Great Barrier Reef tours from Cairns

[TexasSonny&Cher]

We will be in Cairns for 4 nights in February 2007, prior to our Sapphire Princess cruise starting on 2/28/07. Does anyone have any experience with the reef tours? Which are the best or which to avoid? I know it will be hot and humid, but we're from San Antonio and can stand the heat.

 

Any suggestions for hotels in Cairns would also be appreciated.

 

Pat & Dan

[turtlemichael]

We will be in Cairns for 4 nights in February 2007, prior to our Sapphire Princess cruise starting on 2/28/07. Does anyone have any experience with the reef tours? Which are the best or which to avoid? I know it will be hot and humid, but we're from San Antonio and can stand the heat.

 

Any suggestions for hotels in Cairns would also be appreciated.

 

Pat & Dan

 

Hi there,

 

A couple of questions first. Can you swim, can you snorkel and are you certified divers?

 

Price range or star standard of a hotel? Any thoughts on location?

 

Cheers

 

Michael

[TexasSonny&Cher]

Thanks Michael,

 

We want to snorkle as much as possible. It's been quite a while since we did any diving and are not certified, besides there will be 6 of us and none of the others have ever been diving. We loved snorkeling the British Virgin Islands and the Coral Gardens in Tahiti, so want to compare them with the GBR.

We're looking for a pretty nice hotel (4 star)near the docks. We plan to rent a car/van so a little distance wouldn't matter too much.

I appreciate any advice you'd have.

 

Pat

[turtlemichael]

Hi there again,

 

Star ratings in Australia tend to be a bit unreliable but the following are what I would call good 4+ star hotels by US standards. I am sure you can Google them all for further details.

 

In the docks area the best are Reef Casino, Cairns International and Shangri-La. Reef Casino is a great hotel even if you don't gamble! But the docks area is on the edge of the downtown of Cairns and while its perfectly pleasant and safe, Cairns is like a big country town. There are plenty of restaurants however,a man made lagoon for swimming in and the hotels above are walking distance to where reef trips depart.

 

If you want beach front the best ones within 30 minutes of Cairns are at Palm Cove - I'd strongly recommend Sebel Reef House, which was undergoing renovations last week but they'll be well finished by the time you get here, Outrigger Beach Club and Sea Temple which is brand new. Reef House I think is great. Palm Cove is a mini resort town with a good choice of restaurants and very pretty beach. You'd need to drive into Cairns though to get to the reef but one or two do go from Palm Cove. I wouldn't recommend Palm Cove unless you either want to do nothing but veg or have a car.

 

 

If you have 4 days you could also consider Port Douglas, an hour north of Cairns.

 

February is not peak season and as long as you avoid the school holidays which end late January you do not need to book early. If you can leave your booking until less than 28 days out you'll get good deals for all hotels on wotif.com Don't be scared by the rack rates you'll see on the hotel websites as you definitely do not need to pay them at that time of year. Prices here always include taxes and there are no service charges. The rate you see is what you'll pay.

 

As to the reef, I'd recommend Ocean Spirit Cruises. Its a friendly, medium size, professional one which goes from Cairns and I think Palm Cove too. I have had nothing but great experiences on them and you would have the opportunity to scuba if you wanted though their main focus is snorkeling. There are literally dozens of operators and all will look after you. With reef trips though if you pay very little you'll generally get very little - slow boat, old equipment etc. Ocean Spirit is at the middle end (the middle doesn't have an end come to think of it!)

 

Hope this helps and have a great visit.

[TexasSonny&Cher]

Michael,

Thanks for all the information. Palm Cove does look wonderful, but the prices on the resorts are really scary. I was thinking about something in the $150-$175 USD/night. Do you think they'd come down that much at the end of February? I could even look into a 3-bedroom unit if the bed configuration was okay. The more I read about Palm Cove, the more I'm interested in it.

 

How long have you been in Cairns? It's nice to talk with people that live near the places we're visiting-they always know the best things to do. I'm sure I'll have a lot more questions-this is the first time to Australia for all of us.

Pat

[turtlemichael]

Michael,

Thanks for all the information. Palm Cove does look wonderful, but the prices on the resorts are really scary. I was thinking about something in the $150-$175 USD/night. Do you think they'd come down that much at the end of February? I could even look into a 3-bedroom unit if the bed configuration was okay. The more I read about Palm Cove, the more I'm interested in it.

