World's only full-scale Jaws boat replica to open

A replica of the Orca, the iconic shark-hunting boat from Jaws, is opening in north Wales, with the boatmaker saying tourists could travel from as far afield as America and Japan.

The vessel, which is the only full-scale replica in the world, took two years to build and will be filled with replica props from Steven Spielberg's 1975 classic film.

Jon Fieldhouse, who built the boat, said Jaws enthusiasts from across the world are already expressing interest to come to Conwy to visit the attraction.

The props maker said he hopes Orca II will help bring tourism to the area, and even a few Hollywood stars.

Jon, 59, said the 1975 hit film had a "big effect" on him when he watched it for the first time at the age of nine.

He said he had always wanted to build a boat, and the 50th anniversary celebration of the film last year pushed him to finish his project.

"I realised early on that she was going to be the only one in the world," he said.

"It's quite a rare sort of thing, so that inspired me as well."

"It's taken a long time to source everything, but I've loved every minute of it," he added.

Jon bought an old Grand Banks fishing boat in Brighton in 2024, bringing it to Conwy on the back of a truck.

"I love the fact that's in Wales," he said, adding that he hoped it could "help put Conwy on the map".

He added that thousands of people travel to Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, where Jaws was mostly filmed, so believes fans "will come from all over the world" to fulfill a "lifelong ambition" to get on the boat.

Jon, who has lived in Conwy for the last six months, said it was "tricky" to get all the items - even down to the right cups and cooker.

He managed to get a replica of the 1960s cooker from the famous scene when Roy Scheider said the famous line, "You're gonna need a bigger boat".

Jon spent years tracking the items down, many of which either no longer existed or were listed as collectibles, making them "very expensive".

The hardest and most "important" item to source was the yellow flotation barrels, which are like those used by the characters in the blockbuster to track the shark.

"I've been working on it for so long, and no one really knew what I was doing, but as soon as I put the barrels on the front, they thought 'oh my God, yes, it's the boat from Jaws '".

Jon also imported Narragansett beer cans that were hand-crushed by Capt Quint (Robert Shaw), the film's shark-obsessed captain.

He made the shark cage himself and tried to use correct brands where possible.

There will even be a signed copy of Jaws by Peter Benchley on board the boat.

Jon added: "I've also got a very nice book signed by the survivors of the USS Indianapolis," which refers to Quint's (played by Robert Shaw) famous speech on the Orca.

Jon decided to keep some character elements of the original "donor boat".

He said: "I've got a nice mixture of the two, the original boat and the boat from Jaws."

He added that it would be hard to tell the "slight differences between the two".

The Orca II is moored at Deganwy Marina on the Conwy estuary and will be open to the public later this month, although due to its size only four people at a time can take part in the tour.

He said those visiting can "get the whole boat to themselves for an hour and they can take videos and photos, recite all the lines and crush the cans".

Jon added that the response from the public already "has been great" and is "hoping" that A-listers who are Jaws fans, like Tom Cruise, will venture over for a tour.