Port Douglas, Australia – For many of our clients, their Australia bucket list includes a tour to the Great Barrier Reef. Understandably so, this reef is world famous for its diversity of marine life and sheer size of living coral communities. Increasingly, the acceleration of climate change has jeopardized the integrity of the Great Barrier Reef. Warmer ocean temperatures cause heat stress and mass bleaching for these coral systems and results in a steady decline. This is a huge concern for local marine biologists and tour operations alike. The Great Barrier Reef is one of the main attractions to Australia’s Tropical North.
This week, our featured ecotour is Sailaway Charters, which is our day cruise go-to for all of our Port Douglas travelers. This company is dedicated to sustainability initiatives within their operation as well as externally. They are a Climate Action Leader and are Eco-certified as an Advanced Ecotourism charter company. This is not your average boat tour. The groups they take out are small in size and the tropical-influenced lunch served on board is sourced locally. Their spacious vessels are about 25 meters in length, equipped with sails so they are primarily powered by wind by a professional sailing crew: the most sustainable way to cruise the reef.
On-board, you should expect the highest quality coral reef education in Port Douglas. Sailaway maintains an exceptional host-guest relationship by bringing marine biologists on board to lead snorkel tours throughout the richly diverse aquatic habitat. By employing these professionals, Sailaway establishes credibility for the sake of tourism education. This tour gives guests an accurate interpretation of what is happening to the reef.
Sailaway Charters also practice carbon-offsetting. A small portion of the admission price goes towards a local reforestation initiative. Shamba trees are planted every day in a neighboring World Heritage rainforest in Port Douglas on 27 acres of land. For more information on this bioremediation project, visit http://www.ecoshamba.com.au.
