Broken Bay Pearl Farm — Attraction in Mooney Mooney

Racist Boat Tour Experience

My recent boat tour experience with the guide, Cyrele, was disappointing and left me feeling uncomfortable due to her racist behavior. Despite having normal conversations with her during check-in and while boarding the boat, about 15 minutes into the tour, she abruptly stopped and condescendingly asked me and my partner (both Australian born and raised), "Excuse me, do we need a translator?". This made me wonder if she was making assumptions based on our appearance or accent. As Australian-born and raised individuals, we found this treatment perplexing. We replied "No," and the tour continued.

Throughout the tour, I continued to interact with the guide, asking at least three more questions. I then pointed to some oysters less than a meter away from the nets she is showing us and asked if those oysters are alive and if the company was allowed to harvest those oysters too. Cyrele responded, "Those are wild oysters... do you not know what wild means?... Do you not understand... Do you need a translator?". This compounded my confusion as I never informed her if I spoke any other languages, and the constant questioning appeared as if she was offering translation services. I responded "OK," and she continued, "OK well... wild means it is part of nature, like you know... wild animals... do you not know what that is?". I am not sure if this is her attempt to 'translate' the word "wild" as she did not translate the word "wild" into any other language. Despite previously informing her that I did not need a translator and having multiple interactions with her throughout the tour, the questioning persisted. It was beyond obvious that we spoke english and the insinuation of a language barrier was purely racist at this point. She justified it by mentioning the presence of international visitors.

This entire experience was undeniably disconcerting and ruined what was supposed to be an enjoyable boat tour. I hope this feedback leads to a comprehensive review of customer interaction practices within the...

We visited Broken Bay Pearl Farm with my 9 year old daughter on a Saturday. We had pre-booked the 10:30 session and were slotted into all three activities - the 'Secrets of Pearling' educational experience, the boat cruise around the bay, and the oyster tasting at the end.

We had an incredible and fun afternoon. The staff were experienced, knowledgeable, friendly, and helpful. We felt safe at all times and left knowing a lot more about pearls and oysters than we ever had before.

My 9 year old also had a great time. The educational experience kept her interested (wow) and she really liked the boat adventure. She was too scared to try and oyster but she did have fun shucking one!

GETTING THERE - Be sure to punch in the right address in Google. We verbally told Google to direct us there via Maps and were taken to Broken Bay Pearl Beach, which was 40 mins in the wrong direction. Also - there is a beachside restaurant right next door to the pearl farm that gets insanely busy... which impacts the parking availability. I recommend aiming to get there at least 20 mins before your session starts so you can allow time to park. A pro tip might be to actually drive into the 'Pearl Farm' area and squeeze your car in there, as opposed to parking out on the street.

OYSTER TASTING - The oysters were plentiful and fresh - probably the freshest I've ever seen and tasted. I'm not big on oysters myself but my partner is and she was absolutely loving life. She smashed 15 of them and I had 5. I enjoyed that there was Tabasco, salt, pepper, and lemon on the table, so you can experiment with flavours.

FOOD AVAILABILITY - The oyster tasting is a great experience but it won't fill you up for a full meal, you'll most likely need to eat immediately after or before. Either way, I recommend booking the amazing restaurant next door. You will need to do this in advance as we failed to get a seat there. It was so busy there was a 45 minute wait to get food. We ended up going up the road to the Mooney...

Today I was fortunate enough to visit the hidden gem of the Central Coast, Broken Bay Pearl Farm, to hear the story of Australian pearls from their ancient indigenous beginnings through to modern farming. Pearls are simply stunning and unique - a rare gem that grows in the ocean. I had a private Broken Bay Pearl Farm Tour with Sam. Sam spoke about 1870 when Mother-of-Pearl fishing began in and around Broome and Cygnet Bay in Western Australia and about Mr Mikimoto, a Japanese man, who was the first to successfully culture pearls. He also spoke about Dean Brown, an Australian who in 1960 became the first non-Japanese national to culture pearls and receive a licence for a pearl farming business by the Western Australia Government. Dean experimented with Pinctada maxima shells at Cygnet Bay which are the world’s largest Mother-of-Pearl oysters and grow along the tropical coast of Western Australia. We walked out and Sam let me pick out an Akoya oyster from the river which was looked after for two years. Then we went to the farm and harvested the pearl. It was an amazing feeling 😍 The pearl growing process is complexed and requires steady hands, focus, knowledge and lots of patience. I fell in love with the largest pearl oyster shells. I could hold them in my hand and they were so beautiful. I could even bring one home along with a few Akoya shells and the pearl which we harvested today. I learnt so much about the world’s finest pearls. This was an unforgettable experience and I cannot wait to come back soon. Thank you Sam for your time, in depth knowledge and your kindness. It was a fascinating tour and I would highly recommend this experience to anyone visiting...