Fast-boat reef access drives $5.25m tourism, hospitality, escape listing
A popular multi-faceted tourism operation combining reef tours, rainforest accommodation and hospitality has been listed for $5.25 million at Cape Tribulation, generating more than $1 million in annual net earnings.
Located about 2.5 hours north of Cairns and 90 minutes from Port Douglas, the operation sits at the meeting point of the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Daintree Rainforest and the Great Barrier Reef – a setting that underpins both its tourism appeal and environmental framework.
The long-held family-owned-and-operated business – Ocean Safari, Safari Lodge and Turtle Rock Cafe – is being marketed by Antonio Curulli of Tourism Brokers.
“It’s a very unique business. It has three major arms to it,” Curulli says.
Together, the three streams create what Curulli describes as an “eat, stay and play” model across the 2.09 hectares at 3903 Cape Tribulation Road, allowing visitors to snorkel on the reef, dine on-site and sleep within the rainforest precinct.
Limited reef access
At its core is Ocean Safari, a high-speed snorkelling operation departing directly from Cape Tribulation beach aboard a rigid inflatable boat.
“It’s on a fast RIB boat that takes 25 passengers, that leaves twice a day – once in the morning and once in the afternoon – for about a two or three hour period,” Curulli says.
Unlike larger reef excursions from Cairns or Port Douglas – using vessels that carry between 150 and 400 passengers – the Cape Tribulation experience is intentionally small-scale and direct, reaching the reef in less than half an hour.
“You step on from the beach, onto the boat, and it gets out there in about 22 to 25 minutes,” he says. “It’s a very unique, personal experience when you go out there with a boat of that size.”
On most days, guests snorkel alongside sea turtles found swimming in abundance over reefs full of colourful coral, along with myriads of tropical fish, eagle rays, giant clams and starfish, the company says.
Tours to seven different reefs also include time anchored on sandy coral atolls.
“It’s fully licensed while you’re on board, so you can have a beer out in the Barrier Reef,” Curulli says.
He recently joined a tour and says, despite rougher conditions, “it was still quite comfortable,” describing the reef as “pristine”.
Ocean Safari has held Advanced Ecotourism Australia Certification since 2009. It is recognised as a Green Travel Leader, embedding environmental management into the core of the operation in line with Marine Park requirements.
The operation holds a Great Barrier Reef Marine Park permit with approved reef site allocations, a massive win in a highly regulated environment that creates a barrier to entry.
“You’re buying the freehold property, you’re buying all the marine assets, and also the marine park licences, which basically, you can’t get any anymore. They only exchange now. They don’t create any new ones,” he says.
Accommodation and hospitality streams
Safari Lodge sits about 400 metres from the beach within the rainforest. The property offers a range of safari-style cabins in king, twin, triple and quad configurations – with both en suite and shared facilities – alongside powered and unpowered camping sites, a swimming pool and a camp kitchen.
The lodge shares its site with Turtle Rock Cafe, described by Curulli as one of the Cape’s most frequented breakfast and lunch venues, and a favourite among tour bus operators.
The licensed cafe dishes up gourmet salads, burgers, bowls, locally caught fish and chips, and dishes made to order. “We take pride in sourcing our ingredients from local farms throughout the Daintree, Tablelands and Port Douglas,” its website states.
Scale, systems and succession strategy
The intergenerational operation employs around 14 staff across marine tours, accommodation and hospitality. The cafe is the most resource-intensive component.
Curulli says the business is substantial enough to support two families, or operate under a corporate management structure, should investors not align with the typical owner-operator model.
The business is being offered for sale after 14 years of successful operation in Cape Tribulation, with the vendors consolidating to concentrate their efforts in the Whitsundays.
The family are also behind Ocean Rafting, a Whitsundays-based marine tour business offering high-speed experiences from Airlie Beach, and last year acquired Hamilton Island Watersports, further expanding their footprint in reef-based tourism.
They say the Cape Tribulation business generates $1.1 million in net annual revenue, representing what Curulli describes as “a 20 per cent return for a mix of real estate, hospitality and marine tourism”.
“It does require an operator who has some fairly unique set of skills … they need a marine licence and the ability to drive boats. So, it’s not your standard accommodation asset or cafe,” he says.
“It’s a good little operation for someone who’s got a spare $5 million cash.”
