Sydney Harbour Explorer: 80-Minute Sightseeing Cruise

Jump on the Hop On Hop Off Harbour Explorer for a single loop of Sydney Harbour on a rocket sightseeing tour the whole family will love. See all the famous landmarks as you travel between the city, Taronga Zoo and Manly, stopping briefly before continuing on your journey. Approximately 80 minutes round trip.

Duration: 1 hour, 20 minutes
Cancellation: 24 hours
Highlights
  • Sydney Harbour - Depart Circular Quay cruising by famous icons including the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge, and past palatial waterfront mansions along the exclusive eastern suburbs.
  • Sydney Harbour Bridge - Cruise past the iconic bridge connecting the City with North Sydney
  • Sydney Opera House - Cruise past the famous…
What's Included
  • Stunning Sydney Harbour sights by day
  • 80-minute cruise circuit of Sydney Harbour
  • Guided commentary via smartphone
Location
Circular Quay Wharf 6
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
3.8
(88 Ratings)
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Python2009
Jan 12, 2020
Sydney hoilday - Very impressive the cruise lovely and friendly staff amazing views of Sydney thanks you for making our hoilday so exciting and memerbal.
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Tom
Jan 13, 2019
Nice cruise of the harbor - We took the 2 hour tour from Darling Harbor, but there is a 1 hour tour from Circular Quay available as well. About the only advantage of the 2 hour tour is that you get to go under the Sydney Bridge where as the 1 hour version goes by it. The 2 hour one leaves from Darling Harbor and goes to Circular Quay to pick up the 1 hour tour people, so it's the same tour from there until it goes back to Circular Quay to drop them off before going back to Darling Harbor. We just got off at Circular Quay on the return.
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Alanmorris4
Feb 8, 2020
Morning Sydney Harbour Highlights Cruise - We organised this cruise with Princess Cruises excursions, and found it to be very informative. There was a person giving us a commentary on sights and landmarks we were passing, unfortunately her PA system was not very loud and she was often drowned out by the on board chatter from the sightseeing passengers. There was a welcome morning tea or coffee together with Anzac biscuits served on board.
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Chloet1308
Feb 5, 2020
Pretty Good - Very in-depth information from tour guide on board. Beautiful sights. A little expensive for what it was and what other options I found available from other companies after I completed the cruise.
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Kimhf9343oq
May 13, 2023
Needs some commentary to know what you're looking at - Although it was a lovely ride around the harbor, a little commentary on the major sights would be helpful. They give you a map, so you have to figure out where you are, then look at the map to pinpoint what you're looking at. Probably wouldn't recommend unless you just want a quick ride around the harbor.
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Cynthialnolan
May 27, 2019
Turn up the volume - Like a previous reviewer, my friend and I heard no commentary on the upper deck of the boat. We actually didn't think there was any, but per the earlier review, there may have been. It was a glorious day, and no way were we going to be inside looking out. Thankfully for us, a lovely local couple enjoying the day came to our rescue and provided us with information about landmarks, islands, etc. Otherwise, the cruise, aside from a nice sail, would have been a complete waste of time as far as getting our bearings in the harbor and city, etc.
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Matthew
Feb 19, 2019
First day in Sydney - The simple tour through the Sydney Harbour would have been much better if you could have heard the descriptions of where we were going and what we were seeing. We boarded the boat in Circular Quay, very easy, and went up to the top deck to enjoy the best views of the harbour. After we were about half way through the cruise I walked passed one of the outdoor speaker and could barely tell there was something coming out of it. I went down inside and heard things completely clearly. I personally wouldn't want to sit inside on our first day in Sydney on the cruise when the best, unobstructed by glass views, were outside on the top deck. The tour lacked what we booked it for, a quick over view of the area for the many passengers taking in the views outdoors. This tour could have been so much better.
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B8130xyjohns
Dec 12, 2019
Forget it - Absolutely no dialogue unless you’re on the lowest deck. No prior warning about this. Huge ship. Luckily it was a grey day so very few aboard.
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Edmf6336yr
Feb 28, 2020
Nice cruise but left feeling unsure about Captain Cook Cruises business practices. - I was booked for a 2 hour tour Harbour Story Premium cruise Through Expedia. Do to the normal things affecting a cruise in a harbour (weather tides and traffic), boarding was delayed. The cruise itself was nice with the narrator pointing out things of interest and other tours that could be picked out until she made at the harbour bridge of stating you can walk to the top but it is very expensive. At no other point of time was mention of any other tour cost (but there were many mentions of the Taronga Zoo). I found this in very poor taste for Captain Cook Cruises to take a swipe at the Bridge Climb company by trying to dissuade people from going over cost. It definitely makes me consider avoidng Captain Cook Cruises in the future. Especially since the cruise ended up being only 1.5 hours and not the tours listed with Expedia. Also the Expedia listing states premium however it is not a premium seat. I will state that description in the booking is not for a Premium ticket it only states that it is a premium ticket. While the cruise was nice the overall business practices I found distasteful especially calling out other experiences on pricing. I am not sure why you would go through the effort of pointing out the bridge climb if you did not want to promote them. To me that gave you company a very bad look and I cannot recommend your tours because of it.
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Joliemidwestgirl
Feb 2, 2020
Complete waste of money - No organization when lining up for the cruise, no communication about which dock to line up at, no one even looked at my ticket. Once we boarded the huge boat we were told to all go 4 stories up to the top floor. The top deck was full of teenagers talking as loudly as they could and we couldn’t hear anything that was being said over the speakers. There’s hardly any seating avail on the top deck, either. We went downstairs to find some quietness and to see if we could hear the tour better, however it was only playing on the top deck. Then the cruise docked at a different harbor, nothing was said over the speakers, about 10 min later the boat took off again. My friends and I went back to the top deck, however there was nothing playing over the intercom now. What a complete waste of money.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
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