About us

Explore Group is a dynamic, innovative and sustainable tour operator offering an exciting range of marine and land based excursions in Hamilton Island and Airlie Beach in Australia, and Auckland and the Bay of Islands in New Zealand.

Why Choose Explore?

  • Premium Vessel Fleet

    Travel in comfort and style on our premium purpose built vessel fleet.

  • Established Operator

    Explore has been operating tours and cruises in the Whitsundays for over 10 years.

  • Customer Experience

    Our friendly team go above and beyond to deliver an exceptional customer experience.

  • Travellers Choice 2025

    Recognised for consistently delivering amazing experiences from over 1.7k reviews on Trip Advisor

Our Philosophy

“Without our guests none of us would be here, and as such it is our obligation to ensure each be treated as if they are our most important, providing them all with exceptional memories and experiences they will never forget. We are lucky with how unique and varied our experiences are, however it still is the personal things, the act of kindness, the special attention, going ‘above and beyond’, that make all the difference and has built our reputation. Continuing this will no doubt carry our success long into the future.”

William Goodfellow, Founder & Managing Director


Vision Statement

Unique Experiences in amazing places

Our Mission

Through our unique tourism experiences, we strive to deliver exceptional customer experience while showcasing the highlights of the Whitsundays. Our mission is to become the preeminent water-based activity tourism operator in the Whitsundays.

Our Values:

Responsibility means to us;
We are socially, culturally, and environmentally responsible. We take care of the marine environment to pass on to future generations. We ensure all our customers take home lasting memories of their experience. We take responsibility for our customers and fellow staff always being safe. We are accountable for our roles and deliver on our responsibilities. 
Passion means to us;
We are passionate about our products, the marine environment and its wildlife. We share our passion and knowledge as part of a professional team delivering superior value to our customers. We are proud to be a part of Explore Group and our unique history, identity and development. 
Integrity means to us;
We are consistently fair, honest and respectful to others socially and culturally. We are conscious of and respect our place of work, the marine environment. We are always striving to do our best.

Sustainability Statement 

Explore Group is committed to our role as a responsible tourism operator and contributing to a sustainable global future. The environment we operate in is central to our business and the unique experiences in amazing places we deliver to our customers. We recognise that for the continued sustainability of both the regions we operate in and our own business we must operate an environmentally and socially responsible business model. As a result, sustainability is a critical element of any business decisions we make.
We regularly review our operation to identify and implement new sustainability initiatives, strive for continuous improvement on existing initiatives, and identify external initiatives that we can support. Our current internal initiatives include a sustainability focus within our staff training programme, preference for engaging with local suppliers, engaging with traditional landowners, reducing single use waste, responsible waste management, using and advocating for use of reef safe sunscreen and an energy reduction policy. We also contribute to external initiatives such as the Eye of the Reef monitoring program and Hamilton Island Marina rubbish collection program.

Accessibility Statement

At Explore Group we pride ourselves on delivering once in a lifetime experiences in amazing places with an exceptional level of customer service, and we don’t believe that anyone should miss out on the opportunity to experience this based on their diverse needs. Operating an inclusive and accessible business is important to us as a responsible tourism operator. 

Read our full accessibility and inclusion statement HERE

 


Our Awards

2025 Trip Advisor Travelers' Choice Award 

The Travelers’ Choice Awards honor (formerly Certificate of Excellence) recognises businesses that consistently deliver great service, ranking among the top 10% of listings on Tripadvisor.

2025 Best of Queensland Experience

The Best of Queensland Experiences Program recognises excellence in customer service and grounded in online customer reviews. 

2025 Whitsundays Tourism Awards Finalist 

Celebrating excellence in the regions tourism community. Explore has been identified as a finalist in the Day Tour – Water category. Winners will be announced in October 2025. 

2019 Whitsundays Tourism Awards - Silver 

We are proud to have been awarded a silver in the Major Tour & Transport Operator category at the Whitsunday Tourism Awards in 2019. This was our first time entering the awards and to receive a silver award is something we are really proud of. 

 

Our History

Starting with one America's Cup yacht based in Auckland New Zealand in 1999, we've expanded to become a successful multi-region and multi-product business, operating as Explore Group New Zealand and Explore Group Australia. Launching in Hamilton Island in 2013 and Airlie Beach in 2018, we offer a wide variety of experiences ranging from sailing to diving to dining, with each product being thoughtfully designed to showcase each location it's operating in. We're really proud of our portfolio of experiences, and aim to provide something to suit everyone and anyone. 

Our Hamilton Island and Airlie Beach experiences have become a must-do for many people visiting the Whitsundays. Our staff are incredibly proud of the place they live and are ready to show why. Their passion and enthusiasm is what sets us apart and through their input and enthusiasm we continue to share our surroundings in very special and unique ways.