bruce

I did forget to mention one important thing and that is the cost of the one day trip to lizard island is 900 australian dollars for two. How much is that in US dollars and is that too much money for this trip. Thanks again

a

$500 usd<BR>a currency converter is available on the internet

caro

Hi there, Daintree Air do a day trip to Lizard Island. The cost is around $350 AUD per person.<BR>The trip is great, the guy is very friendly and informative.

liz

Much too much!!!!!!!!!!

Jules

he everyone,<BR><BR>i have always appreciated your help and advice liz, but personally i didn't (and still don't) think that $225 US per person was too much for this trip. it was safe, professional, beautiful and one of the best days of my life. you only live once bruce! go for it! (we went for my husband's birthday and he was supremely surprised!)

liz

I beg to differ. $240US is about $500 Australian dollars EACH for a day trip of short distances. For $500 Australian I can fly to New Zealand and back &amp; to most of the off-shore Islands/countries in the Pacific. I can fly and stay for 3 days/nights on Hamilton Island. Can fly and get a car for several days in Tasmania. I can even fly return to Perth from Brisbane and get 2 days accommodation thrown in. So you see that is how I equate that cost as being far too expensive for what it is. If you get on wotif you can get several nights accommodation on an island in the GBR for that price.

Jules

we are entitled to our own opinions and i respect yours liz. you have offered an abundance of advice to me and others on this site, but people's idea of how much is too much and the value of a dollar GREATLY differs!! the economy and the dollar in australia has definitely been better, so your idea of &quot;too much&quot; isn't comparable to my idea of &quot;too much&quot; when everything in australia seems like half price to us yanks. so, when i travel to a beautiful country like australia and i find a first class company that charges only $250 pp US to go to a remote island i'm blown away that that's all it costs. we're talking a private first class plane charter here! could you fly to &quot;new zealand/off shore islands/countries in the pacific&quot; in a brand new high wing air conditioned private plane - chartered at your discretion? i have doubts. <BR><BR>so, bruce, i guess your question of &quot;is it too much money for the trip?&quot; should really only be answered by people who have ACTUALLY been on the trip. that would be so far, ME and CARO (who kindly answered and found it to be great as well!)<BR>

Lin

We are budget minded (Canadian) travelers, but sometimes when you are on holiday somewhere so far from home you just want to do something special. If I was spending US Big Bucks I'd say go for it - you only live once. We flew into Heron Island by helicopter rather than take the cat last time we were in Oz and it was a great experience. If everything in Oz was half price for us we'd do it all!!!

liz

Actually Jules I have done the bloody trip. But if you like I will shut up and let you tell everyone what you think and then you will be happy. <BR>Whilst I can afford to do those trips I don't expect everyone ( even Americans whose $ goes further ) to splurge when they could get even better value for their dollar doing something else. <BR>Maybe the question should only be answered by those who have been there, done that and done just about everything else as well as a comparison.

bruce

Oh my god, I didn't think I would create world war three with a simple question. The only reason I asked is becuase a friend of mine just returned and said that lizard island is the nicest of the all the islands. She has been to quite a few. Staying on the island is cost prohibitive for us. She said she stayed there for five nights and it cost her 6 thousand US dollars. that is alot of money but she said it was exquisite so I thought that if Greg from Daintree travel could show us a good time then I thought this would be a good trip. He has emailed me afew times and sounds like a really nice man. When we go to see a broadway show in New york for orchestra seats between parking and the show it costs almost 300 dollars so I thought that 500 US dollars for an all day excursion including a meal was a bargain. I Guess liz coming from Australia you don't realize how expensive things are here.(I don't mean to insult you. You are very helpful.) I will try this trip and hope for the best. It is our 25th wedding anniversary and I thought this would be really special. If the other two people who responded to this and enjoyed the trip would kindly email me at [email protected] and give me all the details of the trip it would be greatly apprecited. this is the part of the trip I am looking forward to the most as well as the hot air ballooning in alice springs and the camel to dinner. Did either of you do those. Speak to you soon bruce. Once again thanks liz.

reef

Does it occur to people that those who answer questions may have weighed up all sorts of ideas first before making a statement? <BR>i tend to agree with Liz that the amount of 900 is a lot seeing that there is so many other things that you can do on the reef and the islands which will give you as much sightseeing and fun as that particular flight would. <BR>So Jules do please let us know what you have &quot;actually&quot; done so that we know who to direct all enquiries to in future. IS it beyond your capacity to understand that there may be more things available that just what YOU DID AND LIKED? We then can all get on with other things and you can run the site yourself. But please don't run then to us for any advice when you hit a question you really don't know.

