Australia, New Zealand & the South Pacific - Which Great Barrier Reef Tour to do in Cairns?

Ocean Free and Ocean Freedom
The Reef Experience
Silversonic

Anyone have a preference of the three? I will be in Cairns 6/29-7/1 and the second day would like to book a trip to the Reef to go snorkeling and/or introductory scuba (we aren't certified). I heard there was one trip that is a sailboat and the sailing/catamaran part is a bonus and then one goes to two locations and one has the most amount of time at the reef or something. I will be at the Cairns Hilton and assume all of them leave from the same marina location.

Anything else fun to do in Cairns for the short 2 day trip?

and is it worth doing the introductory dive if not certified for another $100-155 or is snorkeling fine?

oh also, should i book in advance due to space limitations OR should i wait until we get there and book the day before (for weather, to find out the best tour, etc.)?

For things to do in Cairns, check out the OzFest 6 thread in CommunityBuzz (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/communitybuzz/829288-oz-fest-6-cairns-queensland-memorial-day-weekend-may-22-24-2009-a.html). You'll have to wade through hundreds of posts of the "I'll be there" - "I'll be there too" - "it will be great to see you again" - "oops, I won't be there" variety, but many of the organizers' posts give the numbers of other posts with useful information.

That said:

- In my limited (two visits) experience, you can wait until you're there to book.
- I found snorkeling great, but I can't compare it with scuba diving.
- They all leave from the same wharf, a short walk from the Hilton.
- My suggestions for the second day would depend on what your interests are. Do say more!

There is yet another choice: Quicksilver http://www.quicksilver-cruises.com/. We thought they were more than adequate, but really can't compare with any of the others.

As to what to do in Cairns,

Kuranda Skyrail http://www.skyrail.com.au/
Kuranda Scenic Railway http://www.kurandascenicrailway.com.au/
Rainforreststation http://www.rainforest.com.au/

Also, don't miss a chance to dine at the Ochre Restaurant (formerly the Red Ochre Grill http://www.ochrerestaurant.com.au/

I would recommend *not* doing the SCUBA. Not really worth the extra money. Trips to the outer barrier reef are expensive enough already. You also don't want your time at the reef (usually about 4 hours) consumed with instruction.

Most of the best places they take you to are very shallow (15 - 20 feet). Visibility is spectacular and you don't need to dive deep to see anything.

Great Adventures is also very very good. I love the Reef Prince. Can't go wrong with any choice. A good determining factor would be price or possibly a 2 for 1 coupon, etc.

I've tried Haba. They have a couple moorings and you get to see a few different places. Crew was very nice, lunch was decent and there were not even 20 people, though it was in the low season. I walked into their office late in the day before I wanted to go and got a very good fare. I'll probably go with another vessel next time just for comparison, but I'd still recommend them. Oh yeah, I agree with the above that snorkeling is more than adequate, unless you already dive and need no instruction.

I am a nonswimmer - my wife and 13 yr daughter are good swimmers and snorkelers. In this situation (esp for me), what is the best option?

I am a nonswimmer - my wife and 13 yr daughter are good swimmers and snorkelers. In this situation (esp for me), what is the best option?

Take a glass bottom boat - I know they have one at Green Island. You will receive an interesting commentary about the fish and the different types of coral. Recommend that you look into this option.

Take a glass bottom boat - I know they have one at Green Island. You will receive an interesting commentary about the fish and the different types of coral. Recommend that you look into this option.


Which cruises go to Green Island?

I have just read the web site on Reef Cruises. It specifically states that non-swmimers are welcome, and talks about a submersible underwater viewing observatory.

I am a nonswimmer - my wife and 13 yr daughter are good swimmers and snorkelers. In this situation (esp for me), what is the best option?

Here are some options: http://www.quicksilver-cruises.com/obr_nonswim.htm.

http://www.oceanspirit.com.au/

We have taken many cruises and feel Ocean Spirit was the best one for us. Excellent food and the nice thing is you get to leave the boat and spend time on an island and can snorkel right from there.