 

How long have you been in Cairns? It's nice to talk with people that live near the places we're visiting-they always know the best things to do. I'm sure I'll have a lot more questions-this is the first time to Australia for all of us.

Pat

Hi Pat,

 

On Wotif.com current prices for Beach Club and Reef House are around $160.00 US (figures displayed are of course Aussie dollars) and as its also low season now, I'd expect them to be similar next February. But, who knows!

 

I've been here 14 years - good part of the world!

[TexasSonny&Cher]

Michael,

 

You've convinced me to wait until a month out to book a room. Have you used this website (wotif.com) before, or do you recommend contacting the hotels directly?

 

It looks like Ocean Spirit has a couple really nice tours to the reef. I think we'll use them for one day and maybe someone else for the other day we plan to snorkle. Our third day there we're planning to take the Skyrail/train to Kuranda. I wish we had more time to spend in your area. I guess we'll have to make another trip.

 

I'm sure I'll have more questions later.

 

Thanks. Pat

[turtlemichael]

Hi there

 

I've used wotif.com many times. There are also a couple of similar operations such as quickbeds.com If you want to adopt a "belt and braces" approach, you could book the hotel of your choice directly and, provided its fully refundable which should be the case at rack rate, cancel and substitute a wotif booking 28 or less days out. Also, it would allow you to check out other hotel prices nearer the event. That way you would know you have a bed but, as I said, its totally unnecessary in February. I would think most people now use sites like wotif these days and I would only pay the hotel's rack rate if that was the only way I could get a room.

 

The Kuranda rail/skrail trip is fun though Kuranda is somewhat of a diappointment because it has become very touristy. The views going up and down to get to Kuranda are great though and if the rivers are flowing there are great waterfalls. Another thought is a trip to the Daintree rainforests. This is less touristy but still a bit touristy! But I have a friend who did it and said "seen one tree, seen them all"! Glad most of us don't have that attitude to being a tourist!

;)

Regards

 

Michael

ps there are many Aussie experts on this board - wish they'd chime in on the subject.

ps2 as you already know, it is hot and humid at that time of the year. You can have great weather or it could be wet or even cyclonic. In 14 years here I have been affected, all to a minor extent, by 3 cyclones so the risk of an affected vacation is low. I don't think you can do your planning on the basis of what might remotely happen otherwise you would not go outside the front door.

[doyleb]

Pat and Dan,

I can provide you a 'yanks' viewpoint if your interested. The wife and I were in Cairns before our Diamond cruise in March and stayed at the Hilton (part of a pre-cruise Pricness tour). I can't comment on reef tours as Cyclone Larry blew those awy for us - literally - but we did stay at the Hilton and the rooms were very comfortable, (not to mention water and wind proof!), the hotel staff friendly and the hotel is right next to the docks where a number of the reef tours operate from. We were locked into the hotel for most of our stay in Cairns and as that was going to be one of the highlites of our AUS/NZ trip, we've put that back on our list of places to see before we go to the great reef in the sky....

 

Best of luck - Cairns is a wonderful town..

Brendan

[TexasSonny&Cher]

Thanks for the information Brendan. I'm sorry you got caught in the middle of the cyclone, but am glad you are okay. At least you probably have an interesting story to tell.

 

How was the rest of your trip? Any advice on tours at the stops in New Zealand? Did you find the weather a little chilly in March, or is it shorts and t-shirts?

 

I'm sure I could come up with a lot more questions, but I'll let you off the hook for now.

 

Thanks again. Pat

[Jane110]

Pat,

 

So have you decided to stay in Cairns or go to Port Douglas?

 

I recommend Port Douglas. It's a fun little town - kind of a Key West feel, IMO.

 

Oz has excellent dive companies. Quick Silver is the big one and okay if you're a new diver. If you're experienced and want something better go with Haba Dive. I'm not a diver, but DH is.

 

Quick Silver will take you out to the GBR and it's ship will attach to a catamaran they have out there. You'll be able to walk back & forth between the two. You'll be able to dive, take dive lessons, snorkel and take an underwater submarine.

