Destination:
Cairns
Trip Operator:
Poseidon
1 day, January 2008
Asher Spittler and Melissa, CA, USASource: TripAdvisor |
Recently Added Review!!:
Asher and Melissa went to Cairns not knowing which company to book a day trip with diving and snorkelling with. They were highly impressed with the company they chose in the end, Poseidon.
Melissa was a bit apprehensive about the dive and if it wasn't for instructors Andy, Richard and his wife she would most likely not have gone under at all. They assisted Melissa beautifully and made sure her nerves were calm and her mind put at ease during the entire trip.
The couple had an incredible day out exploring the reef and were very happy with the service, level of professionalism and friendliness of the staff at Poseidon, recommending them to anyone wishing to go on a Great Barrier Reef tour…
 
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Destination:
Cairns
Trip Operator:
Raging Thunder Adventures
Trip Duration:
1 Day, 3 dives
4 December 2007
Mark & Chrissie, UKSource: TravelBlog |
Boarding Silverswift, Mark and Chrissie immediately noticed that the quality standard of the service offered on this boat far outshines that of previous dives they have been on elsewhere in the world. They were served snacks, their gear was ready and waiting and the gas tanks refilled for them throughout the day to make for a very comfortable Great Barrier Reef tour.
They made three dive stops: two at Flynn Reef and one at Milln Reef. Chrissie reports that although most of the coral at Gordon's, Flynn Reef (their first stop) was dead, the algae found on it serves as food for turtles, making a turtle-sighting well worth the dive.
They found the colour and glow of the coral to be truly spectacular and saw plenty of fish, as well as a reef shark and some clownfish. On their way back to dry land they relived their dives watching video footage taken while they were under the water…
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Destination:
Cairns
Name of Boat:
Rum Runner
December 2007
JustinSource: Justin's blog |
Recently Added Review!!:
Justin had a fantastic time, from meeting very friendly fellow travellers to being served a roast dinner. The crew and the company made for a truly great experience.
On the first day the group of 15 travellers did up to three dives (including a night dive) during which they saw crab fish, clown fish, a hermit crab and more. He recommends a Great Barrier Reef tour to anyone able to visit Cairns.
Justin also visited the beautiful Mission Beach, where there is not a lot to do, but it is a beautifully serene escape spot. Although he didn't have the time for it, he discovered that skydiving is also offered here.
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Destination:
Cairns
Name of Boat:
Reef Encounter
20-27 December 2006
Anne and Brian HallgrenSource: RealTravel |
Recently Added Review!!:
For their Great Barrier Reef tour, Brian and Anne took the deal where Reef Encounter passengers pay only for their first night and then stay on as working customers, cleaning toilets and doing kitchen duty etcetera in trade for food, accommodation and free dives.
They quickly discovered that the work was much more labour intensive than initially anticipated, and that not getting paid does not mean not having to work hard. Brian writes that the work was awful, reminding him of the rat race and slavery. On top of this he suffers from sea sickness, making it all the worse. But it got better towards the end, and did not spoil their cruise altogether.
Compared to other coral they have seen elsewhere, they thought the Great Barrier Reef coral is a little overrated. Brian feels that the colour is slightly lacking, and gives it neither a thumbs up nor a thumbs down. They did however see quite a few sharks, as well as a Maori Wrasse, an interesting fish with the ability to switch sexes…
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Destination:
Cairns
Trip Operator:
Reef Magic
Trip Duration:
1 Day
27 May 2006
LesleySource: GetJealous |
Going on a Great Barrier Reef tour with Reef Magic was magic. The staff was very friendly and lunch was included.
As part of a small group, Lesley explored the reef on submersible boat, which has windows below the water level. She also went on a helicopter ride.
Lesley warns avid swimmers that one can't swim in the sea at Cairns as there is a large lagoon built at the shore... |
Destination:
Cairns & Green Island
Trip Operator:
Big Cat Green Island Reef Cruises
Trip Duration:
1 Day
26 May 2006
Sheldon, Chris and MillerSource: TravBuddy |
Recently Added Review!!
The three friends took an hour-long boat ride out to Green Island, a sort of reef adventure hub where Chris and Sheldon opted for snorkelling with multi-coloured parrot fish and a trip on the Yellow Submarine. Although Chris is not too comfortable in the water, he was amazed and highly recommends snorkelling the reef to everyone.
Miller opted for a ride in a glass bottom boat which included a feeding, luring a good number of beautiful fish to swim around right underneath the boat.