Which cruises go to Green Island?

I have just read the web site on Reef Cruises. It specifically states that non-swmimers are welcome, and talks about a submersible underwater viewing observatory.

Here's a link regarding Green Island. Most of us at the recent Ozfest took the glass bottom boat option and it was quite enjoyable. Would certainly recommend it, but having said that I am not familiar with other tours in the area.

http://www.green-island.com.au/

OP- We are leaving for Oz in a few days, so I don't have any hindsight experience. We have picked Silversonic because they visit several locations, have midsize (not huge) groups, and we wanted more time in the water and weren't interested in glass bottom boats, semisubmersibles, etc. that the pontoons with 400 customers have. There are good traveler reviews on the reef tours at www.tripadvisor.com

Here is a "decision tree" that might reduce the bewildering array of choices:

- Cairns or Port Doug?
- One location, or 2-3 during the day?
- Pontoon with hundreds of passengers, semisubs, glass bottom boats, etc or just snorkeling/diving?

- Good traveler reviews and comments online?

- Caters mostly to divers, or snorkelers, or both?

- Availability of intro dives...is that important to you?

Hope this helps!

We are home after a great visit to Oz, and the Reef was definitely the highest highlight of the trip!

Our tour was on Silverswift and we were impressed. They went to 3 different locations which can change based on wind, sea conditions, and visibility. Although the 3 locations on our tour were only a few miles apart, they were totally different in the type of marine life and bottom topography.

There were about 60 people on our cruise, I estimate 30 divers and 30 snorkelers. They interleaved schedules so that one group never seemed to hinder the other group (which is a complaint I've heard on some other tours).

Before the tour, we purchased a single-use underwater film camera (about AUD$30). We chose the Fuji model without a flash. The pics came out fine. There are also stores that rent digitals from $40-70 per day. Some transfer your images to a CD while others let you keep the SD card.

The one thing that didn't go as planned was the intro dive. We answered the health questionnaires honestly, and we had both used inhalers some years ago. Queensland has some new, very stringent standards and even a single use of an inhaler in the past 10 years is disqualifying. (A woman we met later who's an experienced diver said she encountered an unusually strict standard and had to clear the matter through a local doctor.) Need to emphasize this all seems to be a QLD regulation, not the tour operators. I recommend getting a checkup and "permission letter" from your doctor if you plan to do an intro dive so there will be no issues on the tour.

The snorkeling was amazing, and far exceeded our expectations. The intro divers go right beside the boat, so we actually feel we didn't miss much after all and our disappointment went away. The tour provided a guided snorkel tour which was very worthwhile. The guide pointed out things we would not have noticed, and brought various bottom life to the surface for a better look. (Of course they put everything back as they found it).

The snacks, beverages, and buffet lunch items were all excellent considering it was on a boat and pre-made. Various vegetarian and healthy optionss were provided.

Last suggestion is to buy beach towels locally in CNS instead of packing them. If you find cheap ones you can even give them away when you're done.

The "sound byte" is we recommend Silverswift if you want a tour that has smaller groups and maximizes time in the water. If you want semi-submersibles, a pontoon, glass-bottom boat, etc. there are other tours in the "Silver series" that provide that.

It really depends on a few things:

- age/swimming abaility (some boats have glass viewing areas so you don't need to go in);
- whether you have children;
- whether you want to dive;
- whether you'd rather go on a yacht or a power boat (bearing in mind yachts / catamarans will not get nearly as far out).

My concierge in Port Douglas asked these questions and recommended that my girlfriend and I take silversea as it suited young, fit, active people with no kids. The cruise was fantastic. So I wouldn't go on recommendations for tours unless those people are similar to you as there are tours to suit all manner of people.

Silverswift

We decided to go with Ocean Freedom (they also had a sailing one called Ocean Free as well that takes you to Green Island) and definitely would recommend them.

