Australia, New Zealand & the South Pacific - Great Barrier reef in June

I may have the opportunity to visit here in early June. Is this a good time to go? What is the water temperature like for snorkeling? Any islands that shouldn't be missed? I should have about a week here.

Thanks so much.

I would recommend staying on one of the islands if your time allows. I did reviews of Hayman and Lizard, there are also reviews of other islands in this forum as well.

Depends which part of the reef u want to see, I would try to stay on a Coral Island - such as Green Island, but this can be quite expensive. You can happily base yourself in Cairns and go out on reef explorations from there.

Some islands in and around Cairns: http://www.cairnsholiday.com/islands.htm

Green Island Resort
http://www.greenislandresort.com.au/

Quicksilver has great trips out to the reef, has won Australian Tour Operator of the year, at least once, probably more and Queensland Tourism Best Tourist Operator 2 or 3 times, and has a great platform out on the reef.

http://www.quicksilvercruises.com/

In Townsville ( a 3 hr drive south of Cairns or 30 mins on a Qantaslink prop), there is the great barrier reef wonderland (now called ReefHQ) which is an aquarium complex and omnimax screen which delves into more detail about the reef. They also have a museum next door, though u may find this relatively boring.

http://www.reefhq.org.au/

http://www.townsvillemaritimemuseum.org.au/

More info on Cairns

http://www.cairnsconnect.com/
http://www.cairnsinfo.com

Thanks to both of you. Sweet Willie, I did read your review on both those islands and I would probably visit at least one.

My concern is more that the water will be cold that time of year for snorkeling. I think I read around 64 degrees. If it is that cool I may wait to go there and just go to Fiji instead. Can anyone advise on this?

Water temperature in Cairns in June is lovely - around 21-23 celsius (70-74 farenheit) - so good for snorkelling, and a 3mm spring suit will be just fine for diving. Keep in mind that Fiji and Cairns are approximately on the same longitude.

That time of year, the weather is fine, light winds, and excellent visibility. For diving, Cairns and Port Douglas are an excellent base. Don't forget your certificates if you want to dive - they're heavily regulated nowadays and very very safety conscious.

[This message has been edited by willyroo (edited 05-04-2003).]

Thank you so much for the response.

I´m flying to Cairns on Sunday for snorkelling. Will post an update when I´m back in Europe next Saturday(May 17th)

I staid on Hayman island in March and even though we were upgraded to a penthouse suite (Leaders Club) I was really really really disappointed. I would definitely not chose this largely overrated resort and go for something more authentic such as Lizard.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Bungus:
I staid on Hayman island in March and even though we were upgraded to a penthouse suite (Leaders Club) I was really really really disappointed. I would definitely not chose this largely overrated resort and go for something more authentic such as Lizard. </font>

Forget the also-ran islands, Hamilton Island is the gear. If you are without kids, stay at Hamilton's "Beach Club Resort", which is outstanding. We spent our honeymoon there and loved it. You get access to the Quicksilver Reef tours from Hamilton (highly recommended), and there's even a lounge at the airport open to QC members. http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttravel_forum/smile.gif

I second, third, quadruple....the Quicksilver recommendation. Be sure to go to the Outer Reef--huge difference.

Cairns is a great city. Very relaxing and quaint. A great place to visit there is Palm Cove. And the drive to Port Douglas is spectacular.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by UNITED959:
And the drive to Port Douglas is spectacular.</font>

Yeah, but Port Douglas itself is a bit of a dump. http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttravel_forum/smile.gif

Stayed at the Marina Mirage or whatever it's called - the Skase place. Nice enough, but hardly up to the hype. Hamilton Island dumped all over Pt Douglas from a great height.

The reefworld pontoon setup run by Quicksilver is fantastic, great for a day of snorkelling (don't forget the sunscreen) or diving. One of the tour guides bears a disturbing resemblence to Greg Fleet....

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by shillard:
Stayed at the Marina Mirage or whatever it's called - the Skase place. Nice enough, but hardly up to the hype. </font>

You just stayed in the wrong place.. you should have stayed at the Thala Beach Lodge (http://www.thalabeach.com.au/).

And Port Douglas is perfectly positioned for both Reef activities and the Daintree rainforest.

Now, Cairns... THAT is a dump. Fly in and out of there... but don't spend more time there than that!

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View from the Wing (http://www.webflyer.com/blog): A blog about Free Miles and Free Markets

I went to the Great Barrier reef last June, from the 16-21st. We thought it was great. Also did the quicksilver outer reef thing one day - did two dives while out there, as well as a bit of snorkeling. Highly recommended.

Also did a sailboat catamaran trip out to a sandy cay - certainly worthwhile. Did the private floatpane trip out as well - also worthwhile if it's nice out. Lastly, did the hot air ballon ride deal the same morning as the Quicksilver trip. Kinda a neat combo.

The water was plenty warm - and clear.

I don't know why everyone is so tough on Cairns, it's actually a great place to have a look around, there are some nice places to eat and shop on the esplanade and in the pier marketplace and plenty of nice pubs in and around the inner city area.

I would venture up to kuranda taking the train one way and the scenic cable car back - though it drops you in the middle of nowhere, so you'll need to organise transfers back to Cairns proper.

Just out of cairns, near the Kuranda SkyRail (cable car) there is a turnoff to AJ Hackett (same turn off as James Cook University, Cairns) and you can climb to the top of the platform and watch people jump off, a little bit of fun even if you aren't jumping, even more fun when someone does it naked!

As mentioned there are some nice beaches between Cairns and Port Douglas including Palm Cove. Port Douglas while it can be boring is a great place to chill out and as mentioned is perfectly positioned to make a trip up to Mosman Gorge for the day for a swim and picnic. You're also not far from Daintree for a cruise and some fish and chips up there and a trek up to Cape Trib if interested.

There is a suberb Outer Reef tour on Quicksilver ex Port Douglas that is well worth trying, just make sure they don't forget to pick you up! (just kidding!!)

Don't bother trekking up to Cape York at the top it's very overrated and really not worth the trouble.

[This message has been edited by kawoh (edited 07-21-2003).]