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Almost close enough to touch ... a dolphin surfs the bow wave of Wild Essence.

Wayne Hunt brings Wild Essence back into the Huskisson Wharf.

Satisfying hunger pangs ... Sue Hunt provides coffee, cakes and scones.

One of several barely inhabited beaches on the northern side of Jervis Bay.

All images are copyright © 2009 Sandra Burn White.

To see more of her images from Sandra Burn White's photo galleries, please CLICK HERE

POSTED: 12 APRIL 2009

Close encounters of the dolphin kind

Skipper Wayne Hunt is almost apologetic as he opens the throttle on The Wild Essence of Jervis Bay and watches several dolphins start surfing the bow wave of the 12.5-metre catamaran, leaving a larger dolphin-cruise boat, at least temporarily, without its prime attraction.

“We’ve only been running Dolphin Wild Cruises for about four months but the Jervis Bay dolphins seem to have taken a real shine to us,” he says. “I really don’t know what it is but they just love being off the front of our boat.”

It certainly provides an exhilarating experience that’s reflected in the gasps of delight from the dozen or so people hanging over the railing and clicking cameras at a frenetic rate.

The dolphins aren’t quite within touching distance, but they’re very close and they’re obviously having a thoroughly fine time, occasionally turning to look their admirers in eye and falling off the wave. That hardly bothers them because they’re so quick through the water that they can make mockery of Wild Essence’s pair of 300-horsepower diesels. Catching back up just seems part of the fun.

While close encounters of the dolphin kind are certainly the highlights of our two-hours-or-so on Jervis Bay, there are other attractions as well.

Just being out on board a stable, sturdy modern vessel on a large body of water on — in our case — a calm, sunny afternoon is pleasant enough in itself. There are the cliffs of Point Perpendicular to look at, almost uninhabited beaches to lust over, a bit of history related by Wayne, plus coffee, cakes and scones served by his wife Sue, who also doubles as deck hand at take-off and landing.

Dolphin Wild Cruises is run from Huskisson’s main wharf, about a two-and-a-half-hour drive south of Sydney, by the Aulsebrook family, who’ve lived around Jervis Bay for more than a quarter of a century and began building Wild Essence as a specialist (porpoise-built?) tourist vessel about three years ago.

Right now, they’re gearing up for the whale-watching season, which begins next month (May) and runs through to November. As well, there are BBQ cruises, seal-colony cruises and, in warmer weather, snorkelling cruises.

Rates range from $30-60 for adults ($17-$28 for children or a 2+2 family rate of $79-$145). For further details, phone (02) 4441 7002 or visit Dolphin Wild Cruises.