Sydney Harbour Sightseeing
The run everybody wants first. Under the Bridge, past the Opera House sails, a slow lap of Farm Cove and out to Shark Island before turning for home.
Darling Harbour, Opera House, Harbour Bridge, Fort Denison, Shark Island
Sydney Harbour & beyond
Where can you go?
From our berth at Darling Harbour you can be anchored under the skyline in twenty minutes, on a beach only boats can reach in an hour, or offshore for the day. Here is the harbour, mapped, and what fits into two hours, six, eight or a night.
The harbour, mapped
Every bay we know, on one map.
Pick a location to see where it sits and roughly how long you will want for it. The anchorages below are the ones we come back to, season after season.
Inner harbour
Beaches & bays
Middle Harbour
Beyond the Heads
The whole harbour
Start hereOur home berth is Darling Harbour. Everything on this page is reachable from there, most of it inside an hour of cruising.
Tap a location to move the map
Itinerary ideas
How far you get, hour by hour.
The most common question we get is how long to book. It depends entirely on where you want to end up, so here it is broken down by the clock.
2 to 3 hours
The classic harbour loop.
Enough time to see everything Sydney is famous for without rushing. Out of Darling Harbour, around the icons, into a bay for a swim or a drink, and back.
Charter from $1,400 | Self-drive from $1,200
Dusk & Evening Cruises
Leave late afternoon and watch the skyline switch on around you. The harbour empties out, the water goes flat and the city does the rest.
Darling Harbour, Circular Quay, Lavender Bay
A Short Lunch or Dinner Anchorage
Anchor at Athol Bay with the city straight ahead, bring a platter or fire up the BBQ, then cruise home. The best value two hours on the water.
Athol Bay, Farm Cove, Rose Bay
Romantic Cruises
Just the two of you, the sunpads on the bow and a hidden corner of the harbour. The most popular window for a proposal is the last hour of light.
A quiet bay of your choosing
4 to 6 hours
Past the icons, into the good stuff.
This is where the harbour opens up. Four hours gets you a proper beach day or a run out through the Heads. Six gets you Middle Harbour as well, which most visitors never see.
Charter from $2,380 | Self-drive from $1,920
Swim & Beach Days
Anchor off a harbour beach with the lilypad and snorkelling gear off the back. Store Beach can only be reached by water, so it is as close to private as Sydney gets.
Store Beach, Camp Cove, Parsley Bay, Clifton Gardens
Whale Watching
Humpbacks pass Sydney on their migration from roughly May to November, with June to August the peak. A private cruiser beats a crowded ferry rail every time.
Out between the Heads, offshore of North Head
Middle Harbour & Bantry Bay
Through the Spit and into a harbour that feels a hundred kilometres from the city. National park on both sides, and at Bantry Bay no road access at all.
The Spit, Sugarloaf Bay, Bantry Bay, Castle Rock
Mosman, Manly & Snorkel Safaris
Work your way along the north shore, anchor off Manly for lunch, then add the Seabobs and snorkelling gear and turn the afternoon into an expedition.
Chowder Bay, Manly Cove, Quarantine Beach
8 hours
All around Sydney.
A full day. Eight hours is the point where you stop planning around the harbour and start planning around the coast, north to Pittwater or south to Botany Bay.
Charter $3,920 | Self-drive $2,880
The Harbour, End to End
Everything in one day at an unhurried pace. Two or three anchorages, a long lunch, a swim, and the evening run home under the Bridge.
Darling Harbour to the Heads, Middle Harbour, Lane Cove River
North to Pittwater
Out through the Heads and up the coast past the northern beaches, around Barrenjoey and into Pittwater. A genuine day trip, weather permitting.
Manly, Long Reef, Barrenjoey Head, Pittwater
South to Botany Bay
South along the cliffs with Bondi and Coogee off the bow, in through the heads at La Perouse and into Botany Bay for the afternoon.
Bondi, the eastern cliffs, La Perouse, Botany Bay
Offshore Fishing
Revelation is rated to 30 nautical miles offshore, with twin diesels, a Garmin sounder and a 1kW transducer. Kingies, flatties or a lazy troll, then the BBQ.
Up to 30 nautical miles offshore
Overnight
Sleep on the water.
Self-drive hire only, 10am one day until 8am the next. She sleeps six, so you can anchor up in a quiet bay, have dinner onboard and wake up on the harbour.
Self-drive only | $3,960
A Night at Anchor
Pick a sheltered bay, drop the anchor and stay. Dinner on the back deck, the city glowing somewhere behind the headland, nobody else around.
Sugarloaf Bay, Bantry Bay, Rose Bay
Dawn Fishing & An Early Swim
The best hour on Sydney Harbour is the first one. Line in the water at first light, a swim off the back, then a slow cruise home for 8am.
Wherever you anchored, before anyone else is up
Before you book
A few things worth knowing.
Priced per boat, not per person
Every rate on this page is for the whole boat, up to 12 guests. Split between a group it is often cheaper than a ferry cruise.
Self-drive needs a licence
A NSW boat licence, or an interstate equivalent, for whoever is driving. No licence in the group is not a problem, take a skippered charter instead.
The harbour has speed zones
Much of the inner harbour is 4 or 8 knots, and there are no-wash zones near moorings and ferries. We run through all of it at handover.
Weather picks the bay
We will always suggest anchorages that suit the wind on the day. A north-easter sends us east, a southerly sends us into Middle Harbour.
Pick your day
Tell us where you want to go.
Take the wheel yourself if you hold a licence, or leave it to our skipper and do nothing at all. Either way the boat is yours, up to 12 guests, never shared.
More reading in the Harbour Journal