The three of them took to the streets for a taste of the nightlife in Cairns to end their adventurous Great Barrier Reef tour with ice cream in a buzzing marketplace…
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Destination:
Cairns
Trip Operator:
Ocean Free
Trip Duration:
1 Day
27 March 2006Source: RealTravel |
After boarding and a cup of tea at 8am, the group set out to sea and into the reef on a small sail boat (with support engine).
There they snorkeled for about an hour. It was tough to keep clear of the coral, because of the strong current.
A scrumptious buffet lunch was supplied, after which the boat sailed over to Green Island for a quick look around.
They saw lots of colourful fish as well as a stingray at close range and a jellyfish, the latter of which scared them out of the water!
On the way back to the mainland wine, cheese, fruit and cake were served, providing a nice end to a lovely Great Barrier Reef tour...
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Destination:
Cairns
Accommodation:
Gilligans
Trip Duration:
1 Day
16 January 2006
Kate DarwentSource: TravelBlog |
Kate and her friend Claire were expecting a nice outing but they were pleasantly surprized at the amazing under-water world. They so enjoyed seeing all the coral and fish while snorkelling that Kate completely forgot about her fear of sharks.
While cruising to a small island in the reef, they were spoilt with a great lunch complete with prawns.
At the island they snorkelled again and saw huge clams and could get very close to most of the fish that they saw there, including stingrays and to top the experience, a turtle within touching distance.
They hit some rough waters on their ride out to the reef, which not everyone could stomach. Fortunately on the way back to the mainland the weather was clear and the two friends could enjoy the sun, lying on the nets of the catamaran... paradise.
Kate rates going on a Great Barrier Reef tour as one of the top two experiences of her life, in close competition with the Grand Canyon...
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Destination:
Cairns
Trip Duration:
2 Days
November 2005
Marc Leadstone & Nora LeskinenSource: Break Fresh Ground |
Marc and Nora went on a scuba diving Great Barrier Reef tour and experienced their guides as "super professional". The boat itself was big and in excellent condition.
The visibility around the Great Barrier Reef was as good as 30 metres. They dived at a few different sites around the Norman reef and saw plenty marine wildlife including stingrays, eels, parrot fish, sharks and lots of beautiful coral...
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Destination:
Cairns
Trip Operator:
Reef Magic
Accommodation:
Acacia Court Hotel
06 April 2005
Amanda, UKSource: Globo Sapiens |
Amanda has some great advice for any Great Barrier Reef tour: buy an underwater camera to capture the beauty under water and take sea sick tablets before departing on the 2-hour boat journey to the outer reef.
She had a lovely day with Reef Magic which has very friendly and young crew. They offer different levels of diving as well as snorkelling and seemed to adhere to the necessary safety checks...
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Destination:
Cairns
Accommodation:
Royal Harbour Breakfree Resort
November 2003
DaveSource: Virtual Tourist |
Dave highly recommends the reasonably priced Royal Harbour Breakfree Resort on the Esplanade. He had a fully equipped apartment with laundry, kitchen and jacuzzi facilities. The hotel has excellent views and tight security, a good thing as there seems to be a problem with things disappearing from hotel rooms in Cairns.
A bit of inside knowledge is that a lot of restaurants offer a 30% discount if you order your meal before 5pm.
When picking a boat to explore the Reef, he offers handy tips like choose the reef you want to visit, the speed and size of the boat (you feel less seasick on a bigger boat), is the boat's departure point convenient to your accommodation, how many other people will snorkel with you once you get in the water and if any meals are included.
Dave found snorkelling on his Great Barrier Reef tour among all the exotic colourful fish a wondrous experience which is hard to describe in words...
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Destination:
Lizard Island & Kuranda
Trip Operator:
Down Under Dive
Accommodation:
Lizard island, Inn the Tropics, Bel Aire Backpackers
Trip Duration:
6 Days
Winter 2004
Franz Aubrey MetcalfSource: Travel Library |
Franz and Nina wanted an island honeymoon, which the secluded Lizard Island more than satisfied. Lonely Planet's guide to the Islands of the Great Barrier Reef was indispensable. While there they snorkeled, dived, lay on their private beach, windsurfed and water-skied.
Down Under Dive is good for longer trips but as Franz and Nina joined them for 2 days only, they felt a bit like outsiders on the diving boat. The boat went to Moore Reef, a different one than was advertised. The crew was nice, but the guy in charge was unresponsive and unpleasant. Franz wouldn't recommend them for a diving or snorkelling Great Barrier Reef tour.
