For water taxi, water limousine & charter boat operators
You run your boat. We'll help fill your diary.
Water Taxis Australia is the national booking platform for water taxi operators, water limousine companies and private charter boat operators — Sydney Harbour, Pittwater, the Hawkesbury, Central Coast, Newcastle, Gold Coast Broadwater, Brisbane, the Whitsundays and beyond. Bookings and enquiries land straight on your phone: you accept, we charge the customer's card and handle paperwork and customer comms.Booked in seconds. On the water in minutes.
A job, from ping to payout — 5 simple steps
No jargon, no guessing. Here's exactly what happens on your phone and in your bank account from the moment a customer books, to the moment your money hits.
These steps are for water taxi & water limousine operators.
Charter boat operators use a slightly different flow — most charters are quote-only, take a 25% deposit up front and pay the balance 14 days before departure. Live SMS job broadcasting, one-tap accept and one-tap trip-complete links don't apply. If you run a charter fleet, we'll walk you through the charter workflow once your application is approved.
- 1
Job pings your phone — one tap to accept
Customer books and puts a valid card on file — we charge them A$0 at booking and place a temporary A$0 verification hold to prove the card is live and chargeable. THE CARD IS ONLY CHARGED WHEN AN OPERATOR ACCEPTS THE JOB, so the moment you tap Accept the fare is captured off-session and your payout is locked in (for pickups more than 3 days out we capture 3 days before the trip). You never chase payment, and you're never asked to hold a boat for a card that doesn't work. Every available operator in that zone instantly gets the same SMS + email offer showing pickup wharf, drop-off, guest count, time and your payout. Customer name and phone stay hidden. First to tap Accept wins — it disappears from every other operator's phone. Ignore or decline and it rolls to the next operator, no cash penalty (but repeated no-responses lower your scorecard and you'll see fewer offers).
- 2
Job locks to you — customer details unlock
The moment you accept, your portal shows the customer's name, mobile and notes. We instantly send the customer their booking confirmation (email + SMS) with your ETA, the pickup wharf and our office mobile in case anything changes on the day.
- 3
~1–2 hours before pickup — live tracking goes live
We text the customer a live tracking link so they can watch your boat approach the wharf in real time (GPS from your /portal skipper view). You get an automated SMS reminder with the pickup address and passenger count.
- 4
Scan the QR & run the trip
At the pontoon, point your phone camera at the customer's wallet-style QR — no app, no login. It opens straight to a 'READY TO BOARD' screen; one tap on 'Confirm passenger aboard' turns the pass green with a Boarded tick. Under 3 seconds per group. MORE HEADS THAN THEY PAID FOR? The scan screen asks 'Are there more than N passengers?' with a big +/− stepper — tap up for each extra body, and the button shows exactly what we'll bill (e.g. 'Board 6 & charge A$70.00'). One tap charges their card on file off-session and you keep the extra-passenger fee in your payout. CARD DECLINED? Your screen goes red instantly with the amount we couldn't take and three one-tap choices: 'I took CASH for the extras', 'I took CARD payment for the extras' (your own terminal), or 'Not paid — board the paid party only' — the unpaid passengers then need their own booking. Whatever you tap is stamped on the booking so our office knows what's owed. EXCESS LUGGAGE: customers declare oversized bags when they book — one suitcase plus a hand bag per passenger travels free, anything beyond that is A$25 per item, pre-paid and passed to you in full with no platform markup, so it's already on the job sheet before you load. Standard 15-min wharf wait is included — beyond that, log waiting time in /portal and we auto-charge $5/min off-session.
- 5
One-tap complete → payout
About 90 minutes after pickup we text + email you a one-tap link to mark the job complete — no portal login. Only jump into /portal if you need to log extras (waiting, extra stops, cleaning, damage) before we bill the customer. Payout usually lands in your bank the day before the trip runs (customers normally pay us 3+ days ahead); last-minute bookings settle the next business day. You keep 100% of your quoted base fare + any surcharges you reported, and a remittance advice email lands automatically.
You focus on running your boat. We do the rest — and it costs you nothing to be on the network.
We market your boat for you — at no cost.
Joining the network isn't just about SMS job offers. Every operator gets free, ongoing marketing across our website, Google search, social channels and route-specific landing pages. You focus on running your boat — we'll keep the phone ringing.
Google & SEO
Route-specific landing pages (e.g. Circular Quay → Manly) that rank on Google — customers find us, jobs flow to you.
Social & content
We run the ads, social posts and content calendar. Your fleet gets exposure without you lifting a finger.
Featured on our site
Your operator profile, service area and photos shown to thousands of visitors every month.
Brand & PR
We invest in the Water Taxis Australia brand nationally so every operator benefits from the trust and reach.
Zero marketing spend from you. Zero monthly fees. Just more bookings.
Why wouldn't you want to be part of a network that gives you free marketing, more business, more opportunities and more bookings?