Ocean Freedom was our 1st choice and Silverswift would have been our 2nd since we were both scuba diving and snorkeling. We only had 30 people on a pretty large boat and the staff really made the trip great. They offered introductory dives (there was a special going on for $20 instead of $155) and the divers were great in helping people scuba dive that had never done so before. The food and reef locations were wonderful as well for both snorkelers and divers - at Upolu Cay you take a glass bottomed boat out to the Cay and then snorkel back. Then they did little tours where they'd take you on a small speedboat further out and show you turtles and sharks and marine life. Then we went to the Wonder Wall location and did the scuba diving.

I would say Silverswift may be better b/c you go to 3 locations versus 2, but we preferred Ocean Freedom just b/c the staff was so friendly and helpful, there were only 30 people on the boat, and it was really easy to do the introductory scuba dive with them. I definitely would NOT recommend any of the more touristy companies or any of them that are on a large pontoon boat or offer the submersibles or other bs. Waaaay too many people, not as many dive/snorkel locations, too much "upselling" by the tour company, etc.

I don't think you could go wrong with Ocean Freedom or Silverswift in Cairns and the reef trip was definitely the highlight of our time in Australia!

We liked the Reef Magic Cruise, leaving from Cairns.

One can see the coral through 5 ways - snorkelling/scuba diving, partly submersible vehicle, glass bottom boat, underwater observatory, and (optional, for an extra fee) helicopter tours of the the area (lasting anywhere from 5 minutes to 30 minutes).

I suspect that very few other cruises offer 5 different ways to see the coral reef.

Other advantages - for a non-swimmer - they have a group lesson for beginners - starting from how to wear the equipment and how to fit the mask and how to breathe, to accompany the group for the whole 45 minutes as they are snorkelling.

Two features not seen on this cruise - no visit to the island (eg Green island); visit to only 1 single (not multiple) site.

We liked the Reef Magic Cruise, leaving from Cairns.

One can see the coral through 5 ways - snorkelling/scuba diving, partly submersible vehicle, glass bottom boat, underwater observatory, and (optional, for an extra fee) helicopter tours of the the area (lasting anywhere from 5 minutes to 30 minutes).

I suspect that very few other cruises offer 5 different ways to see the coral reef.

Other advantages - for a non-swimmer - they have a group lesson for beginners - starting from how to wear the equipment and how to fit the mask and how to breathe, to accompany the group for the whole 45 minutes as they are snorkelling.

Two features not seen on this cruise - no visit to the island (eg Green island); visit to only 1 single (not multiple) site.

See I've heard horror stories of tours like Reef Magic where they constantly try to upsell you and sell helicopter or submersible tickets, etc. plus the pontoon has a couple hundred people all over the place and you feel like cattle. How long did you actually get to be in the water scuba diving or snorkeling? Hopefully when you said the whole 45 minutes that was just one part right?

Not Cairns, but the snorkeling (and scuba diving was excellent) in Pot Douglas. I used Wavelength, which limits the # of people to 30, and only does snorkeling. The advantage of this is that the scuba divers go in first usually, resulting in the snorkelers having to wait a while.

There were 4 crew members, so the staff:passenger ratio was excellent. Three very different sites to explore, including one where we were guided around. Lots of sea-life including turtles and a small shark to see.

The best part was that there were no other boats around, so its just you and about 30 other people to explore that reef.

See I've heard horror stories of tours like Reef Magic where they constantly try to upsell you and sell helicopter or submersible tickets, etc. plus the pontoon has a couple hundred people all over the place and you feel like cattle. How long did you actually get to be in the water scuba diving or snorkeling? Hopefully when you said the whole 45 minutes that was just one part right?

The actual time in the water was 45 minutes.

I would agree with tripadvisor.com that it should be a highly rated Cairns attraction (see link: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g255069-d1052254-Reviews-Reef_Magic_Cruises-Cairns_Cairns_District_Queensland.html) - it is #3 now - it was #2 a month ago. Therefore, I do not have much to say that is critical about this cruise (and remember, Reef Magic does not equal Reef Cruises).

