Total Sun eclipse cruise Fremantle to Exmouth and back

We had seen one previous total sun eclipse – back in 1999 in the Parâng Mountains in Romania – and the experience was quite extraordinary, so were very keen to relive it and see the total sun eclipse in April 2023. We left it for too late to book accommodation and also thought that packed caravan parks would equal shower and toilet queues. So we ended up getting tickets on the Pacific Explorer, a P&O cruiseship, and watched the eclipse from on-board the ship anchored in the Exmouth Gulf.

We left Fremantle on a Monday evening and were first of all impressed with the efficiency of the cruise company workers to get so many people (and accompanying luggage) on board.

Since it was our first proper cruise, we took our time exploring the ship and enjoying experiences associated with life on board. We met quite a few American tourists who were “eclipse” specialists, some of them organising their holidays around these events.

On the day of the eclipse everybody found a watching spot (and enough patience) to enjoy it.

The show was quite spectacular, although totality took less than 2 minutes. The ship captain (and the astronomy adviser) positioned us in the perfect spot to get a great view. It was slightly different to the other total sun eclipse that we had seen on land, mainly because there weren’t as many “nature sound” on the ocean. When totality happened in 1999, everything on land (insects, sheep etc.) went quiet, while with this one, there was plenty of wowing around.

After this amazing experience, the return trip seemed much quicker. And we felt very special to be welcomed by a fanfare orchestra when we arrived back in Freo.