Looked at various harbour cruises for Sydney. Is there one that anyone would recommend over the others?

I think the best way to tour the harbour is to buy a day pass and tour around on the various ferries yourself. That way you can stop, get off, look around and then resume the journey. It is a great way to spend the day on and around the harbour.

agree. And the best ones would be from CQ to Mosman late evening; CQ to Darling Harbour at around 5.30 right now; to or from Watson's Bay. And to Manly, of course.

I agree with the day pass on the ferries.

Friends have told me that the organised cruises do seem to concentrate a lot on the cost of real estate around the harbour - in which you may have very little interest.

Zipping around the harbour with a map from the ferry office at Circular Quay would seem more sensible, more interesting - and cheaper!

CQ - Circular Quay! Sorry Fuzzy but your abbreviation gave me a moment for thought so I wondered if the OP may be scrathching her head too!!!
Can't remember why it happened now but we were coming back from Doyles and ended up in their water taxi, they asked us if we'd mind sharing with a photographer they were taking back to CQ. We had a great trip back, the scenic route so the photog could take some pictures enroute. We did take a scenic cruise one time and it was boring and overpriced compared to the public ferry system.

Hi bdehning!
I live in Sydney and last school hols (I'm a teacher) a friend and I had a great day playing tourist as we do one day each holiday break.
We had a great lunch at Doyles at Circular Quay then caught a ferry that does a Middle Harbour cruise and covers a lot of the harbour and gives you a bit of history in the commentary. We left at about 1pm and it took about 2 hours.
See the details at:

http://www.sydneyferries.info/timeta...rrycruises.php
It was a fun and inexpensive trip.
Have a great time and enjoy our beautiful home!
Rosie

If any of you Sydneysiders have an itinerary for the best use of a day pass on the public ferry system, please post it. We'll be there in October and are planning a day on the ferry system. Thanks!

We took a Captain Cook Harbor Cruise and its not worth the money. The day pass is a good deal but it is a better deal to buy one of the passes for 5 days. I don't recall what it was called but it is basically a tourist pass that you can use on the ferries, trains and bus. If your going to be in Sydney for at least 4-5 days you'll save a fortune. Half the info on the Harbor Cruise we heard again at the Opera House and I climbed the Sydney Bridge and heard the other half of the cruise.