Pearl Expeditions celebrated its first anniversary after one year of strong occupancy, repeat guest demand and growing trade support.
The company operates one of the region’s most sought-after small-ship expedition brands, the m/y Paspaley Pearl.
Pearl Expeditions executive chairwoman Sarina Bratton is leading the cruise operator, which is part of the Paspaley Group, a family-owned Australian company. Paspaley Group’s operations are firmly in Western Australia’s Kimberley region.
The m/y Paspaley Pearl welcomed her first guests onboard in the West Australian port of Broome on 10 August 2025 to launch her Kimberley operations. Since then, Paspaley Pearl’s crew of 22 have created an exceptional experience both on and off the ship.
“For us, the measure of success has been how strongly guests have responded to the experience we’ve created,” Pearl Expeditions general manager Mick Fogg said. “The level of repeat interest we are seeing gives us great confidence as we continue to refine the product and enhance the guest experience in our second year.”
Beyond the Kimberley, the 2027 and 2028 programs take in some of the region’s biodiverse waters: swimming with whale sharks in Saleh Bay and tracking Komodo dragons across East Indonesia and Raja Ampat, paddling canoes through the fjords of Tufi in Papua New Guinea, and travelling by Klotok upriver to the orangutans of Camp Leakey in Borneo.
“A highly targeted distribution strategy identifying 30 distributors domestically and internationally has delivered strong results and provided the platform from which to grow and expand,” Bratton said. “We are proud that this disciplined approach has resulted in our leading domestic, single-outlet agency generating in excess of $4 million in our first year.”
