AUSTRALIA'S BEST SEAFOOD EXPERIENCES
Discover the seven most deliciously thrilling seafood encounters on offer with these unmissable feasts for the senses.
If there’s one thing Australia boasts, it’s a very enviable smorgasbord of high-quality seafood. While you can taste all of the country’s delicacies cooked to perfection at one of our incredible restaurants, why not immerse your group in delightfully unique experiences that showcase the natural environment which produces Australia’s top-quality seafood? Here are some of the best places for groups to experience Australian seafood during an incentive trip.
Tasmanian Seafood Seduction tour, Bruny Island, TAS © Tourism Australia
Rob Pennicott, Pennicott Wilderness Journey
"We are the only operator in Australia who has a licence to harvest wild abalone and prepare on the boat. Guests can touch and feel the produce, see it prepared and enjoy the freshest seafood possible.”
For avid seafood aficionados, Tasmania is home to some of the world’s most unusual and exotic oceanic delicacies. You’ll not only discover new types of seafood; you’ll also get to experience the ocean-to-plate process first-hand.
Connect with the wild lands of Bruny Island and jump on board with Pennicott Wilderness Journeys for their Seafood Seduction Tour. Stand in the fresh ocean and eat famously sweet and creamy Freycinet oysters shucked straight from the sea. Cheer on your guide as they dive for untouched abalone and sea urchin to prepare for you on the boat as you enjoy a full day cruise along the iconic Hobart coastline, filled with local seafood, gourmet produce, wines ciders and beers.
Sydney Fish Market at Pyrmont, Sydney, NSW © James Horan/Destination NSW
Fill your belly and your brain with some take-home culinary wisdom so you can recreate the best of Aussie seafood culture back home.
Talk shop and grab some insider secrets with all the local vendors before learning to prepare your own Sydney Fish Market seafood dishes with live, hands-on interactive classes. You’ll learn new cooking skills starting with a demonstration before you whip up a delicious meal, then sit down to enjoy the results with a glass of paired wine taking in this unique corner of Sydney’s harbour.
Walkabout Cultural Adventures, Daintree Rainforest, Queensland © Tourism Australia
Did you know
Australia’s native freshwater marine life is just as tasty as their ocean cousins? You can buy yabbies at the Sydney Fish Market. They taste best boiled, grilled or baked.
If you’re looking to truly connect with Australian seafood culture, embracing ancient Indigenous traditions is the most authentic and memorable place to begin. Australia’s First Peoples have long enjoyed mud crabs or “muddies”, found around most of the Australian coastline and available year-round.
Try your hand at spearfishing and handling as they have been practised for thousands of years with Queensland’s Traditional Landowners via Walkabout Cultural Adventures. Mud crabs are best consumed as soon as possible after catching so, for the best and freshest taste, catch and cook your own lunch (if you can!) in the Port Douglas Daintree region for the ultimate hands-on cultural adventure.
Stokehouse, St Kilda, VIC © Parker Blain
Fine dining more your thing? Stay connected with the natural setting as you take in the stunning ocean vista of Melbourne’s breezy, bohemian St Kilda, while enjoying an award-winning seafood menu at Stokehouse. Try a polished version of the classic Aussie fish and chips, feast on fresh local snapper and clams, or share an Aussie Seafood Platter, exquisitely prepared in the style of haute modern Australian cuisine.
The Stokehouse dining room has unparalleled views of the sea, with custom mirrors angled perfectly to ensure all guests have views of the water. Enjoy some sea air on the terrace – perfectly positioned to capture the Aussie sunshine. This is the ultimate designer way to experience Australian seafood. The venue can be booked exclusively for up to 120 seated.
Rottnest Cruises, Rottnest Island, WA © Rottnest Cruises
Western Australia’s seafood and freshwater fish is some of the finest you’ll ever taste, especially when you pair it with a luxe gourmet cruise complete with rock lobsters you catch yourself and diving off the ship’s bow for swimming and dolphin spotting.
Embrace your inner-adventurer with Rottnest Cruises as you catch your own Western Rock Lobster before having it cooked up by the on-board chef as part of your five-course deluxe seafood banquet. Spend a dreamy day spent on Western Australia’s Rottnest Island, for an up-close encounter with Australia’s wild seafood in the crystal-clear waters of Australia’s stunning west coast.
Helifish, NT © Helifish
The Northern Territory is famed for its barramundi - or barra as the locals call it. Airborne Solutions take VIP groups to remote fishing locations in search of barra and other fresh seafood. Travelling by helicopter also means groups take in the most spectacular views from the air whilst en route between each fishing spot. Tours can go to, and fly over, Litchfield National Park which is home to cascading waterfalls, wetlands and steeped in Aboriginal history.
Oyster Shucking, Freycinet Marine Oyster Farm at Saffire Freycinet, TAS © Tourism Australia
Include a night or two at luxury lodge Saffire Freycinet on the Tasmanian leg of your next small group Australian incentive. While you're there, pull on a pair of waders and head into the onsite Marine Oyster Farm to enjoy freshly shucked Pacific oysters and a glass of wine while knee-deep in the beautiful wetland.
A 45-minute flight north of Hobart via seaplane, sitting between the Hazard Mountains and Great Oyster Bay, Saffire Freycinet offers 16 suites and four large private pavilions alongside bespoke experiences in Tasmania's stunning natural landscapes.