Exmouth, in Western Australia, will welcome the new Pacific Eden four times in 2016, but the bigger news may be coming in a pier for cruise ships.

“The Shire of Exmouth is currently in talks with cruise ship operators regarding preferred docking facilities in Exmouth,” said Ben Knaggs of the Exmouth Visitor Centre. “At this stage, no commitments have been made as to what this may entail, but we are confident that the Shire of Exmouth will be able to find a workable solution to Exmouth’s lack of cruise ship docking facilities.”

Exmouth offers a wide range of day trip tour options for passengers to explore its Ningaloo Coast, which includes the Cape Range National Park.

Cruise lines calling at the port have requested welcome markets to be held at the current passenger tender point in the Exmouth Marina during ship visits. The Exmouth Visitor Center has accommodated this request by leading a cruise ship welcome team to expand these welcome markets, said Knaggs.

“One of the major challenges Exmouth faces as a cruise destination is its reversed peak/off seasons when compared to the southern, more heavily populated half of the country,” added Knaggs. “The major issue this reversed peak season presents is a decreased availability of tour services and very high temperatures. Through community consultation, P&O has come to understand this and has been able to align their visits for 2016 with the start of Exmouth’s peak tourist season.”