There are people scattered over the pontoon and boat (both of which have more than 1 level), and various locations in the water (nearby and more distant), undertaking swimming, snorkelling, or scuba diving. I therefore did not feel it was all that crowded.

In terms of the 30 min helicopter ride, I was the one asking for the ride (they actually do not talk about the 30 min ride - only the 5 and 10 min rides) - as I am a non-swimmer - I had decided to stay in the water just for those 45 minutes. However, between lunch, helicopter tour orientation, helicopter tour, submersible tour, glass bottom boat tour, snorkelling, and underwater viewing at the pontoon - more or less 4.5 hrs of the 5 hrs was spent - so I really was never bored.

We liked the Reef Magic Cruise, leaving from Cairns.

One can see the coral through 5 ways - snorkelling/scuba diving, partly submersible vehicle, glass bottom boat, underwater observatory, and (optional, for an extra fee) helicopter tours... I suspect that very few other cruises offer 5 different ways to see the coral reef.

The outfit we went with last week -- and liked very much -- was Sunlover Reef Cruises, also out of Cairns. Four and a half hours on the pontoon, and you can snorkel, scuba, ride the glass-bottom boat or the semi-submersible, or wear these "seawalker" dry-hair helmets + wetsuit and go strolling on a platform anchored below the pontoon, which was fun. Also, big buffet lunch.

There was little or no upsell pressure and the crew made a great effort to create comfortable fun for everyone, even people who weren't strong swimmers. They cater to a number of Asian visitors who don't come from big swimming backgrounds.

www.sunlover.com.au

I will be in Cairns the first week in August and plan on going to the reef. How cold is the water? Will I need a wet suit??

Thanks

We were at the Reef in early July. Water was about 70F and the crew was saying the water was "cold". It will be like a swimming pool and you won't need a wetsuit. Do a Google search, I recall a few websites that show monthly average water temps and weather at the Reef in the Cairns area.

Same here -- we were out there the weekend of 4-5 July. The overnights that weekend made it Cairns' "coldest day of the year," according to the local papers, but it was still 75-80F during the day. As for the water temp, the Australians were saying it was cold, the visiting Americans, Euros, etc. thought it was fine. I started out with a wetsuit but gave it up fast.

You'd wear a thin wetsuit if you are diving ... but not if you are snorkelling.

The water temperature 2 weeks ago was about 76 degrees F. We snorkelled and wore the think wet suits - many of the crew did so as well!

The actual time in the water was 45 minutes.

I would agree with tripadvisor.com that it should be a highly rated Cairns attraction (see link: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g255069-d1052254-Reviews-Reef_Magic_Cruises-Cairns_Cairns_District_Queensland.html) - it is #3 now - it was #2 a month ago. Therefore, I do not have much to say that is critical about this cruise (and remember, Reef Magic does not equal Reef Cruises).

There are people scattered over the pontoon and boat (both of which have more than 1 level), and various locations in the water (nearby and more distant), undertaking swimming, snorkelling, or scuba diving. I therefore did not feel it was all that crowded.

In terms of the 30 min helicopter ride, I was the one asking for the ride (they actually do not talk about the 30 min ride - only the 5 and 10 min rides) - as I am a non-swimmer - I had decided to stay in the water just for those 45 minutes. However, between lunch, helicopter tour orientation, helicopter tour, submersible tour, glass bottom boat tour, snorkelling, and underwater viewing at the pontoon - more or less 4.5 hrs of the 5 hrs was spent - so I really was never bored.

What did you think of the 30 min helicopter ride? I'm thinking of booking one when I'm in Cairns next month. What do you get to see from the helicopter? And do you know if windows can be opened to take pictures? Oh and also, how long is the boat trip to the pontoon? Is the sea rough?

PS: I'm also from Ottawa! What route did you take to get to Australia?