Jules

<BR><BR>Whoa Whoa Whoa. Reef Man and Liz, I never indicated that I knew everything about the reef and that I've done everything there is to do in Australia. I consider myself well traveled and I've only given my opinion on THIS particular trip and whether I found it to be of good value. There is no need to get nasty and insulting. I'm trying to help Bruce out. He wasn't asking about all the possible things in Australia he can do for 900 Australian bucks...he was SPECIFICALLY asking about Lizard, and as I have just returned and had a glorious experience I thought I'd pass that impression on. If your experience wasn't fabulous Liz, then fair enough. It's too bad you didn't enjoy it, and if you did go to Lizard, why DIDN'T you enjoy it?!?! Did you go via Daintree Air? Have you gone recently? I think Bruce (and everyone on the site) could benefit from what happened exactly that wasn't worth it to you rather than reading you needlessly rip into me because we don't agree on the value of the Lizard Island day trip. But like I've said repeatedly, we all have the right to our own opinions and experiences. I find it very sad and disheartening that Liz and Reef Man have nothing better to do than be ridiculously petty and insulting to people who go on this board to help fellow travelers. I have said more than once in my previous posts that I respect your opinion Liz. Apparently it is YOU that can't handle someone with an opinion that differs from yours. CAN'T WE ALL JUST GET ALONG?!?!?! I know that Alan, an incredibly helpful contributor to all of us on this site, a true gentleman, would never engage in this kind of childish banter. Let’s all follow his example (and check out the “gentle reminder from Fodors.com” posted at the top of the main page). I won’t be writing in again. Julie Kenney &amp; Bruce, I will write to your individual/personal e-mails with any new news or information I can think of (Julie, I’m still working on those pictures). Liz and Reef Man have won their fight and have successfully bullied a fresh and open mind off this board. I hope everyone enjoys their one sided, close minded forum from here on out. We wouldn’t want to happily coexist with more than one opinion in the world now would we? <BR><BR>So Bruce, I know you will enjoy Lizard and Greg's expertise and professionalism immensely. I wish I could be on my way to Lizard right now. You'll have a ball with Greg. It was the highlight of our trip. And in the end, maybe everyone on this post will decide against going to Lizard and my husband and I (and Bruce and his wife) can just have this little piece of paradise all to ourselves. <BR>

Louise

Have watched these discussions with interest and can see pros and cons to the trip. We have made two trips to Lizard Island for a day although not by plane. The price does not bother me at all as the air trip sounds like a wonderful day and to me would be worth the price as of all the islands I have visted on the GBR, Lizard Island is my favorite. However, one of the days we were there the snorkeling was very poor and the other day it was wonderful. If the trip by air takes you to the same beach we visited, sometimes you are not on your own. We were on a small catamaran with 12 other people and the same time we were there a large cruise ship arrived (Captain Cook, I think) for a day on the beach so we were definitely not &quot;on our own&quot;. We were requested not to wander into the resort which was respected except by one couple who did it anyway. I can imagine if I were staying there and people from various cruises came wandering through I would be a little upset considering the price you pay for privacy there. Another thing, it is for sure that sometimes people make remarks that give insult to others and bad language is certainly not called for. I answered a post a while ago which I thought would be very helpful to a person requesting information and the response from one of the &quot;experts&quot; really hurt my feelings although my information was in fact exactly what the person requested. Maybe a lesson learned - consider carefully other peoples' feelings how you reply and the language you use.

mI

............<BR>Original question:<BR>I did forget to mention one important thing and that is the cost of the one day trip to lizard island is 900 australian dollars for two. How much is that in US dollars and is that too much money for this trip. Thanks again<BR>..................<BR>Having just read the email from Jules I just think that she/he got carried away with the fact that he/she enjoyed the trip BUT the original question was &quot; do you think this is too much money for this trip&quot; unfortunately for this forum that was exactly what a poster replied to only to be told by Jules that they were wrong. <BR>So perhaps the answer is if you don't want to have an answer you don't like then don't ask the question. <BR>For Jules to suggest that someone who has only &quot;actually&quot; been on that trip should contribute is way off the mark because we could always say that perhaps only Australians should answer that question in the first place seeing that we are the ones who would know what else would be available and whether a particular tour and cost of same is representative and in line with all other available tours. <BR>Bruce, have a good one mate whatever you do but on one final note I too think the cost is excessive because you are not really getting the feel of Lizard but are expected to just stay on another part of the island.