Sustainability
Tomorrow's Reef Today
The Passionate and Compassionate Team at Portland Roads Sailing the Whitsundays will ALWAYS comply with our two most important sciences:
SCIENCE
& OUR
CONSCIENCE
This is Sustainability in Action. This is us; this is what we do, this is who we are, and we do it every single day.
We will never overcomplicate our passion for sustainability with industry jargon.
We will lead, inspire and uphold the values of Tourism Australia’s GREEN IS OUR GOLD paradigm.
Sustainability In Action
REAL ACTIONS & REAL OBJECTIVES
- We will proudly continue to lead the Bareboat Industry in all Sustainability Endeavours.
- We are ready to transition into the 2027 European Union Green Claims Directive, in a global attempt to legitimise accountability, set international benchmarks, measurements and standards. It will dispel the myths and call out genuine brands that do good for good, not corporate brands that claim to do good without governance. Something to celebrate, as caring for the planet becomes mandated – Woo Hoo!
- We are passionate about our ESG Commitments – Environmental, Social, and Governance, publishing all pathways and results in BLUE HOPE.
- In support of Tourism Australia and EarthCheck’s Green Is Our Gold paradigm, we will uphold the 5 Principles of: Celebrating Community, Embracing Culture, Preserving Place, Respecting Wildlife, and Taking Care.
- We are aligned with Tourism Australia’s Green Is Our Gold Promise, which states:
The Green and Gold Promise is an industry-wide commitment to care for the assets and attractions that make Australia a tourism destination unlike any other. It recognises that while tourism businesses play a vital role in sharing Australia with the world, they also carry a responsibility to help look after it – regardless of size, location, or product offering. Many Australian tourism businesses and business events suppliers are already taking meaningful action to improve their environmental and social performance. The Promise seeks to strengthen that progress by encouraging ongoing improvement across the industry.
- Locally, we have implemented our TOMORROW’S REEF TODAY initiatives of No-Fishing initiatives across our fleet, throughout the length and breadth of the Marine Park, No-Plastic Inflatable Toys, No Small plastic Drinking Bottles, No SUP or like objects that become projectiles in our wind ‘bullets’
- We will continue to learn from our Marine Biologist, our Master Reef Guides, and our local Elders (and Youngsters) – Ngaro, Gia and Juru
- We will maintain, grow and evolve our role with the Great Barrier Reef, Master Reef Guide community.
- We will continue to offer our guests Master Reef Guide experiences on any of our Self-skippered sailing experiences,
- We will continue to offer Ngaro Sea Country experiences, with respectful permission and involvement from First Nations friends of Portland Roads Sailing the Whitsundays.
- We will continue to sponsor our team to continue our amazing Reef Restoration works around the globe, and here at home.
- We will maintain the highest levels of independently certified Ecotourism through Ecotourism Australia, including but not limited to: Advanced Eco Certification and Climate Action Business Certification. Our next Audit is in May 2026 – Another successful audit will prove our actions on a global platform.
- We will maintain our Recognition Of Culture Certification – But lead in this space well beyond the levels of certification. We will continue our strong regional friendships and partnerships with genuine connections with our local MOB. In 2026, we will work alongside MOB to help re-establish the local chapter of the Black Coffee movement. (Refer to OUR HERITAGE page or our BLOGS for further information)
- We will continually update and re-publish our book BLUE HOPE; Celebrating our achievements, (copies on each vessel), with edition 9 published in March 2026 – Achieved March 2026 – Woo Hoo
- Even though our emissions are extremely low against industry standards, we will continue to offset our carbon footprint at a rate of 5 times our emissions, with offsets of 650CVU for 2025/2026 with Carbon Neutral Australia.
- We are still trying to establish a bona fide reef / ocean-based Carbon-credit system. Until then, we will offset our footprint by planting Eucalyptus trees in partnership with Carbon Neutral Australia. We strongly support this initiative; however, given that the world’s oceans are our largest carbon sink, we wish to support initiatives that give back to the ocean. In 2026, we will study the validity of SeaGrass restoration and rejuvenation, as well as SeaGrass farming projects.
- We aim to elevate our BRONZE PARTNERSHIP with Carbon Neutral Australia to PLATINUM status in 2026 – ACHIEVED March 2026 – Woo Hoo
- We will again dedicate 2 days in 2026/27 to our tree-planting activities on the mainland – This initiative is part of our ESG – WELL-BEING HUB. Any of our HUB family, including team members and guests, can join us for this heartwarming initiative.
- We will continue to donate Eucalyptus Seedlings for every new follower on Facebook and Instagram.
- For 2025/6 we have offset 650 tonnes of carbon (our footprint is 128.63 tonnes) by partnering with Carbon Neutral Australia (Carbon Neutral Pty Ltd). They plant in Western Australia’s Wheatbelt (see photos below). Our required offset commitment for 2025/6 has kept us officially *Climate/Carbon positive since July 1st, 2018. Our emissions calculations are available through Carbon Neutral’s Carbon Emissions Calculator, as published in BLUE HOPE, and can be provided upon request.
- Our business is Office-less and paperless, and our vessels are almost entirely off the grid.
- We will continue to reduce our footprint with every new initiative.
- Emissions in 2025/26 are verified by an independent third party to ensure that we continue on the right track.
- We will continue to source and develop a Bio-fuel partnership, i.e., Waste Cooking Oil (In Progress), and local Sugar Cane options – (Commencing July 2027) with the Wilmar Bioethanol Australia distillery in Sarina, only 180 km to the south of the Whitsundays.
- We will continue to KEEP ALL BOATS Off the Grid, with self-sufficient power systems from solar, smart charging, inverter, and alternator charging systems (Ongoing)
- Remain a PLATINUM Sponsor of WOW – Whales of the Whitsundays
- Install desalination units on our vessels for salt to fresh water conversion (Complete on 4 vessels)
- Use salt-water flushing and cleaning solutions for heads (Completed)
- Upgrade all solar systems on all boats (Completed)
- Create permanent recycling and garbage locations on each vessel (Completed)
- Move to compostable garbage bags (Completed)
- 100 % natural, non-toxic cleaning solutions (Completed)
- Fuel snakes for each vessel at the fuel wharf, when not using bio-fuel (Completed)
- Educate other charter companies about our initiatives (Ongoing)
- Partner with Carbon Neutral Pty Ltd for our offsetting program (Complete)
- Continue our drive to find a Reef Credits program for our offsetting into the future (Ongoing)
- We will inform Tourism Whitsundays, Tourism Queensland, and Tourism Australia of our standards, not for promotional efforts, but to help share our industry-leading story via our Social media channels (Ongoing )
- We report the status of our initiatives on our website and in our annual publication, BLUE HOPE.
Portland Roads Sailing the Whitsundays has Offset 650 tonnes of CO2 (2025/26), making us officially Climate Positive.
We are still reliant on fossil fuels; however, in our quest for NET ZERO, this is a great achievement
We are now PLATINUM Partners with Carbon Neutral Australia as they continue to plant native trees in Western Australia’s Wheatbelt region. They employ local First Nations teams for much of the planting. With our investment in this initiative, lots of these plants pictured are ours,
AND YOURS 🍀
