The Original Tea Gardens Ferry

The Original Tea Gardens Ferry Port Stephens Examiner Business of the Year Award Winner 2024. Why drive it - when you can cruise it? ⛴️
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Delivering an exceptional passenger experience aboard our historic vessels, including the MV Tea Gardens — our accessible, wheel-on, wheel-off ferry.

🚨 SOLD OUT AGAIN! MISSED OUT? WE’VE GOT YOU COVERED! 🚨Tomorrow’s Local Legends & Lost Stories Cruise with John “Stinker”...
03/09/2026

🚨 SOLD OUT AGAIN! MISSED OUT? WE’VE GOT YOU COVERED! 🚨

Tomorrow’s Local Legends & Lost Stories Cruise with John “Stinker” Clarke is fully booked — as these incredibly popular cruises always are!

But don’t stress — Stinker is back on board:

📅 Thursday 8 October
⏰ Departing Nelson Bay at 10am
🚢 2.5-hour Eastern Harbour cruise
💰 $69 per person, including our famous brunch

Sit back and enjoy the endlessly entertaining Stinker bringing the Eastern Harbour’s colourful characters, local legends and lost stories to life — with magnificent scenery, plenty of laughs and our famous brunch along the way!

These cruises sell out every time, so don’t miss out again.

🎟️ Book online: theoriginalteagardensferry.com.au
📞 Or call Kerrie on 0412 682 117

🌸🚢 YOU’VE HEARD THE NEWS—NOW HERE’S OUR SPRING TIMETABLE!We’re back cruising 7 days a week between Nelson Bay and Tea Ga...
01/09/2026

🌸🚢 YOU’VE HEARD THE NEWS—NOW HERE’S OUR SPRING TIMETABLE!

We’re back cruising 7 days a week between Nelson Bay and Tea Gardens—and here are all the departure times you need.

Save the timetable, choose your day and come aboard! 💚

🎟️ Book online: theoriginalteagardensferry.com.au
Weather permitting.

🌸🚢 SPRING IS HERE… AND MONDAYS ARE BACK!Spring officially begins this Tuesday—and with it comes the return of our seven-...
30/08/2026

🌸🚢 SPRING IS HERE… AND MONDAYS ARE BACK!

Spring officially begins this Tuesday—and with it comes the return of our seven-day-a-week ferry service! ☀️🌊

Throughout winter, Mondays were reserved for maintenance, giving our beautiful ferries some extra care and attention behind the scenes.

Now we’re ready for a brand-new season of cruising!

Seven days a week. Two beautiful destinations. And one unforgettable way to cross the bay.

Spring is calling… come aboard and experience Port Stephens from the water! 💚

29/08/2026

🐬 Oh, don’t mind us… we’re just hanging out with our favourite ferry!

We don’t need tickets—we just swim alongside. 😉🚢💙

🌿🚢 YOU ASKED… AND LOST LANDSCAPES IS BACK!Our first cruise sold out, so due to overwhelming demand, we’ve launched a sec...
27/08/2026

🌿🚢 YOU ASKED… AND LOST LANDSCAPES IS BACK!

Our first cruise sold out, so due to overwhelming demand, we’ve launched a second Lost Landscapes Myall River Discovery Cruise!

Step aboard our much-loved Wally and be enchanted as ferry owner Kerrie Jeffreys brings the Myall River’s fascinating past to life—sharing stories of the people, places and industries that once thrived along its banks.

With only 25 guests aboard, this intimate four-hour journey combines captivating local history, beautiful river scenery and a delicious themed lunch inspired by days gone by.

📅 Thursday 29 October
⏰ Departing Tea Gardens at 11am
🚢 Four-hour discovery cruise
🍽️ Themed lunch included
🎟️ $79 per person
⚓ Strictly limited to 25 guests

Our first cruise filled quickly—don’t miss your chance this time!

☎️ Call Kerrie today on 0412 682 117 to secure your place.

⚓ Now that’s a sight you don’t see every day!MV Tea Gardens is currently high and dry on the slipway in Tea Gardens for ...
25/08/2026

⚓ Now that’s a sight you don’t see every day!

MV Tea Gardens is currently high and dry on the slipway in Tea Gardens for her scheduled 10-year survey.

It’s all about compliance—thorough inspections to ensure our beautiful heritage ferry continues to meet maritime safety standards and remains ready to carry passengers for many years to come. 🚢💚

🌅 “CAN’T BEAT A WINTER SUNSET…”Especially when you’re watching it from the ferry. 🚢✨Join us for Arvos on the Bay and spe...
22/08/2026

🌅 “CAN’T BEAT A WINTER SUNSET…”

Especially when you’re watching it from the ferry. 🚢✨

Join us for Arvos on the Bay and spend a beautiful winter afternoon cruising the waters of Port Stephens as the afternoon light turns golden and the sun begins to set.