This is the boarding pass every passenger will show you
Once a customer has paid and you've won the job, they receive the boarding pass below. Assume they're tourists in a hotel room, a restaurant or a bar — not standing on your pontoon. The ticket walks them to the exact wharf with live Google Maps directions from wherever they are. When they turn up, point your phone's camera at the QR — it opens straight to a "READY TO BOARD" screen. Tap once. Done. No portal, no password, no app.
TRANSFERTap the button — Google Maps opens on your phone and walks you from wherever you are straight to the wharf.
HOURLY HIRETap the button — Google Maps opens on your phone and walks you from wherever you are straight to the wharf.
Your passenger will always find the right wharf.
The customer's ticket has one big live Google Maps button — from their current location straight to your pickup pontoon (point A). Google Maps re-routes them in real time if they walk the wrong way, so tourists actually arrive at the correct wharf, on time, ready to board. Fewer no-shows, fewer "I can't find the boat" phone calls, cleaner turnarounds for your skippers.
One tap opens Google Maps walking directions from where they're standing right now to the exact pontoon.
Google Maps tracks their direction of travel and corrects them live if they head the wrong way.
Google Maps shows in the passenger's phone language automatically — great for overseas visitors.
The wharf, pontoon or berth is spelled out on the ticket — not just a suburb. No guessing which jetty.
What operators need to do
- 1Confirm you've won the job.You'll get an SMS + email the moment you accept. The customer's boarding pass is issued automatically once their card clears — you don't touch payments.
- 2Assume the passenger is NOT at the wharf yet.Most of our customers are tourists booking from a hotel room, a restaurant or a bar — not people already standing on your pontoon. When you accept the job they could be anywhere in the city. That's fine. The ticket does the heavy lifting: it tells them which wharf, which pontoon, and how to walk there.
- 3They already have live walking directions to your wharf.Every ticket has one big "CLICK HERE for directions to your pickup point"button. Google Maps opens on their phone with turn-by-turn walking directions from wherever they are — the Hilton lobby, a bar in The Rocks, a restaurant in Darling Harbour — and re-routes them live if they head the wrong way. Tourists, overseas visitors and passengers who've had a few drinks still arrive at the correct pontoon, on time. You don't have to talk them in.
- 4Scan with your phone camera. No login.Open your native camera app (iPhone Camera or Android Google Lens) and point it at the QR on the passenger's ticket. A notification pops up — tap it. A big navy "READY TO BOARD" screen loads with the passenger's name and party size. No portal. No password. No app to install.
- 5One tap to confirm aboard.Check the passenger, then tap "Confirm passenger aboard". Screen turns green with a big tick — APPROVED. That's it, you're done.If the screen doesn't turn green after you tap confirm, it's not your passenger — wrong boat, wrong operator or wrong booking. Don't board them. Call the office and we'll sort it on the spot.
- 6No camera on your phone?Any operator with portal access can also open /portal/scanand type the passenger's WTA-XXXXXXX reference manually. Same result.
- 7Ticket is single-use and expires after the trip.Every QR is unique to one booking. The scan link stops working 24 hours after the scheduled pickup — old tickets can't be replayed.
Where we dispatch
We're actively onboarding operators in these regions. Jobs are matched to your home region only — a Sydney boat will never see a Whitsundays job.
Sydney Harbour
Our flagship network — wharf transfers, events, cruise terminals.
Whitsundays
Island & resort transfers, Airlie Beach to Hamilton and beyond.
Gold Coast Broadwater
Broadwater, canals and Surfers Paradise wharves.
What you'll need (water taxi operators)
The checklist below applies to water taxi operators only. Water limo and charter boat operators have a different onboarding — just complete the application below and select your operator type; we'll ask for what's relevant to your business (e.g. menus, brochures and vessel details for charter boats).
- Current AMSA-compliant commercial vessel (Class 1C / 1D)
- Valid skipper certification and business insurance (we'll ask for copies)
- An Australian mobile that can receive SMS job offers
- An ABN and a bank account for daily settlement (paid next business day)
- Our published fare schedule is a guide — you can adjust the quoted price when you accept a job if it doesn't suit. The customer is charged the price you confirm.
Already running your own booking software?
If you already use a dispatch or reservations platform, you can share your API key with us and we'll push accepted jobs straight into your system — no double entry. Status updates flow back automatically. Tell us about it on your application below, or message us from the operator portal once you're signed in.
- Jobs auto-created in your system
- Skipper assignment stays in your dispatch
- We handle the customer-facing booking flow
- Keys are encrypted at rest, never exposed publicly
Ready to start accepting jobs?
Send us your vessel, region and skipper details. We'll come back same day.
Join the Water Taxis Australia network
Tell us about your boat and where you run. We review every application personally and reach out same day to activate your operator account.
Already an operator? Sign in to the operator portal.
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