Great Barrier Reef
- Address:Pier Marina, Pier Point Road, Cairns
- Hours:Open daily
- Admission:Free
Must-Do Experience, Nature & Wildlife, Scuba Diving, Swim & Snorkel, Water Sports, Monument - Natural, Reef
Great Barrier Reef Reviews
We've found 175 Great Barrier Reef reviews from Viator.com travelers and members: what they loved, what they liked and what they think could be improved. It's all here to help you make the most of your next trip.
Felt like they stole my money, poor conditions (high winds gusts to 40k,very strong current), very small reef compared to other operators. Charged $10 for stinger suit and you needed it, plus another $20 reef tax. Only good thing was lunch! Follow up snorkel on fantasea 's platform on hardy reef out of Airlie beach was great, all inclusive, very professional crew, etc.
Loved the crew... Funny and friendly :)
But because of bad weather the day before, it wasn't possible to see a lot of the reef during snorkelling... But I loved the entire experience beside that - good lunch. Could have been a little bit more variation or more choices within the salad, but the warm dish was really good.
Thank you for a great day :)
Snorkelling on the reef was great particularly at the second stop where you are right above the coral. We saw a huge turtle, a barracuda, a reef shark and some fantastic coloured fish.
Most of the staff were very enthusiastic and helpful although I did feel that one or two were a little impatient with introductory divers.
If you've ever had motion sickness, make sure you take tablets as the first place we stopped was very rocky and lots of people suffered but overall very good.
Good trip but lots of unwelcome extras - reef tax, stinger suits, dive buddy, etc
Good trip but lots of unwelcome extras - reef tax, stinger suits, dive buddy, etc
Boat= single hull. You'll feel every wave. Don't be a fool. Go with a larger catamaran. Want to scuba dive? Great! $65 for your first intro/arm holding dive and then $45 for the next. Then another $35 for the next. Unfortunately we didn't even have a chance to do anything but the first since the helicopter pilot wanted to get an early start back. SOOOOOO, we boated out to the reef for an hour and a half. Snorkeled for 20 minutes. Scubaed for 20 minutes (for an additional $130), had lunch, cruised another 30 minutes to our next stop and then flew home. It sounded like a great idea. It was a colossal failure.
This was a fantastic day and one of our favorite tours we took while in Cairns. My only comment would be that there is NO time to shop in Kuranda because you only have a half hour to get off the train and walk through the town. The helicopter was fantastic...they took you out to the middle of the reef and landed by a snorkeling boat and we were treated as VIP's and were fed a fantastic lunch when we were finished snorkeling. The crew were so nice and helpful!!
This was one of my least favorite trips that we took while in Cairns. It is too close to the mainland and not enough good snorkeling at that part of the reef. I went snorkeling twice after that tour on the outer part of the reef and saw much more!!
A first class way to visit the reef. The ship was clean and modern, the staff helpful, friendly and knowledgable, a great experience overall. There were many things to do, even for the non-swimmer. We tried scuba for the first time and loved it. Verra was a great guide. She trained us, went at our pace, and even held our hands until she knew we were comfortable. An Excellent adventure! We stayed in Port Douglas after reading that the bus made so many stops along the way to pick up passengers. That was a good experience as well.
This 2 day package was ideal for our short stay in Cairns.
Day 1. Barrier Reef - Excellent organisation, the staff were friendly and helpful especially Kylie Davies from the Cruise service desk. My daughter and I got our days mixed up, so, on this day we were dressed for the Rainforest, she quickly made arrangements for us to be taken back to our hotel to change into our beach wear. Thanks to Kylie we were able to fulfil our main reason for the trip - to snorkel in the reef and face our fears of the sea. Everything about the day was brilliant, could have done with at least one more hour on the Island.
Day 2. Kuranda, Rainforest – Be prepared for a very full day, also note this package does not include lunch – therefore either purchase something in the short time you have in Kuranda market or take a picnic and eat it in the tranquil Tropical Fruit Orchard of the Rain Forest Station. The train ride up to Kuranda and Skyrail down to Cairns was brilliant and the vista is breathtaking. The rainforest tour guide was very informative; my favourite plant was Hairy Mary. The Zoo keeper was also knowledgeable about the Wildlife. After the Panagirri Aboriginal dancer’s performance, make sure you have a go at the boomerang throwing.
One suggestion I would make to the tour company is for each of the tours to be extended by 1 hour so that there is a little more time on the Green Island and in Kuranda Market.
All of the staff were friendly an informative. One staff member even gave an impromptu concert on the way back to port. The boat stops in two different reef areas. I suggest getting the lunch as part of your package because it is a good deal for the amount of food you get.
Excellent snorkeling outing to GBR. We went to two reefs--the second was much better than the first. Elvis was a super treat--great guitarist, singer and overall entertainer. He also cooked our terrific lunch. We'll the lady staff did the side dishes. All very delicious. The also liberally provided ginger pills to avoid motion sickness. They worked.
The crew were good, there were over 100 of us so it was a bit packed, but there was plenty of room to move around. the food was average. my only real complain was that of the two reefs we visited on that day, the first i would say was about 95% of the coral was dead an the second about 80% of the coral was dead. so not much colour but still some nice fish to be seen. all in all a good if somewhat disappointing trip
We had a beautiful family day out on the reef, the boat was great, the food was good, the service was excellent. Well worth the money.
It was a great experience , we really enjoyed it a lot!
just one thing , the tax for the reef which is 20 AUD / person should be included in the price.