No traffic. No rushing. Just fresh sea air, stunning scenery and two relaxing hours on the water with your favourite people.

🥂 Bring your own drinks and nibbles
🚢 Departs Nelson Bay at 3.30pm
🌅 Two hours on the bay
🎟️ Just $38 per person

Come aboard, pour yourself a drink and cruise into golden hour with us.

📞 Call Kerrie on 0412 682 117 to book.

Because you really can’t beat a winter sunset from the ferry. ❤️

Photos; thank you deckie Kayla 🙏😊

🎄 YOUR CHRISTMAS PARTY DESERVES BETTER THAN FOUR WALLS… TAKE IT TO THE WATER! 🚢🥂Christmas will be here before we know it...
22/08/2026

🎄 YOUR CHRISTMAS PARTY DESERVES BETTER THAN FOUR WALLS… TAKE IT TO THE WATER! 🚢🥂

Christmas will be here before we know it—and now is the time to plan a celebration your team, social group or family will be talking about long after the decorations come down!

Charter The Original Tea Gardens Ferry for your own private celebration, cruising the beautiful waters of Port Stephens. ✨

🎅 Bring your favourite people
🥂 Bring your own drinks
🍽️ Self-cater or let us arrange the catering
🎶 Add your music, your theme and plenty of Christmas fun!

From a relaxed afternoon cruise to a festive lunch or a lively end-of-year celebration, we’ll help you create something truly memorable.

Minimum numbers and conditions apply.

📞 Call Kerrie on 0412 682 117 and start planning your celebration today!

This Christmas, don’t just book a venue—book an experience. 🚢🎄

🚨 A RIVER FULL OF POTENTIAL… BUT RIGHT NOW, WE CAN’T REACH IT.Today’s Newcastle Herald shines an important spotlight on ...
19/08/2026

🚨 A RIVER FULL OF POTENTIAL… BUT RIGHT NOW, WE CAN’T REACH IT.

Today’s Newcastle Herald shines an important spotlight on the growing call to rehabilitate the upper Myall River—a river rich in natural beauty, history and enormous potential.

For Kerrie, there is also a deeply personal connection. Our newest heritage vessel, the Tamboi Queen, once travelled these waters every day. Today, with heavily sedimented sections virtually impassable at low tide, she would have no chance of making that same journey.

A rehabilitated river could open the way for heritage cruises, birdwatching groups, coach tours and unforgettable journeys into the Ramsar-listed wetlands. But this is about far more than tourism—it is also about safety, commercial fishing, our environment and protecting access to one of our region’s greatest natural assets.

We are proud to stand alongside the Myall River Action Group, local businesses, fishers and community members calling for a safer, healthier and more accessible river.

A sincere thank you to journalist Matthew Kelly and the Newcastle Herald for helping bring this important issue—and the extraordinary potential of the Myall River—to a much wider audience. 💚

Imagine where this river could take us again… 🚢

Newcastle Herald Kate Washington MP Myall Coast News Of The Area Myall Coast Chamber of Commerce and Tourism MidCoast Business Awards

Images taken from our recent trip up river.

🎉🚢 LOST LANDSCAPES HAS BEEN FOUND… AND IT’S SOLD OUT!We are absolutely thrilled to announce that our very first Lost Lan...
19/08/2026

🎉🚢 LOST LANDSCAPES HAS BEEN FOUND… AND IT’S SOLD OUT!

We are absolutely thrilled to announce that our very first Lost Landscapes – Myall River Discovery Cruise has officially SOLD OUT!

A huge thank you to everyone who booked—we cannot wait to welcome you aboard Wally for a fascinating journey through the forgotten places, hidden stories and changing landscapes of the beautiful Myall River.

This is a brand-new experience for The Original Tea Gardens Ferry, and your incredible response has shown us just how much people love discovering the history and stories of our region. 💚

Missed out this time? Keep following our page… after a response like this, Lost Landscapes may need to be discovered again! 👀

Address

40 Victoria Parade
Nelson Bay, NSW
2315

Opening Hours

Monday 7am - 6:30pm
Tuesday 7am - 6:30pm
Wednesday 7am - 7pm
Thursday 7am - 6:30pm
Friday 7am - 6:30pm
Saturday 7am - 6:30pm
Sunday 7am - 6:30pm

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