Brisbane River Cruise with entry to Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary
Description
See Australia’s amazing animals on a day trip to Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary from Brisbane. Your river cruise takes you from the bustling waterfront of Southbank to the lush parklands of Lone Pine, with the chance to see iconic sights as you glide along the water. At the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, you can get up close to koalas, kangaroos and watch platypus, sheepdogs, and birds of prey in action. Animal lovers will not want to miss this experience! Check-in is required by 8.45 am, departs at 9am sharp, arriving at Lone Pine Sanctuary 10:15- departing Lone Pine at 1:30pm and arriving back in the city at 2:45pm
Tour Options
Itinerary
You’ll board your boat in Brisbane’s Southbank district and leave the city behind on a relaxing cruise to Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. Enjoy informative commentary from your captain as you glide along Brisbane’s waterfront, passing from the bustle of the city’s skyscrapers to leafy suburbs with waterside mansions.
At 10:15am you’ll arrive at Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary where you’ll be free to explore for 3 hours. Lone Pine opened in 1927 as a safe refuge for sick, injured, and orphaned koalas, at a time when the species was being culled for the fur trade. Today, Lone Pine remains as a destination not only see native Australian animals, but to also connect and learn, and to leave feeling inspired to make small, positive changes in your daily lives to help protect native wildlife and habitats. Along with koalas and kangaroos, Lone Pine hosts a sheepdog show where you see the dogs round up a herd of sheep, responding to their master’s whistles, calls and signals. You can see owls, kites and sea eagles soar above you at the Birds of Prey show, or marvel at the colorful feathers of the wild lorikeets that fly in twice daily for feedings. Other bird species and a population of Eastern Water Dragons, a lizard that grows up to 3 feet (90cm) long also like to visit Lone Pine’s natural parkland.
After an action packed exploration of the Sanctuary we start boarding for those of you with tired feet at 12:45pm until 1:30pm when you will embark on a relaxing cruise back to the city. Enjoy the full service of our Cafe/Bar with a chessboard and wine (to purchase on board) or just sit back and listen to the music.
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Service animals allowed
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- Wheelchair: Cruise is accessible however Lone Pine has a set of 28 steps to climb from the jetty to the entrance
- No health restrictions apply to this tour
Reviews(1,688)
We had a great time! Loved the commentary on the way to the sanctuary. We had plenty of time to see everything at the sanctuary and some time to eat lunch.
Overall the experience was very good with the boat providing free wifi, blankets and table service. However due to a shortage of ceramic cups we were unable to enjoy our hot drinks on the way to the sanctuary and so had to wait for cups to become available on our journey back. To mitigate this maybe have more cups/disposable options. The commentary on the boat was clear and informative. The time they gave us to spend in the sanctuary was adequate and was definitely worth the visit.
Decided to do the river cruise over to Lone Pine instead of just driving there, and honestly, it was totally worth it. The boat ride takes about an hour and a half each way and it's super nice. The captain gives a really nice, easy going commentary about the local history and points out some cool riverside houses along the way. Grabbed a coffee and just enjoyed the breeze. When you get to the sanctuary, you have a solid couple of hours to wander around. Lone Pine itself is classic, getting to feed the kangaroos and seeing all the koalas is pretty hard to beat, especially if you're into Aussie wildlife or traveling with family. Overall, it's a smooth and well organized day trip that doesn't feel rushed at all. Would definitely recommend it to anyone visiting the city!
Fabulous trip. Must do! It was a lovely trip. The boat trip was very informative and you see a lot of Brisbane. The Koala Sanctuary was great. Feeding the kangaroos and petting the koalas was amazing.
Pleasant day on the boat and to the sanctuary. Sat on the open top deck on the way there which was very chilly. Nice touch though they had blankets. The driver gave some interesting information about the river and sites we passed on the way. I loved getting to pet the koala at the sanctuary and feeding the kangaroos. It was a very nice day and we would do it again.
We took some friends from Germany here as they wanted the koala/kangaroo experience. Such a great morning - the river cruise, getting up close and personal to the animals was just awesome!
We had a good experience and would recommend. The meeting point was a far walk for us but it was not that bad. The boat ride was not rough, it was nice and slow with someone telling us about the places we were passing by. Food on the boat was expensive but tasted well.
Such a lovely way to get to the sanctuary. The onboard commentary about the river was very informative. Food and drink were nice and not expensive. The sanctuary is definitely worth visiting, so glad we got to see this during our visit to Australia from England.
The river cruise experience was enjoyable. Everything was organised nicely and we were well informed and guided during the trip.
Really good visit for all ages. Boat and staff perfect (although kitchen closed on return journey before we decided to order). Lone Pine excellent- especially cute koalas and kangaroo experience. Whole trip was well timed. Highly recommended.
