Page 48 - Tropic Magazine Issue 27

TROPIC • TOURISM

Local passion What do people get when they hire the

private charter for Christmas functions
REEF ADVENTURE and other events?
The boat is available for exclusive private
Give the gift of the Great Barrier use – you will have the entire vessel to
Reef this Christmas with local yourself! The rate includes our dedicated
operator Passions of Paradise. crew and skipper including our chef for a
freshly prepared lunch. We’ll take
you and your group to two different
It’s been a very tough year for local outer Great Barrier Reef locations for a
tourism operators, to put it mildly. whole day of snorkelling fun! We’ll even and a capacity of 80 passengers.
The COVID-19 pandemic has wiped out have scuba diving available plus we can Fast forward to 2017 and Passions III was
domestic and international visitation provide your own onboard underwater introduced to Cairns – another sailing
to the Cairns region, and few sectors photographer to capture all catamaran but with two levels and heaps
within tourism have suffered as much as those memories. more deck space for sun lounging.
reef boat operators. But it’s not all doom Tell us about Passions’ history and Passions has always had a special interest
and gloom, as respected local company local connections in sustainability and eco-tourism.
Passions of Paradise are demonstrating. Passions has been owned and operated by Our latest involvement has been in a coral
We caught up with the Passions crew to Alan Wallish since 1989 when he launched nurturing project in conjunction with
find out more about their plans for the the first boat Passions I, right before the other five other vessels in Cairns and the
coming months. pilot strike. The original vessel was a steel University of Technology Sydney.
What can we do to support local catamaran that took 20 passengers to the This program kept the crew busy during
companies like Passions? reef with 10 snorkel masks to share. lockdown when Alan donated the boat to
We appreciate any support at all, whether In 2003, Passions II was introduced to weekly research trips to work on the coral
it’s coming out on a trip and seeing for Cairns, late on delivery after a shipyard frames at Hasting Reef.
yourself what we do, buying a voucher burned it to the ground and it had to
for that extra special gift, or even be rebuilt! Passions II was a fibre glass MORE: passions.com.au
recommending us to family or friends! sailing catamaran with spacious cabins

PLANTS

HOMEWARES

CAFE

OPEN 7 DAYS

WWW.THEPALMSCAIRNS.COM.AU
3 PALMERSTON ST, AEROGLEN

48 • Tropic • Issue 27