Fantasea Adventure Cruising Whitsundays Latest News, Articles & Specials

Fantasea wins at Australian Tourism Awards

Fantasea — Mon, 4 Apr 2011 12:00:00 +0000

Fantasea is celebrating our recent success at the Australian Tourism Awards, bringing home the coveted award for Best Major Tour and Transport Operator in Australia!

Fantasea wins again at Queensland Tourism Awards

Internal — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 12:00:00 +0000

Multi award winning Fantasea Adventure Cruising has confirmed its status as one of Queensland‟s leading tourism operators taking out the award for best Major Tour and/or Transport Operator at the prestigious 2010 Queensland Tourism Awards.

Fantasea inducted into tourism awards Hall of Fame

Internal — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 12:00:00 +0000

Fantasea Adventure Cruising has been inducted into the Whitsundays Tourism Awards Hall of Fame following a clean sweep at the prestigious awards night last weekend.

Fantasea Cruising Magnetic support turtle release

Townsville Bulletin — Fri, 1 Oct 2010 12:00:00 +0000

Fantasea Cruising Magnetic were proud to sponsor transfers to Magnetic Island for the turtle release at Picnic Bay.

Fantasea Adventure Cruising swags down for a night

E Travel Blackboard — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 12:00:00 +0000

Fantasea Adventure Cruising’s floating Reefworld adventure platform was recently transformed into a luxury campsite for 50 guests from Tourism Australia’s Aussie Specialist Program.

As part of Corroboree 2010 – The Americas, the 50 international Aussie Specialists had joined nearly 200 of their contemporaries for a day at Reefworld followed by an evening of swagging under the stars. Tourism Australia’s annual Corroboree is a premier retail training event which gathers Aussie Specialist Travel Agents from North America to meet and learn about Australian experiences, wholesalers, airlines, state tourism offices, and local tourism products.

This year’s Corroboree, which was held on Hamilton Island in September, was focused on Queensland’s most beautiful region, the Whitsundays, a region with which Fantasea Adventure Cruising is synonymous.

The 74 tropical islands of the Whitsunday’s lie just over 1000kms north of Brisbane, along Queensland’s stunning shoreline, and encompass some of the most beautiful and amazing coastal landscapes in Australia, where Fantasea Adventure Cruising has been delivering unique and diverse holiday experiences for more than 25 years. As one of the Whitsundays premier tourism agents, Fantasea Adventure Cruising, with Tourism Queensland, hosted the Aussie Specialists group on a day trip to Reefworld and an evening at Reefsleep, experiencing an Aussie icon and swagging under the stars.

The famil introduced the overseas agents to some of the best aspects of the Great Barrier Reef and the Reefworld pontoon, including diving, snorkelling, the underwater viewing chamber, semi-submersible, waterslide and massage services in the Harmony Hut. As well as allowing the agents to enjoy the amenities of Reefworld, Fantasea Adventure Cruising also took the opportunity to educate them about some of the other aspects of holidaying in the Whitsundays.

Talks were given by Hamilton Island Air on the essential experience of taking a helicopter ride over the iconic Heart Reef, plus talks by Fantasea Captain John Dyson and Fantasea Marine biologist Dominique Blaire, about the importance of the reefs ecosystem and Fantasea’s dedication to preserving the area. Fantasea also invited astronomer, former Hamilton Island Observatory operator and aboriginal stargazing expert Ray Johnston to speak to the Reefsleep campers about the Australian sky and decipher the millions of celestial bodies visible from the deck.

The Aussie Specialists are a dedicated and specialised group of retail travel agents, trained in the Aussie Specialist Program run by Tourism Australia and the State and Territory Tourism Organisations, who are involved in actively selling and promoting Australia direct to international consumers. The program was developed to provide a network of retail agents to whom Tourism Australia could direct consumers interested in travelling to Australia, along with providing a vehicle for Australian product to access the retail network.

Corroboree The Americas 2010 has given the Whitsunday tourism operators and Fantasea Adventure Cruising the opportunity to cultivate relationships with these international agents and work on building new business, promotional and marketing ideas for Australian tourism products in the Americas.

Fantasea Cracker Night cracks ten grand for charity

Internal — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 12:00:00 +0000

Fantasea Adventure Cruising’s annual Cracker Night has this year raised $10,000 for the RACQ CQ Rescue Helicopter service.

