Located some 430 km north of Fremantle, Geraldton is generally the first or last port on Western Australia itineraries.

This season, the port is expecting 10 calls, up from four last year, said Joanne Brown, cruise ship and visitor information officer, Geraldton Visitor Centre.

Among the new ships calling are Holland America’s Amsterdam, and the Pacific Jewel, fitting the port into its Coral Coast voyage.

“The Sea Princess is also visiting Geraldton as part of its Northern Australia Explorer cruise,” said Brown.

A tender port, Brown still pointed to Geraldton’s warm welcome pierside by a pool of meet and greet volunteers.  

One of the most popular attractions is the HMAS Sydney II Memorial located on Mount Scott. The HMAS Sydney II encountered the German Raider HSK Kormoran on November 19, 1941. The Kormoran was disguised as a Dutch merchant vessel and used the advantage of surprise. Neither ship survived, and the Sydney was lost with all hands aboard.