theway02

hi board. i realize december is not the best time to see GBR but I already booked my flight... what are your thoughts on the best way to see GBR and the best places beach swimming and snorkling: lizard island, port douglas, palm cove, heron island, hayman? i'm open to any and all suggestions and i dont have a budget restraint. i just want to make the most of mid-december in GBR. thank you in advance for helping out

pat_woolford

December is actually one of the best times for Great Barrier Reef, its summer, there's no south easterly wind which can make for a rough reef trip, and underwater visibility is usually top. Its hot, of course and humidity is starting to build up, but who cares when you're in the water? Any of the destinations you mention will be fine for reef in December. No swimming on un-netted coastal beaches though, box jelly fish season runs November-May at least.

theway02

thanks pat! i have been browsing this forum for a couple days and you seem like one of the experts! if we had to choose between touring atherton tableland with jonathan munroe and staying at either daintree ecolodge or or silky road and seeing the rainforest with David A which do you recommend? We are also going to Kangaroo island to see wildlife... Thanks!

stevew

The GBR should actually be quite wonderful in December. The water will be quit warm, as will the air temp. The best way to snorkel the GBR is on a day trip. The day boats don't travel too far off shore and the water is shallow giving snorkelers and divers a great view of the reef.

We are scuba divers but have been on boats with snorklers that had great times. We can highly recommend Tusa Dive out of Cairns or the Calypso out of Port Douglas. We have been on both in the past 4 years.

David Armbrust is very hard to beat. We have taken his tour twice. Once on our first trip 4 years ago, and again last year since we were bringing our daughter and my mom for their first trip down under. Its a fantastic relaxing day, very educational and fun!

Cheers

Steve and Andrea

Tropical_gal

Silky Oaks is the most amazing place and the rainforest around the area is incredible. I would suggest you take that option. Daintree Ecolodge is lovely too but Silky Oaks gets my vote every time.

pat_woolford

Hello theway02; eek, that's a hard one, both David Armbrust and Jonathan Munro are top professional naturalists and both have their own private rainforest preserves, Jonathan's in highland rainforest on Atherton Tableland and David's in mountains west of Port Douglas. Jonathan takes trips of half a day to several more more day. It is certainly much cooler on Atherton Tableland in December than down on the coast, there's some lovely accommodation there too. www.bnbnq.com.au lists many of them, including Allawah Retreat near Atherton; Crater Lakes Rainforest Cottages at Lake Eacham and Rose Gums Wilderness Retreat nearby.