Archipelago Adventures to launch luxury Pilbara island dinner cruises, rock art tours in Dampier Archipelago

Pilbara hospitality magnate Sean Throssell will launch a new dining venture with luxury cruises off the Dampier coastline this month. Onyx Group, which runs popular bars Onyx on Sharpe and Stadium 26, will launch the Archipelago Adventures marine tour and charter business next Saturday. The venture will run harbour cruises, dinner parties and day trips out to Rosemary Island on board a 25m cruiser from Captain Cook Cruises. Archipelago Adventures received $100,000 last November from the State Government’s Regional Economic Grants program to help establish the business. As part of its submission to the Government, it noted the tours could capture high-end tourism opportunities and create opportunities for Aboriginal traineeships. Onyx group owner Sean Throssell said the organisation planned to work with Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation to host rock art tours from July on the islands in the Dampier Archipelago. “That will only be done with Murujuga and their people, so they can give an interpretation of the rock art and all the different stuff on the islands,” he said. “You don’t see them unless you've got access to a boat and you can only go there if you have access to a Murujuga guide.” Mr Throssell said he wanted to bring day cruises to Karratha because it was an opportunity to bring in tourists from across the region and provide a unique service previously unavailable in the Pilbara. “There’s a lot of value-adding in tourism — it’s an untapped market and people don’t even know there’s 42 islands out there,” he said. He said the island trips had capacity for 150 people and the harbour cruise had a maximum capacity of 250. “We were involved in the cruise industry from 2004-2011 and I got out because it got too busy. Now it’s a good time to be back into it,” he said. “Whether we take 250 people or not, we we still go out. We don’t have a minimum capacity.” Mr Throssell said the Sunday island trips would also include snorkelling and helicopter rides in the coming months.