Pearl farming on the Central Coast: Growing world-class pearls right in our own backyard

This tour, run by Pearls of Australia, features a hands-on skipper who motors out to an oyster lease, drops anchor, and pulls in a few oysters. But they are not for eating today: he's in search of pearls.

We're in Brisbane Water, less than a 10-minute boat ride from Woy Woy. Pearls of Australia has taken us on one of its Broken Bay Pearl Farm tours. After a brief introduction to pearls onshore, skipper Steve takes us out to an oyster lease, and shows us samples of oysters and the pearls that have been grown inside of them.

The company runs a long-established pearl farming business in Cygnet Bay, located north of Broome on the Dampier Peninsula. The Cygnet Bay operation began in 1959, founded by Dean Brown and his son Lyndon. It was the first Australian pearling operation that did not have any involvement from Japanese experts.

The Cygnet Bay product is the Pinctada maxima pearl shell. It was 2009 when the Browns opened their business to tourism, including overnight stays and pearl education.

In 2018, Pearls of Australia became the majority partner in Broken Bay Pearls, which has been farming the Akoya oyster (Pinctada fucata martensi) in Brisbane Water since 2003. In March 2019 Broken Bay Pearls began tours, based on the successful formula at Cygnet Bay.

Education is a major part of the push, as CEO James Brown believes the company's future, and industry's future, is tied to making pearl buyers much more conscious of the provenance of pearls.

On the boat tours, staff explain exactly how the oysters are "seeded", as in implanted with a bead and tissue. From there, the oyster produces layers of nacre around the bead, creating the pearl.

On shore, the education chat includes details on identifying a pearl based on shape, size, skin, colour and lustre - all qualities unique to where the pearl is grown.

The Akoya pearl ranges in size from 4 to 10mm, the average size from 6.5 to 8mm, smaller than the Cygnet Bay pearl.

According to the company's website, the Broken Bay Akoya pearl is exceptionally high quality and rare, believed to be the premium on the global market today due to its longer cultivation period leading to a thicker layer of nacre around its nucleus, the standout feature of this pearl is the lustre and wide range of unconventional natural colours, ranging from warm white and cream, yellows and oranges, silver and blues, green and pink hues.

The company runs tours from Woy Woy and the Hawkesbury River (at its "shellar door" in Mooney Mooney, on the north side of the Pacific Motorway Hawkesbury River bridge at 12 Kowan Road, Mooney Mooney).

Broken Bay Oyster Farm tours from Woy Woy and the Hawkesbury are two hours in duration ($85 per adult). Bookings: pearlsofaustralia.com.au.

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