Refuge Cove Cruises is an exciting new ecotourism cruise for Wilsons Promontory in Gippsland, providing a boost to local Gippsland tourism. Passengers on board the custom designed 42 passenger catamaran, will enjoy a full day tour including lunch.

The boat departs daily from Port Welshpool, which is only two and half hours drive from Melbourne CBD. Leave your footprints on the pristine beach at Refuge Cove and marvel at the sites this area is famous for, such as Waterloo Bay, Wilsons Prom lighthouse, Skull Rock and Kanowna seal colony.

Learn about the area's rich history and admire wildlife with regular sightings of dolphins, seals and whales.

Wilsons Promontory National Park, affectionately known as ‘The Prom’, is the southernmost tip of the Australian mainland and managed by Parks Victoria. Surrounded by sea on three sides it is renowned for its rugged granite mountains, lush rainforests, pristine beaches and abundant wildlife, including kangaroos, emus and wombats.

Wilsons Promontory has diverse vegetation communities including warm temperate and cool temperate rainforest, tall open forests, woodlands, heathlands, and swamp and coastal communities. The coastal dunes are a near perfect example of coastal succession ranging from bare dunes to protected woodlands.

Wilsons Prom also has an extensive network of marine protected areas and is a rare example of adjoining marine and land parks providing protected landscapes from the top of the mountains to the bottom of the sea. These marine parks protect sponge gardens, rocky reefs, kelp forests, seagrass beds and seal colonies.

It is Victoria’s oldest National Park being reserved in July 1898. Wilsons Promontory has a fascinating history of Aboriginal occupation and European exploration, of sealing and whaling, mining and timber-getting, and of conservation and park management
The Prom has spiritual significance for different Aboriginal groups, who knew the area as Yiruk or Wamoon. The area was also a valuable food source, particularly in summer. Through their cultural traditions, the Boon Wurrung, Bunurong and Gunaikurnai identify the Wilsons Promontory National Park as their Traditional Country.

Wilsons Promontory National Park is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register due to the large variety of vegetation types, diverse array of fauna and contribution to scenery, geology, archaeology and wartime history. There are also a number of individual sites on the register including but not limited to Refuge Cove [H1729]) & Wilsons Promontory Lightstation [H1842].

Wilsons Promontory Lightstation was built from local granite in 1859 to improve maritime safety and is a highlight on this Prom Coast.

Seals and whales were exploited to such an extent after European settlement that these industries ceased prior to the mid 1800’s due to the low numbers remaining.

(Reference: Information obtained from Parks Victoria and the Victorian Heritage Register)