Whale-watching, both from land and from the sea, is a popular activity on the Coffs Coast between June and November each year, when some 8,000 migrating humpback whales make their way past our coast.

Peter Bruce is the owner/operator of Spirit of Coffs Harbour Cruises, one of Coffs Coast’s main whale-watching cruise operators. He captains the Spirit of Coffs Harbour, taking visitors out onto the ocean daily, weather allowing.

“Our main business is whalewatching, but we run dolphin watching cruises between November and May, when there are no whales, and also do private functions and charters,” Peter said.

Peter is originally from Port Stephens, where he worked as a whale-watching cruise operator for some 20 years before moving to the Coffs Coast five years ago.

“I was ready for a change of pace, and I thought Coffs Harbour was pretty laid back,” Peter said of his decision to move here. “It is very beautiful and still part of the New South Wales coast, it just seemed like the ideal place to get away from the hustle and bustle of it all.”

Peter’s workday starts with an early-morning visit up to Beacon Hill above Coffs Harbour’s Jetty area to do a visual check of the weather and the sea conditions, before going down to his office at the Marina. He then usually fields calls from people checking if the cruise is going ahead and making bookings.

The whale-watching and dolphin-watching cruises leave Coffs Harbour at 9.30am every morning, coming back around noon. On weekends and during school holidays, he takes the Spirit out for another cruise at 1pm.

“I just love the freedom of my job, being out on the ocean, and meeting lots of different people,” said Peter. “I reckon I’ve got the best working environment of all, and it never gets boring – every time we go out there it’s different.”

Everyone who’s gone on the whale-watching cruise with Peter can attest to the fact that he obviously loves what he does for a living and has a great time trying to spot a pod of whales, often cracking jokes over the PA system to keep his guests amused.

When those whales are spotted, everyone immediately whips out their photo and video cameras, while the excited ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ and cries of ‘look over there’ don’t die down again until the whales have returned to the depths of the seas or it’s time for the Spirit of Coffs Harbour to return to the Marina.

And it’s virtually guaranteed that everyone on the boat, including Peter himself, is eager to go out there again.

To book your cruise, call Spirit of Coffs Harbour Cruises on 6650 0155.

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