They had a bit of rain and of course chilly water this time of year. Otherwise the weather was mostly good and winter meant the advantage of no jellyfish on the coast.
Accommodation: On the island they stayed in simple cabins with a porch overlooking the sea ... idyllic. Cairns' Inn the Tropics had awful sheets and he doesn't recommend staying there. Also in Cairns, Bel Aire Backpackers was much better - well placed and comfortable enough.
The food on the island was beautiful and served with a selection of Australian wines. Even the picnic lunches were exquisite.
Franz' highlight was their snorkelling session at Cod Hole with ultra clear water and huge colourful clams.
Apart from the great barrier reef tour itself, they recommend an overnight stay at Kuranda which takes on a different, more intimate feel at night when the bulk of the tourists depart. They especially enjoyed Frogs restaurant, only operational in the evenings...
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Destination:
Airlie Beach, Whitsundays
Trip Operator:
Fantasea
Accommodation:
Caravanning
Trip Duration:
1 Day
April 2003
Wallis & Eve Kidd, UK
Source: Review submitted |
"The very nice lady at our caravan site recommended a Great Barrier Reef tour with Fantasea, at A$200 each as I remember, we thought a bit pricey but later well worth it!
The jet boat was fairly huge carrying about 150 people, and certainly didn't hang about wending its way through some of the fantastic scenery of the Whitsunday Islands, just what you imagine south pacific islands to be and taking about 2 hours to reach the reef itself.
There was a floating platform anchored to the reef: very efficient and well organized, mask and flippers for all, scuba gear for the daring, a mini submarine for the lazy and a quick flight round for the extra wealthy! We opted for the mask and flippers and after applying loads of factor 30 took the plunge. Now I have to say at this point I've been diving on the Red Sea reef and this bit of the Barrier Reef was a little disappointing as it was very silted and when the tide was on the move the current very strong, but even so we were not going to miss this chance of a life time, and we really did enjoy the myriads of fish a coral.
A delicious seafood buffet lunch was laid on, as much as you could eat and we didn't half try, followed by a quick trip in the mini sub just in case we'd missed something. All in all it was a fantastic day out we wouldn't have missed for the world, even though despite the factor 30 sun cream we did get well burnt from the sun."
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Destination:
Whitsundays
Accommodation:
YHA
Trip Duration:
1 Day
03 October 2005
Steve JamesSource: TravelPod |
Steve's advice to anyone who is eligible for a YHA card, is to get one as it saved him a lot of money on his Great Barrier Reef tour.
He didn't book anything in advance, but decided to arrange his trip as he went along. Once at Whitsundays, he booked a space on a huge boat that went to Reefworld. Having arrived at the platform, passengers were spoilt with a high quality buffet lunch.
From the platform, he went into the submersible craft to see the reef at an under-water level. He was a bit disappointed with the visibility due to the recent high tide, but still saw a multitude of fish variety including Wally, a 40kg fish.
Steve also did a bit of snorkelling which he thoroughly enjoyed as he got to meet Wally again, this time up close and personal in the water.
In his own words, his "appointment with the largest living thing on this planet certainly hadn't disappointed"...
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Destination:
Whitehaven Beach
Accommodation:
Anaconda III (ship)
Trip Duration:
2 Days
December 2002Source: TravelPod |
The Anaconda III is just the right size, well designed and beautiful. The crew was very efficient yet fun loving.
During her Great Barrier Reef tour snorkelling sessions, she saw amazing coral that looked like giant cauliflower and lots of fish including parrot and zebra fish. She was astonished at the variety of colour around the reef and felt like she was in another dimension.
She and Ester even saw an 8 foot shark, cutting through the water with determination.
Another highlight was the extreme brightness of the stars and the florescent phosphorous behind the boat at night...
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Destination:
Dunk Island
Trip Duration:
3 Days
January 2008
JoanneSource: Joanne's blog |
Recently Added Review!!:
Joanne reports that as far as food and accommodation go, Dunk Island left a lot to be desired, so much so that they cut their trip short by a day because while there they barely managed to eat anything on offer.
Other than that though, the trip out to explore the reef was stunning and made all the troubles with their stay worth the effort. She says that while some people opted for diving, they stuck with snorkelling and got to see all the colour and natural beauty that can be expected from a Great Barrier Reef tour.
They occupied themselves playing games and getting massages when not out at sea and eventually made a hefty effort to leave Dunk Island early by means of a water taxi. Joanne says that although seeing the reef is truly a fantastic experience, the Dunk Island resort is not the best place to choose to base oneself…
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