Fisherman’s plan to hook tourists

IN a boost for tourism in Kiama, a local fishing charter operator has begun offering coastal cruises out of Kiama harbour .

Ross OBrien of Sharwood Charters believes hes hit upon a niche market with his new venture.

People really enjoy it because it gives them a totally different way of looking at things, people do not often get to see the coastline from the ocean, he said.

After talking to people I figured that some customers may not want to spend the whole day on the ocean like we do on our fishing charters, eight hours is too long for some people so we decided every Tuesday we would put on two three hour cruises enabling people to take a cruise up the coast.

Obviously fishing charters will still be our bread and butter but we are also trying to offer something different and it seems as though the public is enjoying that.

Mr OBrien said the local coastline offered a full range of spectacular sights saying he hoped a cruise aboard his boat would provide a great days activity for both locals and tourists.

There are some great things to see along the coastline around Kiama.

The coal loader at Bass Point and Hill 60 at Wollongong provide some good sights and the Cathedral Rocks from the ocean are absolutely spectacular, people cannot believe how good they look from the sea, he said.

On a lot of our cruises we head up to the five islands off Wollongong.

They are fantastic from the sea, there is an absolute myriad of bird life living up there. It is very spectacular.

People can sit back aboard a very comfortable boat, with some wine and watch some of the most spectacular scenery they will find drift past them. Another popular cruise is up to the new Sea Cliff Bridge. That is a little bit longer but is well worth the trip.

Mr OBrien has also landed a regular radio spot presenting a fishing report with Keiran Reekie who has been doing his High Tide show on 2KY for 17 years.

Keiran will be crossing live to me every week and I will be reporting on the fishing down here, he said.

I will be trying to get in as much about Kiama as I can.

I see this new business as helping obviously myself but I also envisage it helping the whole business community if we can continue bringing both local and international tourists to Kiama.

Kiama Tourism Manager, Nicole Smithers said the new cruise was a unique service along this part of the coast, adding that the tourist centre was hopeful the facility would bring a lot of visitors to the area.

I dont have to tell anyone that lives along here the beauty of our wonderfully unique coastline, said Ms Smithers.

It is simply amazing.

This service will be able to open it up further to a lot more people, she said.

There are cruising charters in Jervis Bay but not too many others along the coast so we hope Ross has cornered a little market.

Ross appearing regularly on 2KY is also great, he will be reaching a very wide audience as he goes live to air every week.