great barrfier reef
 

Wondering where along the great barrier reef would be a near excellent or consistent place (not cancelled by winds storms, etc) to be able to do some snorkelling and possibly looking through a glass bottom boat;: avoiding being one in 300 other guests out on a boat for hours to get to a site? Thinking possibly something in the Whitsunday Islands? Possibly Hamilton Island. or another. In other words, one goes so far out on a boat if from PD or Cains only to have bad weather versus staying at a place which is a reef and having possibly two days plus to explore. Also better parts of the year- is sept or october or november ok?

The Whitsundays and Hamilton Island are not on the Reef. You still have to go out on a boat. These areas are best for sailing.

Heron Island and Lady Elliott Island are the islands on the southern reef.

Some of the best reefs are accessed from Port Douglas or Cairns - and yes, there is a 90 minute trip to get out there. Look at Seastar from Cairns or Wavelength from Port Douglas.

Earlier is best. November to May is stinger season. You can still snorkel with a stinger suit, but not swim off any beaches. Excruciating pain, hospitalisation and death may possibly put a bit of a dampener on your holiday.

We stayed at Lizzard Island and had some fantastic snorkeling just yards off the shore. Very high end resort, though.

Do some research before you decided.
We just got back from a 30 days trip in Australia including 3 full days, 4 nights, at Port Douglas.

When researching we found out about the Daintree Rain Forest (a UNESCO World Heritage site)which is close to Port Douglas. We spent a day on the reef and a day in the rainforest, and a day exploring around Port Douglas and its beaches. We were much more highly impressed by the rainforest than the reef (disclosure: we are not avid water people, preferring mountains and forests)

It we were to do it again, we'd add a couple of days to spend more time in the rainforest.

For the reef: my wife wasn't interested in snorkeling, so we went out with Quicksilver to their large platform (1 hour trip each way) where we went in their semi-submersibles with glass walls that looked out to the reef and its inhabitants. I could have also snorkeled from there, but chose to remain back with my wife.

In retrospect, if it had been just me, I would have preferred going on a snorkelling trip on a much smaller boat to a portion of the reef that wasn't as busy. But in any case, I would definitely get to the actual reef rather than just snorkel in the coastal waters.

I hope to begin posting a multi-part trip report within the next week.