Fantasea backs staff volunteer for Vietnam mission

Internal — Fri, 6 Aug 2010 12:00:00 +0000

Fantasea Cruising Magnetic employee Shannon Lawrence is thrilled to be sponsored by Fantasea Adventure Cruising when she undertakes a 3 month volunteer stint in Vietnam at the Christina Noble Children‟s Foundation (CNCF) in mid February, 2011.

Fantasea to host a cracker of a night!

Internal — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 12:00:00 +0000

Fantasea Adventure Cruising will light up the skies over Airlie Beach again in 2010 for the annual Cracker Night on August 13.

Fantasea to relocate to the new Port of Airlie precinct

Internal — Fri, 9 Jul 2010 12:00:00 +0000

Multi award winning cruise operator, Fantasea Adventure Cruising are moving their ferry terminal to Meridien’s Port of Airlie development in Airlie Beach. Relocating from Shute Harbour, the new Fantasea ferry terminal will service the Airlie Beach community as the closest stepping off point for island hoppers.

Fantasea Cowboys Incentive Winner!

Internal — Tue, 8 Jun 2010 12:00:00 +0000

After 4 months, the Fantasea Cowboys local agent incentive has come to an end and a BIG congratulations to Heather from Pinnacles who was the lucky winner of an overnight stay in Townsville with VIP box seats to the Cowboys/Broncos match! Also congrats to the runners up, Tracey from Beaches and Joe from Flame Tree!

Fashion Guru Swaps Style Tips for Dive Tips

Internal — Wed, 19 May 2010 12:00:00 +0000

Fashion Guru, Carson Kressley, swaps style tips for dive tips at Fantasea Reefword!

Fantasea Cracker Night

Internal — Tue, 11 May 2010 12:00:00 +0000

The annual Fantasea Cracker Night is scheduled for Friday 13 August 2010. Mark this special local community event in your diary now and we look forward to seeing you there!

The new Fantasea Yellow Sub!

Internal — Tue, 11 May 2010 12:00:00 +0000

The Yellow Sub cruise is back! May 2010 sees the return of an old Whitsunday favourite, the Fantasea Yellow Sub. This iconic Whitsunday cruise is operating to beautiful Bali Hai on the inner Great Barrier Reef as a half day sub and snorkel adventure.

Fantasea back to business following Cyclone Ului

Fantasea internal — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 12:00:00 +0000

The Whitsundays are back to business - the first snorkellers at Fantasea Reefworld on the Great Barrier Reef.

Fantasea Annouces Best Incentive in the World winner

Fantasea internal — Mon, 8 Feb 2010 12:00:00 +0000

Sheridan Browne, from Flametree Caravan Park, will be winging her way overseas after winning around the world Business Class flights for two as part of Fantasea Adventure Cruising’s Best Incentive in the World promotion.

The prize was drawn at a Fantasea Cultural Extravaganza evening attended by 200 local travel agents and industry guests in the Whitsundays last Friday. Countries and regions including Japan, France, the UK, USA, Mexico and the Pacific Islands were on show with individually themed areas showcasing traditional cuisine, costumes, live music and roving entertainment.

Travel agents received entry tickets between August 1, 2009 and January 31, 2010 when selling a range of packages from Fantasea’s diverse holiday options, including: the multi-award winning Reefsleep; Great Barrier Reef Reefworld Experience; Whitehaven Beach Experience; and Hamilton Island Day Trip Experience.

Fantasea Adventure Cruising CEO Hume Campbell said that the enthusiasm from agents towards ‘Best Incentive in the World’ has been phenomenal.

“Our business is very reliant on support from local and regional agents and we are delighted to offer aspirational incentives to reward those that endorse Fantasea,” he said.

Mr Campbell announced that the next local travel agent Incentiveprize is a weekend in Townsville for the winning agent and five friends to watch the North Queensland Cowboys V Brisbane Broncos game. The prize includes VIP tickets to the Players Lounge and match seats including drinks and dinner, return chauffeured transfers and overnight accommodation at Jupiter’s Townsville with breakfast included.

This incentive period will run from February 6, to May 31, 2010.

Fantasea Express launched! The fastest and most direct service to/from Hamilton Island.

