Quick tips for creating water-based experiences

Value of the Australian adventure tourism market

The adventure tourism market was valued around $49.9 billion in 2024. A significant portion of this value was driven by water-based activities such as snorkelling, scuba diving and sea kayaking. 

Source: Coherent Market Insights

Getting started

Creating a water-based experience involves careful planning and consideration of various factors for a successful and memorable visitor experience.

Explore key factors to consider before getting started by visiting our Considerations when creating a nature-based experience guide to learn more.

Quick tips for including water-based elements in your experience

Creating opportunities for water-based experiences can be a unique and rewarding addition for your business. Here are several ways to develop or enhance a water-based experience for visitors.

Tours, activities and attractions

• Develop a suite of guided experiences: create half-, full-, or multi-day tours such as kayaking, paddleboarding, snorkelling, coastal cruises or rockpool discovery walks. Tailor experiences to different age groups and fitness levels and provide expert commentary. Consider transport options to and from the activity site to support access and convenience.
• Incorporate enhancements: consider adding wildlife-spotting checklists, photography packages, or citizen-science activities like beach clean-ups, marine debris surveys or reef monitoring to boost visitors’ connection to the experience.
• Engage the experts: hire qualified guides with water-safety training and environmental knowledge. Highlight local marine life, ecosystems, or cultural stories. To respectfully incorporate cultural stories, refer to the following considerations.
• Collaborate: partner with accommodation, attractions, cafes, restaurants and visitor centres to bundle your services and cross promote the experience.
• Leverage seasons: schedule tours around seasonal highlights, such as whale migrations, sea turtle nesting or bioluminescent waters to create unique experiences and encourage repeat visits.

Accommodation

• Promote the location: highlight your proximity to nearby rivers, beaches, lakes or marine parks. Provide information on local water-based experiences such as kayaking, snorkelling, paddleboarding, or wildlife cruises on your website and in-room guides. To communicate safe visitor behaviour, refer to our guide to considerations for safe practices.
• Offer essential amenities: provide waterproof gear (e.g. dry bags, ponchos, reef-safe sunscreen) and rentals such as snorkels, bodyboards or paddleboards. Include safe storage and drying areas for wet gear and clothing.
• Incorporate recovery zones: set up outdoor showers, towel service and shaded rest areas for post-activity refreshment.
• Leverage seasons: promote seasonal moments like early-morning paddles, sunrise swims, whale migrations or bioluminescence to boost bookings across the year.
• Collaborate: partner with tour operators to offer bundled stays that include guided water activities, equipment hire, meals and transport also provide the opportunity to cross-promote the experience.

Food and drink

• Tailor meals and snacks to experiences: partner with cafes, galleries, and attractions to include lunch breaks, snacks, morning or afternoon tea to deliver an enriched visitor experience.
• Streamline pre-order: enable visitors to order meals in advance and be delivered efficiently by implementing a pre-order system for options such as breakfast or dinner. Orders can be fulfilled by a local producer, catering company or café.
• Offer grab-and-go options: sandwiches, wraps, fruit, trail snacks, and refillable water bottles for early departures or on-the-go adventures.
• Tell your story: highlight ingredient origins, focusing on native herbs, regional produce, and sustainable sourcing to tell your venue’s story. Learn more by visiting NSW First creating bookable agritourism experiences.

For dining venues:

• Be flexible with open hours: cater to early risers and late returners by adjusting opening hours. Consider a pre-order system for packed meals or quick pick-ups.
• Promote your location: highlight your proximity to nearby waterways and trails. Share maps, suggested itineraries, or stopover ideas featuring your venue.
• Incorporate rest spaces: offer seating, shade, hydration, footrests, and towel service for visitor comfort.
• Collaborate: work with accommodation and water-based tour operators to be part of water-based itineraries. Sponsor or support local waterway events, ocean festivals, or clean-up initiatives to build visibility and community connections.

Promoting your water-based experience

Once you’ve created or adapted these elements to your experience, showcase your new offering with visitors, media, staff and distributors with these tips in our Promoting your nature-based experience guide.

Resources

• Creating nature-based experiences is a NSW First webinar focused on the growing interest in nature-based travel and incorporating nature elements into your experience.
• NSW marine parks permit guidance offers information about the experiences that require a permit, with rules varying across the six marine parks.
• Safety | NSW National Parks: Discover essential water safety tips to deliver a safe and enjoyable experience when visiting NSW national parks.
• Outdoors NSW & Act, Australian Adventurous Activity Standard (AAAS) and Good Practice Guides share a good-practice framework for safe and responsible planning and delivery of outdoor adventure activities with dependent participants.
• The Nature Matters Guide is a comprehensive resource helping Australian businesses integrate nature into business strategy, covering awareness, alignment, action and leadership stages.
• The Nature Positive Travel and Tourism report from the World Travel & Tourism Council shares global best practices and operational guides for running biodiversity-friendly tourism businesses.