My husband and I booked a Moreton Island Get Wrecked day tour via Klook (sign up with my link so we both get $5 credit each!) and got our tickets at a discounted rate (yay for savings!). The Get Wrecked tour involved slightly more “adventurous” physical activities, as compared to the Scenic tour that had a more relaxed itinerary. After reading the reviews about our service provider, Sunset Safaris, I was pretty sure we were in safe hands. We were given clear instructions on what to bring, what to wear, what to expect on the tour and how to get to our meeting point (information that I really appreciated).
On the morning of the tour, we met our fellow tour guests at the Brisbane Coach Terminal, which was the meeting point. Sunset Safaris also does pick-ups from Gold Coast but they are more expensive and the meeting time is way earlier. The driver then gave us a form to fill and collected $50 from each person for the National Park and Ferry levy fees. After that, it was a comfortable 45-minute drive to the port for our ferry departure.
We boarded the MiCat Ferry, a ferry that was big enough to also transport vehicles on its lowest deck. The top deck was open-air with seats for passengers to soak up the sun, while the middle deck was air-conditioned, a relief for many from the summer heat. There was a deli onboard as well, but the prices were severely jacked up. As my husband and I were feeling peckish with no other food and drink source, we ended up paying those ridiculous prices.
Along the 75-minute journey across Moreton Bay, we spotted some dolphins! They didn’t swim out of the water much though so I only got a photo with their fins breaking the surface of the water. Probably the closest I’ve gotten to seeing dolphins in the wild ❤
Upon disembarkation, our first activity of the day was taking a four-wheel-drive (4WD) out to the desert for sand tobogganing. We were warned that it was going to be a bumpy ride, especially if we sat towards the back of the 4WD, because the sand roads can be quite uneven. On our way to the desert, we met with a massive traffic jam because a car got its wheel stuck in the sand. Roads here are mostly one-way, so that meant a lot of other vehicles were affected. Fortunately, Chris (our 4WD driver and sand tobogganing instructor) hopped out and saved the day for all of us! He shared that this happens quite a bit if drivers don’t adjust their tyre pressure to travel on these sand roads.
Once we got to the desert, we had to walk across the sand dunes to the top of a sand hill. Getting up there was effortful and definitely required some level of fitness (I climbed up once and that was it, haha). Chris then taught us how to hold up this thin wooden board when sliding down the sand hill. It was nerve-wracking as the hill was rather steep and all I had was my board technique to prevent my face from being planted in the sand. I didn’t exactly relish the speed rush, but I’m still glad I tried it out (: We were strongly encouraged not to bring our cameras out because of the fine sand particles that may get stuck in the lenses, so I could only snap a photo or two here.
Along the way back to the beach, Chris shared with us some fun facts about the island, like how some natural forest fires are actually good for the forests – certain seeds apparently need the high temperatures of those fires to sprout and grow. Also, the fact that Tangalooma, a major resort here, managed to secure private property rights on their beach area (super rare as beaches are typically considered public property) was pretty intriguing.
Next up was lunch! It was quite a nice spread for an outdoor picnic. We took a bread bun each and proceeded to fill it up with vegetables, cheese, various types of meat and sauces. There was even watermelon for dessert. The only thing that was a little unappetizing was seeing the swarms of flies hovering over and landing on the uncovered food. I could only pray that we wouldn’t get sick (we were okay, phew). Water refills were also provided.
The other animal species loitering at the lunch area was the seagull, also affectionately known by the guides as the “beach rat”. As we were finishing lunch, the seagulls swooped in to grab the morsels of food dropped on the sand. Chris managed to catch one and brought it over to the group, with the seagull intermittently pecking at his hands. It was eventually released and went back to squawking at other seagulls in its fight for food.
The next two activities lined up were snorkelling and transparent kayaking around the shipwrecks. The group was split into two smaller groups and we got to do snorkelling first. Wet suits, snorkelling masks, flippers and gloves were provided for the activity, which was really convenient (thumbs up for service and value-addedness). After we were given a safety briefing by our guides, Isaiah and Sam, we were driven out to the shipwrecks holding onto a board attached to the back of a jetski.
Snorkelling among the shipwrecks was amazing! Now I understand why people who dive say that it’s like a whole new world underwater. There is a magnificience and a calm about the whole experience. Interesting-looking fish were swimming right next to me, colourful corals were gathered in clusters beneath me, and the relative silence underwater was one that was peaceful and tranquil (even with the crunching sound from parrotfish nibbling on coral). It was so awesome that my husband and I decided to forgo the transparent kayaking and have another round of snorkelling instead!
As the day tour drew to a close, we had to pack up and board the ferry to head back to Brisbane. We sat on the top deck to dry off and bask in the spectacular view of the sunset. It was the perfect way to end our day (:
My overall rating of the experience: 4 out of 5 stars. I think our decision to go on a Monday paid off as many of the less positive reviews wrote about how there were too many people, which meant insufficient time to do the activities or not enough food to go around. We had no such issues thankfully. Big shout-out to our enthusiastic and knowledgeable guides, Chris, Sam and Isaiah! Not only were they super funny and approachable, they were also professional in taking care of us and putting our safety first. One downside was that a lot of time was spent travelling (on a bus, a ferry, a 4WD) instead of actually doing the activities. With that said, I thought the activities were well-paced as a taster of what the island has to offer, and I had an insanely fun and memorable experience!
Dania Experiences 