Great Barrier Reef from Brisbane
 

Sorry, if this question has already been answer; I'm new to this forum. I will be staying in Brisbane and want to know the nearest town to Brisbane that operates boats going out to the Great Barrier Reef.

Lady Elliot island is the southern-most GBR island and coral cay, and closest to Brisbane, nearest towns are Hervey Bay and Bundaberg with short flight over to Lady Elliot. Flights available also from Brisbane - www.ladyelliot.com.au

pat_woolford, thank you for the information.

Brisbane is a long way from the Great Barrier Reef. You will need to fly further north to around the Tropic of Capricorn so that you can get out to the reef.
There are some lovely places on the way if you wish to drive, but it is around 400 -500 kilometres north before you get to the reef. Best to fly to Gladstone for Heron Island, or Mackay, Rockhampton and Hamilton Island for access to other reef islands. In the far north is Cairns and there are often cheap flights from Brisbane to Cairns. Lots of boats go to outer reef from Cairns and they have moorings on the reef from which you can snorkel and dive.
You will find accommodation on most of the reef islands fairly expensive, but I think that it is worth the trip out. Cost of boat transport to the islands is extra, but some island special deals include the transport across.

WHITSUNDAYS
If you really want a lovely experience, fly to Hamilton Island from Brisbane and go to one of the neaby islands from there. (Whitsundays) Hayman Island is the best resort but expensive. Others are Lindeman, Long, Daydream, Magnetic, Dunk, Bedarra etc. The cheapest way to see the area is to stay on the mainland --- Stay at Airlie Beach and get boat transport from there to most of the islands in the Whitsunday area. (Check whether the area has been cleaned up after the recent tropical storm when booking.)
CAIRNS & NORTH
Very easy access to everything from this larger city. Plenty of accommodation in the area and it is crocodile country. They are very interesting reptiles if you are a nature-lover. Hotels tend to offer cheaper accommodation than islands.

Lady Elliot island is considered part of the Great Barrier Reef, at its southern-most point and is therefore the closest to Brisbane of a reef system which stretches some 2,000 kms north. It may not be the cheapest option for globalchar, (I just bought VB flights Cairns-Brisbane return for $99 each way, not bad for a 2 hour flight) but its certainly the closest geographically to Brisbane.

Lady Elliot island is a true coral cay with its own airstrip, a little NE of Bundaberg and is serviced from Brisbane, Gold and Sunshine Coasts, Bundaberg and Hervey Bay. Lady Elliot is well south of the Tropic of Capricorn, which runs through Rockhampton, some 300 km north Bundaberg.

My focus is cheap. To fly to Cairns even at $99 each way, which is a good deal, I would still probably need to stay overnight; this would bring the cost up. Is the Reef that much better at Cairns than at Lady Elliot Island?

It sounds as if you want to visit the reef in a day from Brisbane. Is that the plan - or am I misinterpreting it?
I don't think that is possible for you. The distances are huge.
The reason for suggesting that you fly to Cairns (and that means allowing a few days there)is that mainland cities have much cheaper accommodation than the islands. I haven't been to Lady Elliot Is, but have enjoyed most of the other islands on the reef. All of the islands are expensive but beautiful. Check their websites if you are interested but be aware that there are extra costs in flying or travelling by launch to the resorts. These are extra to the accommodation prices. Some websites offer rates 'per person' and others are 'per room'. Once you are on the islands, there is usually no / little alternative to buying all meals at the resort and these can be quite expensive if you are on a low budget. Sometimes breakfast is included in tariff.
Coastal cities usually offer better deals. If you are on a really low budget, there are some excellent youth hostels on the coast. (YHA)
However, if you only have a day or two, I suggest that you forget the reef from Brisbane because it is too far away. instead go to Surfers Paradise beaches or up into the rainforest in the nearby mountains for a lovely experience.
You could do that in a day from Brisbane.

pat_woolford, Lady Elliot Island sounds like a good idea, but I didn't realize Bundaberg was so far from Brisbane; after doing a study on the possibility of going from Brisbane to Lady Elliot Island I realized it would require more than we what we were hoping for. Either pay $700 for hotel pickup which would get us there and back in one day but it hardly seem worth the expense or we can rent a car and start driving very, very early in the morning or stay overnight in Bundaberg. I do appreciate knowing that it is possible to get to the Reef from Brisbane.

I wouldn't even think of driving 800-1000 km return in one day - if that's what you're contemplating - for a very short glimpse of the Reef (and I'm not even sure you'd get that). You'd end up so knackered the whole experience would be a blur.

The road isn't like a US interstate highway, for a start, and at a guess car rental and petrol (at about $1.20/litre) would be about the cost of one return fare BNE-CNS if you scored Pat's deal.

Globalchar, Google has a very good map/get directions facility.
It is a pretty accurate gauge of driving times & distances.
You may find it useful.

Flying is by far your best option for Brisbane - GBR visiting.

As NeilOz notes, it would not be at all feasible to drive those distances in your time frame, even if you did know the area.

Your cheapest and shortest solution to this request, which was really what the question was about, is Cairns. Yes it will mean an overnight if you want to spend a day on the reef. However if all you want to do is say you've been there it could be done in one day. Early morning flight from Brisbane, late morning ride out to Green Island and evening flight back to Brisbane.

It would be ideal if I can find an airfare deal to Cairns from Brisbane, fly there in the morning go out to the reef and fly back to Brisbane in the evening.

Globalchar, do be aware that with such a short time you have no wiggle room with weather, important for a reef trip. Are you sure you can't manage at least a few days? There's inexpensive YHA and backpackers accommodation in Cairns.

Thanks pat_woolford for the heads up on the weather. I think it best that I play the reef trip by ear; maybe save it for a future trip. When I originally planned, I had no idea how vase in size Australia is.

I have been focusing on the reef; it is time to redirect to the surround areas of Brisbane.

Or skip Brisbane if you don't have to be there for something else. One can easily spend two weeks exploring the area around Cairns.