Description: Considering how expensive many "dolphin watching cruises" can be, the excursion in the Port of Adelaide that pretty much guarantees seeing those playful marine mammals must be one of the best value dolphin-watching trips in the world.
The trip, offered on the Port River by several operators, cost us 5 AUD per person for an hour-and-half cruise on Port Princess (they charge lower prices on Sundays and Public Holiday Mondays). There are longer trips by them and other operators that take the visitors further out towards the sea and cost 8 or 10 AUD respectively for a two and two-and-a-half hour cruise.
We went on a winter Sunday, and it was a pretty local affair, clearly a popular Sunday outing for families, with many having lunch on board (in fact, many of the cruises are dinner or lunch ones and offer ticket prices inclusive of the meals). Port Adelaide is a pretty down to Earth location, and the people on board were a mixture of mostly Australians, with a few foreign visitors (I am sure there would be more in the summer). It was democratic entertainment, and a pretty-relaxed experience, unlike some trips in Queensland for example, which cost hundreds of dollars and on which a slightly hysterical desperation to enjoy oneself is palpable in the participants.
The boat itself is a large catamaran with three decks, plenty of space both inside and outside and a loudspeaker system for the guide mentioning significant landmarks we passed.
Port River is not a particularly exciting location, being mostly flat-shored and with many industrial installations on the banks of the river: not horrendous by any means, but not picturesque either. Further on towards the sea there are some mangrove forests remaining. But being on the water is always quite exciting for an hour or two, and even viewing port and other industrial facilities can give an extra insight into a place. Plus, of course, there are the dolphins.
The Port River itself is actually a part of a tidal estuary on the eastern side of the Gulf of St Vincent and it extends inland through the Inner Harbour of Port Adelaide. A pod of Bottlenose Dolphins lives permanently in the Port River, coexisting with the shipping, the industry and the dolphin-watchers, and the dolphin cruise boats search for them with a sonar and attempt to follow the creatures – or at least indicate to the people on board where they might be.
Dolphins are curious and sociable animals and like swimming with the boats, exploring and following them. We get to see some of the estuary's hundred-plus dolphins (of which around thirty live in the Port River, making them possibly the only dolphin pod permanently established within such a big city) several times during the trip, and can admire them swimming by the bow of the catamaran, looking out of the water and showing off further away.
The cruised depart from the wharf near the Fishermen's Wharf flea market and the lighthouse, and runs the whole year, with the best deals offered on Sundays.
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