Great Barrier Reef cruises
 

We are considering a 3 or 4 night mini cruise of the Great Barrier Reef and I'd be really grateful for any feedback. Our kids are 16 and 14 - would we maybe be better off staying on one of the islands? Has anyone out there done one of these cruises? They sound really great

The one that goes from Cairns to Townsville on a 4 day 3 night cruise is wonderful and you get a chance to go to some really great reefs.

Thanks Liz. This sounds like a great option

We did the 4-night Reef Endeavour cruise with two kids (15 & 12) and had a great time. It was nice to have the variety, as the ship makes 5 stops during the cruise. Snorkelling over Ribbon Reef #5 was awesome.

The ship is nice, but not luxurious. We squeezed into one cabin with 2 lower and 2 upper berths. It worked and the price was right.

Thanks Dean! Were there many other teens on the trip you took? Also, as a general query, should we do a dive course before we go or is the snorkelling good enough for us not to feel that we missing out? Your replies greatly appreciated. Tracy

Tracy L - you'll always see more if you dive - you need to be certified for Reef Endeavour as they don't have introductory or resort dives.

TracyL - I meant to add that if you are prepared to get your dive certifications, why not try a liveaboard dive trip - Spirit of Freedom and Pro-Dive out of Cairns are both good.

My husband and I are also considering one of these mini cruises, however we are strictly snorkelers as he has had bypass surgery and they have advised against diving. Most of the sites I've looked at say they welcome snorkelers but I'm wondering if it's still worth it as certification isn't an option for us. Any feedback?

I did the 4 day Coral Princess cruise. it was quiet -- but quiet nice. I had my 70 yr old mother with me - she really enjoyed it. there were all ages aboard.

LThom - you can snorkel only on a liveaboard dive boat but think you'd feel a bit left out with nearly all the others diving. You still get some great snorkelling from Reef Endeavour.

You didn't say where you want to leave from, important as the reef is hundred of miles long.

This past Christmas my group went on a 3-day cruise out of Airlie Beach on the Anaconda III. We weren't able to get to the Outer Reef because of bad weather. But the Whitsunday Islands were wonderful. There were middle-aged folks and young folks, divers and snorkelers, and a good time was had by all. The boat offered an introductory dive.

Karen

Thanks everyone for your replies. Karen I just started looking into this so no decision on where we wanted to leave from. We would be doing this over Christmas too so I know I'll need to book soon before everything fills up. You mentioned that you had bad weather...I'm prone to seasickness! How much of an issue could this be if bad weather sets in. Looking at pictures of some of the boats it looks like it could be pretty rocky??! Thanks. Laura

Lthom - we really need to find out where you're setting out from before can make an attempt at predicting weather - the Whitsundays are about 500km south of Cairns so weather can be, and often is, completely different. Reef Endeavour's home port is Cairns - it cruises south to Dunk and Hinchinbrook Islands and north to Lizard Island.

This is an excerpt from an email from a local with both diving and snorkelling experience who has just returned from a 3 day trip to Cod Hole (200km north of Cairns) on Tusa's "Spirit of Freedom". Remember, this is February which is supposedly "wet season" but we've only had about a week of rain earlier in the month.
"I've just returned from this week's Cod Hole trip today and it was fantastic!! My first time up there and the fish life completely blew me away. Much better than I had imagined!!

My favourite dive of the entire trip was the drift dive at the Cod Hole. We had a medium current and about 30 metres visibility. There were some nice sheltered spots however that we could stop in to enjoy the scenery at a slower pace. For the whole trip we had no wind over 5 knots, and visibility was about 20 metres at each site. Plenty of rays, potato cod, sharks, maori wrasse, puffer fish, lion fish and muh much much more! I also completed my advanced course onboard and really enjoyed the deep dive .. my first time to 35 metres .. carefully supervised by my instructor, Leonie...."

I guess I shouldn't have said the weather was bad. It was sunny and warm, but very windy, so that the waves were too high to get out to the Outer Reef. Crew told us that at that time of year, that's a common problem. But around the islands where we were, the seas were not bad. My sister, who tends to get motion sickness, swears by Kwells, which I think is nonprescription in Australia.

We had chosen not to go as far north as Cairns that time of year figuring it would be extremely hot.

Karen