Hi guys

I'm off to Australia in August for a wedding and really want to see the Great Barrier Reef. I've been looking online at various snorkelling tours and just want to know if there's really that much difference between the cheaper cruises and the more expensive ones. I'm thinking that you'll just pay more for a bigger newer boat. The whole reef would be pretty similar wouldn't it? I've been looking at this one - http://www.visitcairns.com.au/store/...a-cef3c12bafb2

This link looks like it's for a tour consolidator, not the actual GBR provider. Seeing a rate that is SO much less than any of the providers with which I am familiar raises some red flags. Before booking anything with "Visit Cairns", I would first find out who the actual tour provider is and then check the reviews of the provider on a site such as Trip Advisor.

As always, if it looks too good to be true, it probably is.

My wife and I went on a 3 day live-aboard scuba trip out of Cairns this past October. We went with Pro Dive Cairns. Their snorkeling trips will be more expensive than the trip you have listed above, but I can't recommend highly enough what a great company they are. I haven't been on a cheaper dive trip out of Cairns, but I have had poor dive trips with bad companies. We were blown away with how terrific and well organized our scuba trip was.

If it is just snorkelling you want, no diving, then Wave Length Marine has been recommended on this forum. I don't have any first hand experience and don't know how costs compare, but worth checking out.

I've actually been out with Wavelength 5 times (as well as with other GBR boats) and I think Wavelength is the best as what they do--small, snorkel-only tours. A trip with Wavelength will run about AUD 235 which is comparable to any other tour to the Outer Reef out of Port Douglas and about AUD 30 - 40 more than comparable Outer Reef cruises out of Cairns.

I'm pretty sure wavelength goes out from Port Douglas and not Cairns, which is about 50 miles from Cairns I think.

Anyway I'm sorted now thanks. I booked a package that has one day snorkelling and one day in the Kuranda rainforest. It was a bit more than I wanted to spend but other guests from the wedding are doing it too.

My experience with reef trips is that you get exactly what you pay for.

A cheap trip will be just that: less comfortable boat, poorer food, maybe crowds of people, fewer or less good snorkelling spots.

If you're only going to be here one time, make it the best it can be.

Looking at your link in your other post, a trip to Green Island is a pretty poor experience of how wonderful the Reef can be.