crash684
Guest
heard cairns (liveaboard) would be great place to experience the great barrier reef. Late summer weather okay? anyone been to cairns?
Paula
Paula
cairns, australia?
- Thread starter crash684
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Hi Paula - yes, Cairns is one of the springboards to the GBR - I believe Port Douglas is the other. It's pretty much a touristy kinda place from which to hop off onto your liveaboard, which I think is the way to go. I did the GBR without a liveaboard - did two day trips on one of those huge boats that pack in about 40 people and when you get down it can get crowded, next time I go I will do a liveaboard.
As for Cairns itself - as I said, not that much going on altho there was an interesting Australian restaurant to try some novel meats - crocodile, etc. Also convenient for going north to the Daintree National Park if you want to do some hiking in the rainforest.
Have fun!
As for Cairns itself - as I said, not that much going on altho there was an interesting Australian restaurant to try some novel meats - crocodile, etc. Also convenient for going north to the Daintree National Park if you want to do some hiking in the rainforest.
Have fun!
TexasMike
Contributor
I got certified out of Cairns with Pro-Dive. They run a really classy operation for those seeing to get certified while on vacation. They also do live-aboard trips with the M/V Kalinda.
I just checked Pro-Dive's website, and they show a 3-day 2-night trip for $520AUS (that's about $300-350US). I was on this trip for my o/w check out dives and had a blast! Staff was great, and the food even better. Worth looking into in my opinion.
As far as things to do while in Cairns....there's plenty. The Dreamtime center will teach you about the Aborigines. The Woolshed Bar is rocking everynight. Raging Thunder Tours has lots of things like white water rafting, balloon rides, and much more. And the Rattle & Hum has a good feed as does the Chapel.
And Be sure to check out the Daintree Rainforest. Guided tours are available and are very informative/well done.
Also check out Fitzroy Island if you want a little side trip. And if you take a Sea Kayak tour with Vince, you'll be very well entertained. And if you ply him with plenty of chips and beer, you'll laugh your self silly at all his Kiwi (New Zelander) jokes.
And out of Port Douglass, be sure to do a day dive out on the Quicksilver setup. *VERY* pretty reef with lots of life and they will also do discover scuba for any non-divers in your group.
As you can tell, I had loads of fun while I was there...and I'm itching to get back someday.
I just checked Pro-Dive's website, and they show a 3-day 2-night trip for $520AUS (that's about $300-350US). I was on this trip for my o/w check out dives and had a blast! Staff was great, and the food even better. Worth looking into in my opinion.
As far as things to do while in Cairns....there's plenty. The Dreamtime center will teach you about the Aborigines. The Woolshed Bar is rocking everynight. Raging Thunder Tours has lots of things like white water rafting, balloon rides, and much more. And the Rattle & Hum has a good feed as does the Chapel.
And Be sure to check out the Daintree Rainforest. Guided tours are available and are very informative/well done.
Also check out Fitzroy Island if you want a little side trip. And if you take a Sea Kayak tour with Vince, you'll be very well entertained. And if you ply him with plenty of chips and beer, you'll laugh your self silly at all his Kiwi (New Zelander) jokes.
And out of Port Douglass, be sure to do a day dive out on the Quicksilver setup. *VERY* pretty reef with lots of life and they will also do discover scuba for any non-divers in your group.
As you can tell, I had loads of fun while I was there...and I'm itching to get back someday.
Cairns isn't a place I'd willingly spend very much time in again, if I had a choice. I was there in the offseason (Australian late summer), when there were very few tourists. The effect was that of an abandoned carnival. My advice would be to keep time in port to a minimum and spend it instead in either Port Douglas or in Brisbane or Sydney, if you're going that way.
Port Douglas is quite a lovely little place, and the springboard for my weeklong trip aboard the Undersea Explorer. Check out http://www.underseaexplorer.com for itineraries. They do NOT single out Americans and Japanese to pay higher rates.
Be wary of cyclones during that time period, especially if you're depending on road travel along the coast.
Port Douglas is quite a lovely little place, and the springboard for my weeklong trip aboard the Undersea Explorer. Check out http://www.underseaexplorer.com for itineraries. They do NOT single out Americans and Japanese to pay higher rates.
Be wary of cyclones during that time period, especially if you're depending on road travel along the coast.
Scubaroo
Contributor
In light of recent incidents, check out when the local box jellyfish and irukandji season is. You don't want to be in the water with these bad boys.
TexasMike
Contributor
I guess I should clarify a bit and say that I was there in Mid-December 2000. So things were jumping just a bit more than when Metridium was there. Was kinda strange for this Northern Hemisphere boy to be walking around in 80-degree sunny days and hear Christmas carols playing in the stores.
Stone
Contributor
I did a liveaboard on the Nimrod Explorer (I posted a trip report, so you could find it if you do a search on "Nimrod"). I recommend the Coral Sea or Far North GBR liveaboards. Viz is 150 ft (or whatever the limit is for saltwater at high noon) if you can get away from the coast. The dives we did on the GBR near Cairns did not compare to the Coral Sea.
kelpmermaid
Contributor
I suspect that it is: http://www.redochregrill.com.au/rest.html
Re: Cairns, it depends upon how long you have flown to get there and how much energy you have. I had a wonderful treatment in a day spa in Orchid Plaza - helped wear off jet lag.
And Stone is right - the further north you go, the better it gets...definitley do the liveaboard thing.
Re: Cairns, it depends upon how long you have flown to get there and how much energy you have. I had a wonderful treatment in a day spa in Orchid Plaza - helped wear off jet lag.
And Stone is right - the further north you go, the better it gets...definitley do the liveaboard thing.
kelpmermaid
Contributor
http://us.altnews.com.au/reefteach/index.html - before you go out on to the reef.
Think Florida - but with a decent wine list....flame away!
Think Florida - but with a decent wine list....flame away!
TexasMike
Contributor
The Reef Teach lecture is nothing short of awesome. And a definite must!!!
The fellow is a displaced Irishman with a heavy background in Marine Biology and zoo-ology. And this is not a dry lecture at all. His presentation will have you laughing as much as it will learning. But what's even better, you actually remember what he's teaching.
He also will do dives where he is the trip leader. I wasn't able to take advantage of this, but I wish I did.
The fellow is a displaced Irishman with a heavy background in Marine Biology and zoo-ology. And this is not a dry lecture at all. His presentation will have you laughing as much as it will learning. But what's even better, you actually remember what he's teaching.
He also will do dives where he is the trip leader. I wasn't able to take advantage of this, but I wish I did.
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