You Can Now Hire a Pet-Friendly BYO Picnic Boat to Sail Around the Gold Coast's Isle of Capri

Summer might be behind us, and autumn may have hit its last month for 2023, but it's always warm enough to hit the water in a picnic boat in the Sunshine State. Your latest excuse? GoBoat, which is splashing its way through the Gold Coast — again.

Since 2014, the Denmark-born company has been busy launching its eco-friendly picnic boats all over Europe, as well as in Canberra, Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney's Parramatta River and Geelong. Back in 2020, it also hit Sanctuary Cove, too, but now it's sailing out of the Isle of Capri instead from Friday, May 5.

Aimed at making the whole boating caper more accessible for everyday folk, the Scandinavian-designed vessels are slow-moving, a breeze to operate and don't require a boating licence, making for some fun, fuss-free sailing sessions. In a win for the planet, they also run on silent, pollution-free, electric engines, and are crafted from a mix of reclaimed timber and recycled PET bottles.

Each of the contemporary GoBoats clocks in at 18-feet long, boasting a central picnic table with room for eight people (and all the necessary snacks and booze). And despite what you might be thinking, they're even affordable enough to fit your budget — simply BYO food and drinks, find enough eager sailors to jump aboard and a GoBoat session will you less than $13 per person, per hour. A one-hour session starts from $129, with a six-hour sail setting your crew back $479.

GoBoat's Gold Coast fleet sets sail from Capri on Via Roma — and before you hit the water, you'll receive a safety briefing and demonstration. All boats are speed-limited, too, and obviously decked out with safety equipment including life jackets.

The vessels are family-friendly and, in even more exciting news, they're also pet-friendly. Surely you've got a very good boy who deserves a river jaunt ASAP.

Find GoBoat Isle of Capri at Capri on Via Roma, Isle of Capri, 15-21 Via Roma, Surfers Paradise from Friday, May 5. For more information or to make a booking, visit the service's website.