*AHEM*
Jet'Dillo presents "3 perfect days at the Great Barrier Reef". (With apologies to the Hemispheres staff)

*DEFINITELY* liveaboard. It's actually even cheaper than the daily trips. Maybe a little more up front, but at practically $A70-100/day for the more commercial dailies, you'll spend
more overall, PLUS have to pay for the hotel every night. On the liveaboards, you make one ferry trip via smaller boat out to the diveboat and then they wake you up @ 5am each day for a pre-dawn dive. Compare that to spending a couple hours each day just getting back and forth on one of the daily boats.
I think I paid like $< A300 for the trip, which includes food and equipment. This was
in early November, right on the edge of
high-season. You're going to be pretty much
in the middle there so it might be more.

I spent 4days/3nights about the Cairns Dive Center boat 3 years ago and it was an amazing experience. They have a PADI-certification program where you can walk in a landlubber, spend a day splashing around in the pool and
in class and then several glorious days diving the GBR!
When you leave, you walk out a certified beginner diver!

I didn't scuba at the time,and was in Alice the day or so before so I missed out on the landside class needed to cert, but I had an
incredible time snorkeling and even did a couple guided training dives.

I would highly recommend this approach. I waffled a bit at first, but now know I would be kicking myself for the rest of my life if I hadn't done the diveboat thing.

The staff were very helpful. They even have masks for those who wear glasses, like me.


Oh, final recommendation:
If you have time,before you go or after you come back, there's a place called "ReefTeach", run by a ex-pat Irish marine biologist who's name escapes me at the moment. Anyways, he offers a full-day class on the marine biology and ecosystems of the GBR. It is meant primarily as a primer course for those who want to be tour guides, but the Reef is sufficiently complex enough place that it essentially becomes a 1-day College-level Marine Bio. course. It's a full day thing, 8am-4 or 5 in the afternoon, but well worth it. I don't remember it being all that expensive either, something like < $A50.

I myself am now more than halfway to enough miles for 2 tix back in F. If work keeps me traveling the way they have, I should have the other half by the end of the year.

Have fun!
Jealously( ),
JD