. For less notice of cancellation, 50% cancellation fee is charged *Unless seats are refilled by operator.
Customers that cancel within the 48 hours of Private Charter date 100% cancellation fee applies.
*Unless seats are refilled by operator.

Refund Policy on Shared Charter.
Customers will receive a full refund if given 72 hours notice of cancellation. For less notice of cancellation, 50% cancellation fee is charged unless seats are filled by operator. Customers that cancels within the 24 hours hours of Shared Charter date 100% cancellation fee applies.
*Unless the seats can be rebooked by operator. No-shows will be charged the full price.

Operator Cancellations
Customers will also receive a full refund including online booking fees in case of operator cancellation due to weather, min numbers not being met or other unforeseen circumstances. We try to give as much notice as possible and can suggest other operators if suitable.

*Note booking taken direct via phone, email or text do not in-cure online booking fees, however if you have booked online and charter is cancelled the online booking fees paid are also refunded by our booking platform. (For bookings that haven’t incurred a cancellation fee).
All cancellations must be requested by phone or email.

The fare price includes bait, rods, reels (yes you can bring your own also) We cater for morning and afternoon tea snacks with wraps and rolls for lunch. We keep it simple but fresh to keep the fishing time uninterrupted. Water and the soft stuff included, with BYO optional (limited to 6 standard drinks, cans only) pp due to cold space availability.

On a Private Charter we can take 8 guests with 2 crew (Skipper and Deck- hand) to ensure you are well looked after, We allow for 6 -7 guests to fish at once, Shared Charters max capacity is 6 guests.

We happily take all children on our Private Charters however shared charters are restricted to children over 1 2 .

Some fish are seasonal however our crew have 20 years of experience and awesome wonky holes to give you the best chance of bringing home a catch like large mouth and small mouth Nannygai, Coral Trout, Cobia, Spanish Mackerel, Trevally and Cod. Inshore reefs Mangrove Jack, Fingermark, Brim. and typically, juvenile reef species.

Note: Annual Coral Reef Fin Fish reef closures are in Oct 22nd -26th 2022 and 12th -16th Oct 2023 and Mackerel closures 22nd Oct-12th Nov 21st Nov -12 Dec 2022.

Yes, you get to keep your catch. Recreational bag limits do apply. We have a boat limit of 3 coral fish pp and 2 mackerel per boat. We do not gut, or clean your fish, and we legally cannot fillet any species. We recommend you bring an esky to take your fish home if you have a long journey. Eskies are not allowed onboard so please leave them in your car.

Full Day Private Charter departs at 8:00 am and returns at 3.30 pm
1/ 2 Day Private and Shared Charters Depart at 8:00 am and return a 12 noon.

To put it simply unfortunately not really, due to our small operation we cannot cater to all dietary requests as lunches and snacks are kept simple to ensure more time spent fishing. We offer Chicken and beef rolls & salad rolls and can cater to vegetarian diets, please advise in the comments section when booking otherwise feel free to bring your own in a small lunchbox or cooler bag as space is minimal.

Long sleeve shirt, bring a spare if you get wet or to hot, wide brim hat,  sunglasses. Arrive with sunscreen applied don’t forget legs and top on hands.

Footwear – You can wear anything comfortable that can get wet, bare foot is ok.