Tasmania's waterways

Embrace the slow flow of this island, where water is a way of life.

Down here, clean hydroelectricity sustains most of Tasmania’s energy needs. In some parts of this wild island – particularly out west – heavy rain and coursing rivers provide power for our communities.

This island has some of the cleanest (and tastiest) water in the country – it flows crisp through our rivers and cool around our coastlines. Go with the flow: cruise deep into primeval places, paddle a kayak while cleaning up local beaches or adventure with a skipper who helps protect and restore local seabird populations.

Meet the locals helping to keep Tasmania pristine through their water-based travel experiences.

Pieter van der Woude – On Board

There are few places on the planet more remote and wild than south-west Tasmania.

Here in the vast Southwest National Park, covering nearly 10% of the state, On Board offers truly unique multiday expedition cruises within the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area. This wilderness cruise and guided walking tour is steeped in elevated luxury – in a place that can only be reached by boat, foot or plane.

On Board founder and skipper Pieter van der Woude describes south-west Tasmania as feeling like “the last place on Earth”.

Time loses all meaning down there. We are controlled by the elements and everyone just seems to relax and take what's coming.

Guests explore this remarkable area on foot, encountering rare Jurassic Park-like plant life, ginormous geological marvels, and preserved Palawa history from more than 10,000 years ago – from Ice Age rock shelters to cultural living sites and tool-making areas. Each trip is dictated by the weather and delivers what nature chooses in this fragile, remote landscape.

"We can see abalone in the water. And that is really, really special. There's nowhere in the world anywhere that you can actually see crayfish walking around on the bottom. People get a real kick out of it.”

Pieter says sustainability is at the core of the On Board experience.

The crew (a chef, a guide, a skipper and two hosts) harvest rainwater from the vessel’s roof to use during the expedition. Excess energy is pumped into batteries to store for more rainwater collection. On Board’s expert guides are made familiar with biosecurity to protect the fragile environment and guests can contribute to citizen science projects during the voyage.

“We are in a very remote, precious landscape; one of the most precious and remote landscapes on the planet,” Pieter says. “And it's a whole UNESCO heritage area; one of the largest in the world.

“We take delight in sharing the hidden world with our guests.”

On Board also runs trips to Tasmania’s shimmering east coast and beyond on their boutique expedition catamaran, Odalisque III. The luxury vessel showcases exclusively Tasmanian artworks, furniture, pinot noir, seafood and more with expansive wilderness views from your floating bedroom, dining room and other cosy areas on the boat.

Tory Stewart – Roaring 40s Kayaking

For Tory Stewart, Tasmania’s waterways are like home.

“Being in the ocean has always been a part of me," she says.

It’s through Roaring 40s Kayaking that Tory gets to spend many of her days on the water: offering kayaking lessons, 2.5-hour city paddles, day tours from Hobart and multiday expeditions into some of the most scenic coastlines in Tasmania.

An organic aspect of Tory’s tours is encouraging everyone to clean up marine debris as they go, ensuring they leave the wild places cleaner than they found them. Any debris that’s too big to shift is left in a designated area for local volunteer group Team Clean Tasmania to pick up. Tory asks guests to donate and support this clean-up initiative.

“There's nowhere else in the world like this… It's all worth protecting and educating people about," Tory says. 

We're in a temperate marine environment which has a really high level of biodiversity and [is] very unique on the world stage.

On Tory’s tours, you can adventure to breathtaking places – from a quiet south-east corner with white sandy beaches and quartzite headlands to the tannin-stained rivers and inland lakes of the deep south-west.

“We get to explore in depth a lot of the marine parks and places with giant kelp forests,” Tory says. “Things you don't always get an opportunity to get up close to. Being in a kayak on the water, paddling at the base of some of the tallest sea cliffs in the Southern Hemisphere, is just incredibly awe inspiring.”

Robert Pennicott – Pennicott Wilderness Journeys

Australian tourism legend Robert Pennicott and his team of passionate staff have been sharing Tasmania's scenery, wildlife and produce since 1999.

Experience the island’s most precious places from the sea with Pennicott Wilderness Journeys, including a high-speed boat ride to visit seal colonies on south Bruny Island; a close-up exploration of the historical Iron Pot lighthouse; a marine-life-filled adventure to the towering sea cliffs of Tasman Island and Turrakana / Tasman Peninsula; a smooth, indulgent cruise to Wineglass Bay (perhaps nursing a wine glass of your own); and the luxurious Tasmanian Seafood Seduction tour, where divers catch and cook up unique Tasmanian seafood before your eyes.

“We just have a lot of fun and it's a beautiful place to operate,” Robert says.

We're privileged to showcase the south and south-east coast of Tasmania, showing huge cliffs, sea caves, blowholes…seals, dolphins, whales [and] millions of seabirds.

Robert is always fascinated to chat with patrons who have returned several times to climb aboard more of his cruises. What brings these travellers back for more? The staff and their philosophies, the sunsets, sunrises and everchanging skylines are just some of the drawcards.

“When you think about the change of skylines that we have [it’s] something that is quite remarkable,” Robert says, “and for people who live and work in cities, which most people do, they very rarely look up at a sky.”

All of Pennicott Wilderness Journeys’ heavily awarded tours have achieved Advanced Ecotourism certification and are 100% carbon offset. These eco-certified experiences are backed by Robert’s passion for sustainability – partnering with initiatives like the South West Marine Debris Cleanup and helping to restore the fairy prion colony on Tasman Island, which was once all but decimated by feral cats at a rate of about 50,000 seabird deaths every year. Now, the birds are returning in droves and flourishing on this striking rocky isle – a place you can see for yourself on the Tasman Island Cruise.

“I want to make the world a better place for having operated a business in it,” Robert says. “The planet, in my opinion, isn't going to be sustainable the way we're going now. With climate change, global warming, the way it is, it's probably the biggest issue as humanity we've got to face.

“Anything we can do to make that slow down or reverse is essential for future generations. A lot of little things make a big [impact] for a lot of people.”

Pristine water is just one piece of Tasmania’s larger sustainability puzzle. Meet more passionate Tasmanian eco-tourism innovators: discover how the world’s purest air is harnessed to power the island, and how you can experience the state’s landscapes in a sustainable way.