Fodor's Travel Talk Forums

Fodor's Travel Talk Forums (https://www.fodors.com/community/)
-   Australia & the Pacific (https://www.fodors.com/community/australia-and-the-pacific/)
-   -   Ocean Spirit or Wavelength for our snorkel trip (https://www.fodors.com/community/australia-and-the-pacific/ocean-spirit-or-wavelength-for-our-snorkel-trip-478612/)

Jayneann Oct 5th, 2004 01:16 PM

Ocean Spirit or Wavelength for our snorkel trip
 
Hi all,
After pouring over all these messages for hours I have narrowed down our snorkel trip to either Wavelength or Ocean Spirit. I realize they are both wonderful, but is the coral at Michaelmas Cay as vibrant as the places the Wavelength takes one to? We are staying in Cairns so the trip to PD, then out to the reef would be very long. The next day we are doing the Rainforest with Pete and that has an early pickup as well. I don't want to be so fatigued that I don't enjoy the Rainforest. I would probably be happy with Ocean Spirit but my husband and sons want to see the best colors and fish on the GBR! We are from the USA and this trip is a once in a lifetime opportunity. We are in our 40's and our sons are 14 and 19. Please help me figure this out! Thanks!!!!!!!!

pat_woolford Oct 5th, 2004 03:34 PM

Jayneann - you can't go wrong with either. Bear in mind Wavelength visits three reef sites and Ocean Spirit (assume you are talking about Michaelmas Cay trip) visits the sand cay which is part of Michaelmas Reef - this cay is a world renowned seabird nesting site as well as being surrounded with fish and coral. Because Wavelength concentrates on snorkelling only you won't have opportunity of introductory scuba dive which I'm sure your sons, if not you and your husbands would love. Ocean Spirit also has marine biologist guided semi-submersible. And as you're staying in Cairns Ocean Spirit it wouldn't be such an early start (but you know that already).

Thyra Oct 5th, 2004 04:31 PM

Hey Jayeanne, my husband and I both went snorkling on the Ocean Spirit/Michaelmas Cay cruise last week and were absolutely delighted. I have posted a detailed trip report on Hollywood to Gundagai, you can scroll down to Part #5 if you want to know all of the details. Have a wonderful time whatever you decide. I already want to go back!!!

aren Oct 5th, 2004 05:10 PM

We went on both of these trips last August, taking the Ocean Spirit out of Cairns to Michaelmas Cay. The cay has a small beach area from which you can walk into the water if jumping off the boat is a problem for you. We saw lots of fish and a giant clam while snorkeling and from the semisubmersible saw a giant turtle and sea anemones and clown fish. It was great snorkeling and seeing all the nesting birds was also neat.
However, wavelength was magnificent! The fish seemed more numerous and varied, there were multiple giant clams, sharks, giant turtles and a manta ray. We saw anemones and clown fish. The variety and colors of coral, the extent of reef, and the dropoff to deep water were beautiful. They also have a "pet" giant wrasse which can be touched if desired.
We were staying in Port Douglas the night before, so it wasn't such a long day for us. But we had 3 days in a row of 7-7:30 am departures and did not feel overly fatigued. There is a relaxing boat ride on the way back from the reef, and you get back to PD around 5, to Cairns 6:30 or so, I would guess, and with a nice dinner and early bedtime, I don't think you'll be too tired. We had a great trip with Pete, and I know you'll enjoy that.

air1975 Oct 5th, 2004 06:04 PM

Hi aren,

Your trip with wavelength sounds amazing - and I am thinking of taking the same one in a few months when I will be in Oz.

However, I was somewhat scared by your comment where you state that you saw "multiple .. sharks" - how big, what type? Do they attack sometimes, or are they safe??

aren Oct 6th, 2004 08:55 AM

Hi air1975: I don't know a lot about sharks, so I don't know what kind it was. We were swimming along the reef looking up a kind of "valley" between arms of coral and saw a shark at the end of the "valley." (I'm sure there are specific words to define the formations, but I don't know them.) The shark did not seem interested in us, but we swam the other direction anyway. I'm sure if you email wavelength they can tell you more about the sharks. One of the marine biologists led a snorkeling group to an area to see sharks, so I would guess the risk is not too great. I hope you have a great trip!

Jayneann Oct 6th, 2004 02:37 PM

Thanks everyone for such tremendous feedback on your snorkeling experiences. I only wish I had two days on the GBR so we could do both trips, but since we don't we chose the Wavelength, especially after reading Aren's post. Aren, could I ask you what you did with Pete on his tour? Do you think I could combine his day tour with the skyrail? Other than that, I don't think we'll be able to find time to do it. Thanks again for all the suggestions and info.
Jayne

pat_woolford Oct 6th, 2004 04:41 PM

Hi air1975 - they're harmless reef sharks - too well fed to worry about eating you!

Louise Oct 6th, 2004 04:57 PM

Jayne - I believe you made the right choice. Having done both, I was thrilled with Wavelength. It was the first time I had ever snorkeled and honestly, I had tears in my eyes when we flew out of Cairns to return to the U.S.

aren Oct 7th, 2004 07:19 PM

hi jayneann:
I know you'll love Wavelength; it's unbelievable. We did not do the Daintree trip with Pete; we had hired him to take us to Laura and Split Rock to see aboriginal art and giant and magnetic termite mounds. He is very knowledgeable about the wildlife and aboriginal ways, and told us great stories of his childhood in Africa. We had gone to Daintree and Cape Trib with another tour group, and were sorry we had not gone with Pete. He takes a smaller group and knows all kinds of things about the flora and fauna. I'd love to hear your experiences. And I'm very glad to have been of help to you; I received so much from this site while planning our trip that I want to contribute something back, but I don't check it too often any more because it makes me too sad that I'm not on my way back to Oz! Have a great time!


All times are GMT -8. The time now is 02:04 PM.