[turtlemichael]

Hi Jane, How are those NYC restaurants treating you?? ;) I recommended that Pat have a look at Port Douglas too. It all comes down to what you want. My view is that in the last year or two, Port Douglas has become a lot more commercial. The quaint main street is now beach clothing and souvenir shops, wall to wall. If you want that sort of thing, its the place to stay because the restaurants and general ambiance of the place are still great. Palm Cove has a different feel - quite upmarket, quieter and I'd say classy than Port Douglas in the last year or so.

 

Jane, there are now a couple of restaurants at Palm Cove you should try when next here - Nu Nu's for example, and a Thai place the name of which escapes me but its in the Beach Club building, which are both award winners and extremely good.

 

Quicksilver is the daddy of reef cruises. Very professional and well organised. It leaves from Port Douglas and you can also bus it from Cairns but that makes a long day. It has all the facilities but the negative is that you might be sharing them with 300-400 other people. It can be crowded compared with others. I also think that its a bit mechanical as they have to process a lot of people. On the other hand, its an award winner and most people swear by it.

 

Again, it all comes down to what you want. If you have good information you can make the decisions to suit your needs. The bottom line is wherever you stay and whatever trips you do, you'll have a great time.

[TexasSonny&Cher]

Hi everyone.

 

It's been a busy weekend for us and I haven't been around much.

 

Jane...thanks for the info. I've been looking at Palm Cove at Michael's suggestion and since we're a group that likes peaceful over touristy we're leaning that way. However I need to do a lot more research and it sounds like Port Douglas would also be a good area. Can you recommend any particular hotel/resort?

 

Quicksilver sounds like it might be fun for one of our days on the reef. Will they likely be crowded at the end of February? I prefer smaller groups for a trip like that.

 

I'm glad to see some more folks making recommendations. The best thing is there hasn't been anything negative-sounds like we can't make a bad decision regardless of what we choose.

 

Thanks again. Pat

[Jane110]

 

However I need to do a lot more research and it sounds like Port Douglas would also be a good area. Can you recommend any particular hotel/resort?

 

We've stayed at the Silky Oaks Lodge www.silkyoakslodge.com three times and will stay there when we visit Oz again. (hopefully next year).

It's about 20 minutes from Port Douglas (in Mossman) and right in the middle of the Daintree rainforest. It's extremely mellow and peaceful. Every room is a private little chalet. A couple of tours or spa treatments are included in your room rate (along w/ breakfast & dinner).

 

There are some fantastic beach resorts in the area like Lizard Island and Heron Island. Since we're not beach types, we always opt for the rainforest.

 

In Port Douglas itself, there are two major hotels - the Sheraton and the Radisson. These are both big "glitzy marble palace" hotels that are just not our cup of tea. Nothing wrong with them, they're extremely popular.

 

We just prefer a more mellow, "eco-tourist" setting and love that we had a family of strange & harmless native animals nesting under our chalet at Silky Oaks.

 

BTW, for either Port Douglas or Daintree, you fly into Cairns and then drive north. All the hotels will provide private car or shuttle service or you can drive it yourself. It's a very pleasant, scenic and easy 1.5 hour drive and you'll have a car at your disposal if you opt for that.

 

Quicksilver sounds like it might be fun for one of our days on the reef. Will they likely be crowded at the end of February? I prefer smaller groups for a trip like that.

 

I'm glad to see some more folks making recommendations. The best thing is there hasn't been anything negative-sounds like we can't make a bad decision regardless of what we choose.

 

Pat

 

Pat,

 

You're right. You really can't make a bad choice. The tourism up in that area runs like a well oiled machine and while people have personal preferences based on style, level of adventure and level of diving, no matter which one you go with, you're not going to have a bad time.

My DH is an advanced diver, so Quick Silver was okay for our first visit but now he prefers Haba Dive Co.

