The new owners of Darwin’s Cape Adieu Harbour Cruises have adapted their impressive agricultural backgrounds to the business of unforgettable sunsets and delectable cuisine.
Story Kerry Sharp Photo Munro Hardy/Cape Adieu Harbour Cruises
A pod of dolphins surfs the bow, creating its own glittering wake as Cape Adieu glides across the mirror-still surface of Darwin Harbour. Out to the west beyond the Beagle Gulf and Timor Sea, a giant golden orb in a fiery orange-red sky drops below the horizon and another balmy Darwin day for cruisers, complete with a playful dolphin escort, gives way to twilight. It’s a magical time to be on the water in Australia’s tropical Top End.
“We see a lot of dolphins and turtles out here,” says Munro Hardy, Cape Adieu Harbour Cruises skipper, director and joint owner with his partner Grace McLeod. “And, because they’re notoriously elusive animals, we were particularly thrilled to experience our first ever sighting of what we believe was a dugong a while back.”
An even more spectacular encounter awaited Cape Adieu guests on a recent private fishing charter to remote north-western Arnhem Land. “We shared the passage with thousands of whip rays and manta rays,” Munro says. “And to top that off, the fishing was phenomenal.” The week-long venture was a triumphant forerunner to the company’s planned regular tailor-made charters to gloriously secluded fish-rich Arnhem Land and Kimberley islands, bays and inlets rarely visited by small charter groups.
Since launching into tourism in 2003, Cape Adieu has set premium customer service standards and become a leading player in the Top End cruise market. In 21 years, the family-owned business has hosted more than 100,000 guests on sunset dinner cruises, private charters, wedding receptions and other celebratory functions. New owners Munro and Grace are committed to maintaining that reputation.
This story excerpt is from Issue #159
Outback Magazine: February/March 2025