Need suggestions for Great Barrier Reef
 

Hi all,

My family will be in Australia in January, 2016. We plan to stay 5-6 days in the Great Barrier Reef area before heading to New Zealand. I have read the Fordors travel book and searched a few websites but I still do not know where we should stay as the area is so huge. I would appreciate some people could give me some advices.

(1) January is wet season with lot of rain. Is water clear in January and we are still good to see the coral?

(2) Where should we visit? Should we stay in one island? If so, is Hamilton a good choice? Or we should visit one island plus one mainland destination? We like beaches better than rainforests though we could spend a day in a eco-tour.

(3) Which islands you would recommend? We prefer middle to high end accommodations but we do not like to splurge too much in hotels.

Thank you!
John

I am doing the same thing in November. I can't answer your questions but we are going to stay in Port Douglas for three nights and do a reef trip from there for a day and then tour around the area the other days. I'm looking forward to seeing what people with experience say...

Hello, John,

January is stinger season in far North Queensland, dangerous for swimming in the ocean, start of cyclone season and the Wet. I would change my travel plans to southern parts of Australia, but this is peak summer holiday season, like July/August in the northern hemisphere and similar prices,

Same situation in NZ, sorry to say. All top dollar at this time.

We have spent time in the Top End during several wet seasons, and Cairns is OK if you can work around the afternoon downpour. It's basically monsoon conditions, one big afternoon downpour, evenings very nice, days very humid. swimming, no.

Lovely place, though, Cairns, Port "Douglas, Daintree, Atherton Tableland. Don't let the weather put you off, because it may well be dry.

cheers, Maree

Wet or dry it will be very hot and swimming in the sea is more or less out. In PD where we stayed, they put a net out on the beach so that you can swim a bit but its not the same as being able to have a proper dip. If you go out to the Reef i understand that they supply you with stinger suits so you are able to snorkel or swim without worrying about stingers.

Something I wish we'd done was to stay in a hotel with a big pool - there are some but they are mostly along the long drag leading into town and we preferred to stay in Town where we could walk to the shops and restaurants.

if you decide to do it, as Maree says, don't miss the Tablelands.

if you decide against it, what about Tasmania?

I can recommend the Quicksilver Agincourt Reef tour out of Port Douglas. It is a long way out to the reef but well worth it. This was in May so we could snorkel in swim wear. Perhaps stingers have gone by May.
They provided a very nice lunch and you could buy icecreams and postcards from the platform 'shop'. Post it from there as well and you get the Agincourt Reef post stamp. They were also very conscious of safety which is a good thing.
3 different staff did a head count on the return trip to make sure no one was left behind. If you have seen that movie where the young people are left behind - well it's very scary.
A tip to save money - the helicopter guys are hard selling the helicopter ride in the mornings but wait until about 2 pm and you might get it for half price. We did and decided to 'just do it' - what an experience! Seeing the reef meet the Coral Sea with no land in sight -awesome.