 

 

TurtleMichael,

 

Restaurants here in NYC are treating me well.....too well! <g> I'll have a new list for when you need it next! :)

[cindiedee]

Hey - just thought I would chime in here. I wish I could remember the name of hotel we stayed at in Cairns - it was awesome! We could literally walk anywhere we wanted - it was across the street from the beach. We took Quicksilver to the GBR - yes, there were a lot of folks, but the ship that takes you out there was large and fast and had plenty of room for all. Once we hooked up out in the GBR to the platform (or whatever they call it), there was PLENTY of room for all that were there. I snorkled for hours and it was one of the highlights of my life. DH can't/won't swim but we were able to go down in the small glass sub so he could see what I had been seeing all day. All in all - it was one of those "once in a lifetime" experiences. Since no one has mentioned it here, one of the other "once in a lifetime" experiences we did from Cairns was hotair ballooning over the Atherton Tablelands at sunrise - when all the 'roos are stirring and running around. I was petrified and sure we would die, but I just cannot describe how amazing it was - if you closed your eyes, you would never know you had left the ground! We landed in a cow pasture and then they took us to a restaurant for a champagne breakfast with Aborigine history. It was about $300 total for 2 and worth every cent - I would do it again today if I could. A lot of people don't care for Cairns and we are from S. FL, so it was much like home for us - but we loved it and I could go there and live happily! Don't miss ALL the wonders of Oz - it is one of the most amazing places we have gone (and I lived in the Alice for a couple of years so I was very familiar with much of Oz) - have a wonderful trip! :D

[TexasSonny&Cher]

Cindiedee,

 

I loved your idea about the hot air balloon. Do you remember the name of the company you used?

We lived in Kissimmee for 4 years and are now in San Antonio, so I'm hoping the hot weather won't seem bad at all.

Now that several folks have mentioned Quicksilver, I thinks we'll use them for our second day on the reef.

Thanks for the info. The more I get, the more I'm looking forward to this trip.

Pat

[cindiedee]

Ohhh........I wish I could help you out with the name of the hot air balloon people - we have official photos (from way up in the sky!) but they are packed away - (our house is for sale so 3/4 of our stuff is packed up in boxes in the garage) - the photos have the official name on them. We were not on a cruise when we did that trip - we took a 27 day land tour of Oz and NZ with Globus - let me tell you, if you ever want a first class, top of the line land tour, choose Globus (but don't go with their siser co - Cosmos - they are the budget line and when they say budget, they REALLY mean budget - did them to England/Ireland/Scotland/Wales and NEVER again!). Anyway, the hot air ballooning, GBR, etc were all part of the pkg with Globus (we did pay extra for ballooning but not for GBR). We are considering this trip - I am trying to find best fares - DH is SO excited and wants to take this cruise soooooo badly! But we are off on a 21 day Holy Land/Egypt/Jordan trip in early November and I am a little worried about spending so much more $ in December. So, still looking for a great deal - we are inside cabin folks - don't really care where we sleep as long as it is clean - my sister is the opposite - they must have top of the line balcony cabins - but for us (we are not rich), if we go inside cabins, that is just more trips we can afford to take! :D And since we do at least a couple a year................so! We may be joining you on this cruise - I am trying but have to get a really good price and air. Any other questions I can help you with, just let me know! I do know that all the hotels in Cairns advertised sunrise hot air ballooning so it must be something folks do all the time........we left the hotel about 3 a.m. and it was at least an hour and a half bus ride to the balloon place - but it was SOOOOOOOOOO worth it! Cheers and hope to be onboard with everyone! Cindie

[turtlemichael]

Hi there

 

There are two Balloon companies that I know of - Hot Air http://www.hotair.com.au/index.html and Raging Thunder http://www.ragingthunder.com.au/ballooning.asp

 

There might be more. Raging Thunder is the biggest Adventure tour company in Australia. I haven't done the ballooning (I like a couple of functioning engines with me when I'm in the air :) ) but have used them for white water rafting on the Tully River. That's also a great day trip from Cairns, particularly in summer when the cold water is exhilarating. Great rainforest scenery and guaranteed white water because its released from a dam.

[KiwiIan]

Thanks for the information Brendan. I'm sorry you got caught in the middle of the cyclone, but am glad you are okay. At least you probably have an interesting story to tell.

 

How was the rest of your trip? Any advice on tours at the stops in New Zealand? Did you find the weather a little chilly in March, or is it shorts and t-shirts?

 

I'm sure I could come up with a lot more questions, but I'll let you off the hook for now.

 

Thanks again. Pat

Hi Sonny and Cher!

