GBR snorkeling trip

[fred wilhelm]

We are going to GBR in Jan 09 to snorkel. What is best reef area to snorkel and which is the best tour operator for snorkeling. Most seem to be scuba tour boats mostly.

Fred in Naples

 

[livinoz]

There's an awful lot of the GBR; where about are you going to be based mostly? There are some tour operators that cater for snorkelers, eg, Snorkel the Great Barrier Reef, Australia with Wavelength, Port Douglas Australia, but others may have more information than I do regarding that up around Cairns and Port Douglas.

If you are further south, around Airlie Beach, there are numerous places to snorkel as the islands of the Whitsundays provide sheltered areas. Many of the sailing tours from there (one of life's great experiences I might add!) provide snorkelling for those onboard, or you can stay on one of the Islands, like Hamilton or Hayman, and snorkel from there.

Be aware though that January is "stinger" season and cover up, and as it's also summer it is the "rainy" season up north!

 

[fred wilhelm]

thank you, Livinoz,

We don't have a hotel yet but we have heard that Kewarra Beach Resort and Sebel Reef
House Palm Cove are both nice. Do you have a preference/

We have looked at Wavelength's web site and it is impressive.

Are stingers the box jelly fish?

Would we encouter "stringers" on the GBR where wavelength goes? We've heard that the box jelly fish aren't on the reef. Is that true?

Fred in Naples

 

[livinoz]

thank you, Livinoz,

We don't have a hotel yet but we have heard that Kewarra Beach Resort and Sebel Reef
House Palm Cove are both nice. Do you have a preference/

We have looked at Wavelength's web site and it is impressive.

Are stingers the box jelly fish?

Would we encouter "stringers" on the GBR where wavelength goes? We've heard that the box jelly fish aren't on the reef. Is that true?

Fred in Naples

I can't comment on the resorts as I've never stayed in either, but as Cairns is a major tourist area most of the resorts are quite good.

Box Jelly Fish will be found nearer the coast and off beaches and river mouths but in deeper water you can encounter Irukandji, another smaller type of jellyfish which can cause painful stings.

There are dangers out on the reef, as there are anywhere, so take the advice of the operator, and definitely wear a stinger suit when you're visiting at that time of year

A little more information on what you may encounter:

Dangerous marine animals on the Great Barrier Reef

 

[tracy_from_oz]

Great Barrier Reef Cruises & Tours - Quicksilver Cruises Port Douglas & Cairns Quicksilver cruises are great.

There is no shore diving it is all out to the reef from Cairns and Port Douglas. If you do swim @ the beaches make sure it is in the nets.
Palm Beach is a very quiet place but has a great tour to the night zoo where you can have dinner there with the animals.

I stay in Cairns itself when I am there. There is a lot of great places to stay that are all budgets. The Hides Hotel isnt to bad on a budget and in the heart of the city. The Hilton and Reef Casino are good at the higher end.
If you go to VirtualTourist.com - Travel Guides, Maps, Photos, Forums, Deals, more and search for the norhtern region etc alot of people can give you tips. A google search is good too.

It comes down to do you want to stay in town or in the bush. Palm Beach is about 30 mins from Cairns so if you have kids or bored easily I would suggest Cairns, it is a place I feel has a big town quality to it.

If you go to eat try the croc, kangaroo and emu.

Cairns Regional Council Home Page
Cairns Esplanade - Photos, beachfront lagoon, development, accommodation - Esplanade, Cairns Australia
Tropical Queensland
Cairns and Region Convention Bureau
https://www2.tourline.com.au/netwizard/bin/dispatch.php?file=info.infocategories&intGroupID=2
Cairns Attractions: Things to see in Cairns and things to do in North Queensland, Australia
Cairns Today - Accommodation, Tours and Attractions, Queensland Australia

Wildlife sanctuary in dome @ casino Cairns Attractions - Cairns Wildlife Dome: Your Zoo in The City

Royal flying doctors service Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia, Queensland Section (RFDS)
1 Junction Street Edge Hill 07 4053 5687


Quad biking
https://www2.tourline.com.au/netwiz....infodetails&strTourCode=ATVBS&intReturnWC=29

Cape Tribulation tours, rainforest day tours from Cairns & Port Douglas - Cape Tribulation cruises

White water rafting
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Go fishing Cairns Fishing Tours - Sport Fishing Cairns, Great Barrier Reef Fishing Cairns, guided sports Cairns fishing tours, light tackle Fishing, rivers Fishing, Fishing lakes, Fishing estuaries, off-shore reef fishing

Tjapukai By Night - Cairns - North Queensland - Australia

 

[scuba_katt]

If you're headed down the coast, you can do the snorkelling day trips out of Townsville (4.5 hours south of Cairns).

Sunsea Cruises do a day trip to the GBR, and also have a glass bottom boat and marine biology presentation on board. Beautiful big boat, MV Reef Cat, has capacity for 200 but they never take more than 130, so plenty of space and not too crowded at the reef. They offer Discover Scuba dives for (I think) $90 but snorkelling gear is included in the day trip price, as is a beautiful buffet lunch.

They have guided snorkelling tours for around 20 bucks, where the guide goes to the spots where they know the cool stuff is (clownfish/anemones) and also explain some of the science of the reef.

Think it's about $170 per adult for the trip but they do discounts if you book more than 10 I think?

 

[Darnold9999]

Posieden or Habba out of Port Douglas would be my choice if I were staying at Palm Cove. They are all cattle boats, but these two are a bit less so than Quicksilver. My recollection is they both hold about 50 people, but it could be more.

If you are a 20 something, into night life or have kids then Cairns would be a better spot than PC, but if you are looking for a quiet resort town with some nice restaurants, upscale hotels then Palm Cove is very nice. You can take the bus into Cairns easily - or rent a car. We did both. We used it for a base for a couple of weeks - planned to stay 4 days and ended up deciding not to bother moving because it was such a nice spot and central to everything we wanted to see and do. Just rent a car and drive to what we wanted to see.