MIGALOO, the world's only all-white humpback whale, dazzled tourists in a rare sighting near Port Douglas yesterday.

Local snorkelling company Wavelength had 30 passengers on board when a crew member spotted a "white flash" in the water near Low Isles about 10am.

Skipper Peter Kelly said the rare white whale put on a show for about half an hour, thrilling tourists and the three crew members on board while coming within 30m of the boat.

"One of my crew members saw a spout and we looked over and saw this white flash, so we thought we might have a look and we turned the boat around and saw that it was Migaloo," he said.

"When you see it, it’s just something else.

"It’s just a brilliant white, like white snow."

Migaloo has been the talk of the town after two reported sightings of the mammal in consecutive days near Fitzroy Island and Port Douglas last month.

But the whale managed to elude hordes of camera-ready tourists and locals until yesterday.

Mr Kelly said it was the first time he had seen Migaloo after 15 years of trips out to the Reef.

"It was very much a thrill, I’ve been coming up there for 15 years and I’ve never seen anything like that."

Tourism Port Douglas Daintree executive officer Doug Ryan said Migaloo continued to be a drawcard for visitors to the region.

"Spotting him is a pretty rare occurrence and he’s become a bit of an icon up here," he said.

Mr Ryan said it had been a bumper whale season, with almost daily sightings.

"A lot of the diving boats are getting in late because they see whales, which is fantastic for customers," he said.

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