missmuffet

Hi all,

My wife and I will be spending some days in the Cairns area in July. My wife doesn't swim and suffers from seasickness sometimes. But she does want to enjoy the marine life of GBR. I am wondering if the Lizard island trip by Daintree air will be suitable for both of us. I have read many good things about this tour from this forum.

My question is, in Lizard Island where are the corals and the fishes. Do you need to be able to snorkel/swim in order to reach them and the clams etc. Those who have taken the trip please clarify.

The other option is perhaps to take the Quicksilver helicopter trip to their pontoons in the Outer Reef and view the reef through a semi-submersible.

Both seem to be equally priced and both are somewhat expensive. I am looking forward to your suggestions on which we should take.
Any other ideas?

Thanks to all for your wonderful advice all the time.

marshall531

Dear Miss Muffet, My wife and I went with daintree three weeks ago. If she can do it anyone can. At first she was afraid of flying on a small plane but once up in the air it was so smooth and the views you can die for. The pilot is like your own private guide. You can swim to the reef from the beach. It isn't far. You take you time. It takes about ten minutes of light swimming to get there and then all of a sudden you see the giant clam garden and beautiful fish all over the place. The tour guide greg makes you feel right at home and he is so funny. His wife judy runs the business with him. You spend from 8 am until 6Pm with him and it is worth everypenny of the 250 dollars us dollars per person it costs. Without a doubt do it. YOu won't be sorry. Bruce

lane

For those of you who went to Lizard Island. Did you do this instead of taking a boat to the outer reef? Where is the snorkeling better? Would you do both? Take a Quicksilver boat or smaller and also go to Lizard Island.

DawnF

I just got back from my honeymoon where we spent five nights on Lizard Island. In reference to lane's question about the trip to the outer reef vs. the trip by Daintree that missmuffet references I would go out to the reef. MUCH BETTER out there. As a diver, it was incredible out there but the snorklers also enjoyed the trip emensely. I would have no doubts that you will love the snorkleing both directly off Lizard and on the outer reef trip.

Dawn

marshall531

hi dawn, How was the honeymoon. Sorry to hear you did not like lizard. I did not stay there but just did the day trip and thought it was amazing. I have been told the other parts of the reef do not compare to lizard as far as it being untouched. We saw amazing sites such as the giant clam garden. I am sure what ever miss muffet does she will have a great time. What else did you do. Email me at Marshall39@hotmail. Talk to you soon. Bruce

jules

mismuffet, (and g'day to bruce too!)

well, perhaps you know what i'm going to say but...my vote goes for lizard. my husband and i are certified scuba divers and while in australia (we stayed in palm cove), we dove at both the inner and outer reefs but our last full day in nothern queensland was spent at lizard. i have to say that i haven't experienced a variety of coral, fish, clams and sealife like i did at lizard (even during all of our dives on the reef). the visibility was perfect, and it was just so untouched. i found the reef (during my dives) to be a little "worn" and visibility was no where near as good as lizard.

also, and you'd have to e-mail greg on this...but i believe he's taken "non-swimmers" out to lizard and into the water. with a life vest, knowing greg, he will literally hold your wife's hand throughout the snorkelling process and if she's uncomfortable with the water where she just wouldn't want to go in at all, she can still enjoy the plane ride there (the view is astounding) and the incredible scenery at lizard (without having to go in the water).

jules

sorry, as i was saying...i was interrupted by the phone...

the final thing i noticed about the coral and clam garden and fish was that it was very high up in the water so you didn't have to dive down into the water to get a close up look! (i hope that makes sense...bruce help me out here if my description doesn't do justice). in my opinion, quicksilver is a good company, but i felt like cattle being moved through a tourist trap whereas daintree air provided a private, intimate and wonderful service in a tropical/paradisical sertting! have FUN whatever you choose! hope my advice helps you in making a decision!

-jules

marshall531

I think what my friend jules is trying to say is if you have ever gone snorkling sometimes what you are looking at is way down on the ocean floor which seems far away from the top of the water and it gets a little distorted. On lizard that is not the case. You can practically reach down and touch the giant clams in the giant clam garden or greg will pick up a star fish and let you hold it. Also the nice thing about lizard island trip it is really a personal tour of part of the reef that most people don't get to see since lizard island is one of the most northern islands and most tourists don't go there. The resort on the island is almost 1100 US dollars a night and is cost prohibitive for most(including myself). Greg as julie said will take extra care. My wife was having some difficulty about one hour into the snorkling adventure and greg personally helped her back to shore(which really wasn't far but my wife is not a great swimmer(which you don't have to be for this trip). I can't stress enough that if you take this trip YOU WILL NOT BE SORRY. Julie convinced me to do it and I am so glad that I listened to her. Take care and have a good trip. Bruce