Diving/Snorkeling Great Barrier Reef
 

Any suggestions for a good place to go diving/snorkeling on the GBR? I'm thinking we will spend two days doing this, one day diving, one day snorkeling. We want to make sure we are in a great spot for this since we will probably never be back here again. One party in our group isn't a diver. Thanks!

Where will you be staying, 12kelsey?

there are plenty of scuba and diving outfits in both Cairns and Port Douglas, which all have their own ideas of the best spots. Have you looked on the internet to see what they each offer?

We will be in the Cairns area, but are willing to travel for good diving/snorkeling. I have read a lot about different places, but thought I'd try and get some first hand knowledge from the people on this site!

my DH went with one of the scuba outfits operating out of PD - Calypso I think. I had eaten something that didn't agree with me, else I'd have gone snorkelling, which I think was available on the same boat.

Trip advisor has a page of dive/snorkling outfits:

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attract...ueensland.html

We tried to research the same thing when we were planing our trip, but there didn't seem to be much unbiased info available. The people who run your accommodation will probably have the best info - and it depends on the weather and what other bookings they have too.

I can recommend Quicksilver and their trip to the Agincourt Reef. They operate out of Port Douglas and are a day trip only. When researching the area I found some 3 day cruises which might suit you better but didn't have the time for these.
The Agincourt Reef is 3 hours fast travel out into the Coral Sea and expensive at $300 so you would not want to do that 2 days in a row. It was a bucket list experience but 1 day was enough for us.

When?

We will be there in mid-May.

I think your best bet is to read the Trip Advisor reviews from the link that Annhig provided. They will give you an idea of the various boat companies that operate out of Cairns. (And you'll see that they all get very good-to-excellent reviews.)

While you could go to Port Douglas for a GBR trip, I see no particular reason to make that drive when there are plenty of boats in Cairns.

We were keen to go with Wavelength recommended on the forum but couldn't as we had 2 kids 8/6 year old with us and they suggested Calypso instead when I asked about a similar smaller boat.

We did the trip in mid December. The boat was great, small crowd of about 30 I think, a mix of snorkelers and divers. We stopped in 3 locations in the opal reef and one stop included a guided tour with one of the crew. We were provided with stinger suits and snorkeling gear. Snacks/lunch was also included as well as well as a small info session about the reef and the common fish during lunch. Freedom to snorkel and enjoy the reef at our own pace.
Definitely a highlight of the trip and can highly recommend them.