 

If you need any advice on what to do re NZ ports of call just check out my other posts, have been giving info for a while to CC members. If you need any specific info just post. Regards Ian [Tauranga]

[compelled]

Hi Sonny and Cher,

 

I visited my brother in Australia a couple years back... Lucky dog lives in Cairns. And he booked us on the QuickSmart (part of QuickSilver) out of Port Douglas. It was a great sized boat to snorkel or dive from. Nice lunch, fun crew. They even had perscription masks. Its now called SilverSonic. http://www.silverseries.com.au/

 

 

Also, as a really interesting and fun side trip, we hired a private guide to take us in the outback... Jonathan Munro, http://www.wildwatch.com.au/

Fabulous time.

 

Hope this helps,

 

Anne

[TexasSonny&Cher]

Thanks Anne,

 

I checked out those websites and the GBR tour sounds wonderful. Sounds a little more advanced than some of the others and that's exactly what we want. As we haven't done any diving in over 17 years and our friends don't dive, we will probably stick to snorkeling.

 

Thanks to you and your brother!

 

Pat

[compelled]

Pat,

 

As my brother would say, "No worries mate."

 

Enjoy your trip and if you do decide on SilverSonic I know you'll have a blast.

 

Anne

[obriendan]

We were in Cairns for 4 days in February as part of a Grand Circle Tour. we stayed at the Tradewinds Esplanade. It was a very good hotel, nothing exceptional, but perfectly satisfactory.

 

We visited the Great Barrier Reef as part of the tour. We did the trip with Sunlover Cruises. They left at about 10 am and returned at 5 pm and we spent about 5 hours at the reef. For me the trip to the GBR was the highlight of our 24 day Australia, New Zealand, and Fiji Tour. If you take the tour to GBR, be sure to invest in the $20 guided reef tour. It took about one half hour and the marine biologist that conducted it pointed out and described many features of the reef.

 

Other places we visited in Cairns and are worth considering: The Botanic Gardens, The Flying Doctors Museum, and the Tjapkai Aboriginal Cultural Park (about 10 miles outside of Cairns). We also visited a Crocodile farm which was interesting.

 

If you have any questions, I'll try to answer them.

[KiwiIan]

We will be in Cairns for 4 nights in February 2007, prior to our Sapphire Princess cruise starting on 2/28/07. Does anyone have any experience with the reef tours? Which are the best or which to avoid? I know it will be hot and humid, but we're from San Antonio and can stand the heat.

 

Any suggestions for hotels in Cairns would also be appreciated.

 

Pat & Dan

Hi pat and dan

 

Just got back from 10 days in Cairns so can help i hope. Reef tours, we used SUNLOVER, though its a big operation it is very well run, great food and staff and a fast big boat to get out to the outer reef quickly even if theres a swell. they offer all the usual, snorkelling, glass bottom boat, reef tour by marine specialist, diving. We stayed 1 night in a budget hotel called the Heritage [on minnie street], found on WOTIF.COM at $99 a night, nothing fancy but walking distance to town and quiet district just 200m from the beach baordwalk. Must do would be a trip to Yungaburra, a bit like Kuranda but much nicer, not so touristy but reall old historic buildings with great craft shops, wonderfull B&B's and plenty to do locally. About a 75 minute drive from Cairns. Post if you need any more help, Regards Ian [NZ}

[TexasSonny&Cher]

Thanks for the updates!

 

Obriendan...which Bryan,TX do you live in? East of Austin, or west of Denton? We're in New Braunfels just north of San Antonio.

Thanks for your input. Since we'll be in Aus/NZ next February, how was the weather there for you? We've heard over 100 in Cairns and cold in NZ. Having trouble figuring how to pack.

I'll check out the Tradewinds Esplanade and also SunLovers Cruises. The GBR trips are one of the main reasons we're going on the this trip.. We love to snorkle and compare all the places we've been. We used to own big salt-water aquariums and have fun seeing and naming all the fish. The Aboriginal Cultural Park is already on our list of things to do. I'm not sure we'll have time for the entire list, but we're gonna try.

 

Ian..thanks again. I hadn't heard anything about Yungaburra yet. It sounds like a charming place and I'll add it to the places to look into. Where did you stay the other 9 nights you were in Cairns?

 

Thanks to y'all.

Pat