Browsing: Australia

Boat Reviews
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Riviera Launches New 645 SUV in Lauderdale

Riviera, the large Australian builder, just launched its new 645 SUV, the flagship of it’s all-purpose SUV fleet, and it will make its U.S. debut at the Fort Lauderdale show, starting Oct. 26. With its low profile, enormous foredeck and imaginative mezzanine deck connecting to the salon and the cockpit, this latest Riviera seems ready for some serious – and fun – cruising days ahead. Over the past 40 years, Riviera has built 5,700 yachts of various sizes and shapes. More than 170 of them have been in its SUV line, designed to be versatile, all-purpose vessels, similar to their…

Charter
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Australia Opens Border to Vaccinated Travelers

Australia opened its borders to fully vaccinated travelers earlier this week, meaning you now can charter a boat and head for the Great Barrier Reef, the Whitsundays or Ningaloo Reef, some of the most beautiful cruising and diving destinations in the world. Or, you can stay in Sydney, charter a day boat to tour the harbor, enjoy the  city’s culture, and head for Bondi beach. (I’ve done that – before flying to Perth, across the continent – and it’s fun.) For the past two years, “Fortress Australia” had some of the most strict border controls to combat the spread of…

Cruising Life
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California Couple Buy Maritimo 59 in Australia, Take 1,400 nm Shake-Down Cruise There

How’s this for a shakedown cruise? After Jeff and Robin Lyall, experienced cruisers from Orange County, California, took delivery of their new Maritimo M59 in Queensland, Australia, they spent 14 days and 1,400 nm cruising up the Gold Coast to the Whitsunday Islands and the Great Barrier Reef for what he called “a once in a lifetime adventure.” The backstory to the Lyall’s adventure starts three years ago, when he sold his business and retired and realized he now had time for some serious cruising. He had always been an active boater; he was an accredited diver when he was…

Charter
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Now You Can Charter an Aquila 44 Power Cat to Cruise Australia’s Incredible Whitsunday Islands

The Whitsunday Islands, a collection of 74 largely uninhabited islands between the northeast coast of Queensland, Australia, and the Great Barrier Reef, are some of the most beautiful cruising grounds in the world. The water is filled with coral and marine life, while the islands are speckled with white sand beaches, rainforests and hiking trails. And that’s before you get to the Aboriginal caves, fjord-like inlets, or bays overflown by colonies of butterflies. Now MarineMax Vacations has teamed up with Cumberland Charter Yachts and Luxury Yachts Whitsundays to offer the popular Aquila 44 power cat for charter in the Whitsundays…

Cruising Life
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A Fast Tour of the Best of Australia, from Perth to Tasmania, with Sunseeker

Here’s a fast tour of the horizon if you’re ever cruising in Australia (Oz), from Rottnest Island off Perth on the Indian Ocean to the separate island of Tasmania off the southeast coast, the Barrier Reef and much more, all from the pages of Sunseeker Magazine, from Sunseeker Yachts. Our tour starts in Perth, the capital of Western Australia, a modern metropolis with skyscrapers and bustle. (When I was there some 30 years ago, it was much sleepier, reminding me of an earlier San Diego.) From there it’s an 11-mile offshore hop to Rottnest Island, filled with wildlife (don’t miss…