Fantasea PR — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 12:00:00 +0000

Hamilton Island Airport passengers can now transfer direct to and from Airlie Beach using a new ferry service offered by Fantasea Adventure Cruising.

From Monday February 1, the service will connect with all arriving and departing flights from Hamilton Island, cutting at least 15 minutes from the transfer time to the mainland.

This means that passengers arriving on a 10.25am flight from Melbourne would disembark at the Abel Point Marina at Airlie Beach at noon.

An introductory one-way fare of $45 for adults and $25 for children will apply for a limited period which also includes a scheduled pick-up and drop-up transfer service to hotel or holiday accommodation.

Fantasea Adventure Cruising General Manager, Michelle Rynne said that the company is delighted to launch a streamlined service which cuts down travelling time and offers added convenience to passengers.

Bookings can be made via tour desks, travel agents or by calling the Fantasea Hotline on 1800 650 851.

Reef Sleepover Voted The Best

General — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 12:00:00 +0000

Articles from the Mackay Daily Mercury, Morning Bulletin and Townsville Bulletin highlighting Fantasea's win at the Queensland Tourism Awards for Fantasea Reefsleep in the Unique Accommodation category.

Migaloo sighted in the Whitsundays

Steve Neale — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 12:00:00 +0000

John Dyson, Skipper of Fantasea Adventure Cruising vessel ‘Wonder’, sighted Migaloo the Albino Humpback Whale, on the way home to Shute Harbour from Hardy Reef (51 nautical miles from the mainland), east of the Whitsunday Islands at approximately 4pm on August 25. John held Wonder for around half an hour to allow all 113 guests on board to observe Migaloo. This was a very rare sighting and is believed to be the first sighting of Migaloo in the Whitsunday waters this season. In season, whales are regularly seen from our vessels when travelling to and from Reefworld and other destinations.

Corals by Candlelight

Rob McFarland — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 12:00:00 +0000

Waving the crowds goodbye, Rob McFarland stays for dinner and a sleepover on the Great Barrier Reef.....Fantasea Reefsleep.

Fantasea Angels at Oztalk in Los Angeles

Kellie Ashdown — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 12:00:00 +0000

Well hello there,

I have just returned from the most amazing trip to L.A. to promote Fantasea and The Whitsunday region.

My colleague, Karen and I attended OzTalk North America which is organised by Tourism Australia and gives tourism operators the opportunity to promote their little slice of paradise to Travel agents and wholesalers from all across America.

So we did just that!

We spoke to about 50 different companies over three days and had so much fun.

Some people had not heard of The Whitsundays while others had been here before so we did what comes easy to us and highlighted the many things we have to offer here in this beautiful part of the world including one of the seven natural wonders of the world, The Great Barrier Reef.

Of course we managed to sneak in some highlights of L.A. such as Santa Monica, Venice Beach ( lots of crazy people so I fitted right in!), Santa Barbara, Hollywood and of course fulfilled my childhood dream of meeting Mickey Mouse at Disneyland! Absolutely spectacular! I think I convinced him to do a Reefsleep! What a perfect man...he couldn't talk back so I did all the talking!!!!

I had a wonderful time and this was made so by the hospitality of the people in L.A. Everyone went out of their way to help us any way they could. They all dream of coming to Australia one day so it was interesting to explain to them the best places to see and encourage them to visit us as soon as possible.

Kellie Ashdown

Fantasea Sales Representative

Best Job in the World travels on the Whitsundays' best ferry service

Kellie Ashdown — Thu, 2 Jul 2009 12:00:00 +0000

Best Job in the World winner, Ben Southall, aboard Fantasea Five on his way from Hamilton Island to Daydream Island Resort and Spa. Five was skippered by Glenn Bisset and Ben's host was Kellie Ashdown.

Nice Work If You Can Get It

Mike Smith — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 12:00:00 +0000

Everyone up here has the best job in the world, writes Mike Smith, as he experiences Fantasea Reefsleep.

Best Job in the World finalists visit Fantasea Reefworld

Kellie Ashdown — Mon, 4 May 2009 12:00:00 +0000

The sixteen lucky finalists for the Best Job in the World spent the morning snorkelling at the Reefworld pontoon on Hardy Reef. Fantasea is a proud supporter of the Best Job in The World finals process and offer congratulations to all of the finalists!