Snorkeling in Great Barrier Reef
 

We are avid snorkelers. We are taking a cruise next year through the Great Barrier Reef, stopping at Darwin, Cairns, Townsville and Whitsunday Island for a day each. This is our first time in the Great Barrier Reef. Ship offers a snorkeling excursion to reef pantoon in Cairns. Many snorkel boats out of Cairns seem to go there. I'm wondering if I should charter a private boat to take us to other spots, or is the pantoon best there is around there? Any recommendation on the outfit?
Are there good snorkeling in Darwin and Townsville? How about Witsunday Island? The ship's excursion is to Bali Hai Island. Is is the best spot to snorkel or should we arrange for a boat to take us someplace else?Is there any good operator you can recommend for a private trip there?

hi simonv
There are several large pontoons on GBR out of Cairns - Moore Reef and Norman Reef are two and Quicksilver out of Port Douglas at Agincourt reef. These are used by the larger boats which of course, carry more passengers. Out of Cairns there is also GBR snorkelling from Michaelmas and Upolo Cays as well as many vessels which will take you to various parts of GBR for snorkelling and diving. Wavelength out of Port Douglas specialises in snorkelling only (no scuba) and a pick is available very early in morning out of Cairns. Cairns is closer to GBR than Townsville, and Darwin as you probably know, is nowhere near GBR. There's some good snorkelling around the Whitsundays but you need to go beyond them for GBR proper. I don't know of Bali Hai in Whitsundays, think it might be another name for Black Island which is between Hook and Hayman - maybe someone else can help here.

Sorry, that was supposed to be "pick-up" from Cairns, not "pick".

Pat, thank you for your helpful information. Living in US, GBR is far for us, and I want this sampler to be good enough to induce me to come back for a longer serious snorkeling trip. I'm wondering if coral around pantoons are stresssed because of big boats and too many people? Do you think we'd be better off on a small boat that can take us to other spots? I realize it would be more expensive, but after spending so much time and money to get to GBR, a little more is worth it. I want to see the best if I could in the short time I have there. I appreciate your help.

Hi simonv,
We are just back from a trip to Cairns, where we took the Wavelength tour to 3 different snorkeling sites on the outer reef. We are not experienced snorkelers, having only been to the Caribbean before, but I cannot imagine snorkeling could be any better than what we experienced on the Wavelength tour. We also did the Michaelmas Cay trip, which was very good, but were awestruck by the Wavelength sites. You might want to search this forum for Lizard Island and Daintree Air; we didn't do that but it sounds magnificent. Have a great trip!

simonv - I too, would prefer to take a smaller boat than those that visit the pontoons. As both Aren and I have mentioned Wavelength does a superb job for snorkellers only but its a long day if, as you are, coming from Cairns. Have a look at Tusa Dive out of Cairns, whilst their main emphasis is on diving they do take snorkellers and you'll have the opportunity of taking an introductory dive if you like. You may even decide to get diving certification and come back for a liveaboard dive trip - Tusa's "Spirit of Freedom" is just one for top reef diving experiences.

Thank you, Pat. Wavelength sounds wonderful. Unfortunately their time doesn't work for us, but Tusa Dive will be OK. I was hoping to charter a small boat all for ourselves in Cairns and Whitsunday, like they do in Thailand. I haven't found anybody who does it. Does such thing as charter for 2-6 person max exist in GBR?

Does anyone know if you can go scubba diving without being certified? I'm going up to Oz in November, and I don't have time to get certified. A friend told me that some companies will take you out with an instructor. Is this true? Anyone know? Thanks for the help

Chris

it's called a ``resort course'' amd they will give you basic training and take you out with an instructor. you can only go so deep. it's a great intro.

we used calypso out of PD. excellent.

When I was last in the Whitsundays - about 10 years ago - you could take a sea - plane trip to the outer reefs and snorkle around the reef lagoons on which they landed. These get you to the great spots quickly and you have more time to snorkle. I cannot see that they would not be operating still.
I am very envious of your trip as I have always wanted to do that one you are going on. Why don't you write to them and ask specifically the information you have asked here as only they can tell you if you will have sufficient snorkling time.

simonv - I don't know of any one day only GBR reef charters out of Cairns except for fishing - there's already many snorkel/dive operators catering for small groups- max 20 on Ecstasea out of Cairns to hundreds on the big cats. Tusa only takes about 25 per boat and visits a couple of reefs - they pick the best of the day according to tides and weather.

occhris - yes, it's called a resort dive sometimes, usually referred to as "introductory" dive. You will be asked to complete a medical form before they'll accept you - Queensland Diving rules stipulate that you will be refused if you suffer or have suffered from high blood pressure, asthma, diabetes, epilepsy.

We used Calypso for diving and snorkeling last summer out of Port
Douglas. They were phenomenal.

Pat, thank you for all the information. From all I've heard, I need to come back and take a liveaboard out of Port Douglas. Liveaboard is the best way to go snorkeling. The only catch is that they cater to divers, and snorkelers are treated as second class citizen. I was fortunate to find a good ship and a good dive master in Indonesia. Ten days out of Bali was fantastic. I might get lucky in GBR also.

Hey there,
Such a pity the timing doesnt work out for you to get on Wavelength - the reefs are simply better out of Port Douglas than Cairns, and Wavelength has got THE best sites from there because they had the pick of sites 20 years ago before any one else went to that reef. They are also the smallest to the outer reef and there are NO DIVERS on board !
Pity, like I said.
Anyhoo... if you had time, a liveaboard heading north (more north the better) is an excellent way, both in terms of efficiency and locations, tosee the GBR.
Oh and a note about the company Calypso - their trips are only phenomonal when they go to someone elses sites (kinda illegal/immoral) as their own sites are few and poorer quality.

Hello Simonv , Our family did the day tour with daintree air to Lizard Island.

We flew up there in a two engine plane from Cairns.

That was the best snorkeling we ever did. The reef was perfect, the beaches were beautiful and the marine life was varied and plentiful.

We walked all over the Island with our kids and the guide, and snorkeled on three different beaches.

If snorkeling is what you want you will have a ball with daintree.

Ask Greg to take you down to the mangroves. Say Hi from Marlean and family. Contact them on www.daintreeair.com.au

Thank you everyone for the information. I'm leaning toward Lizard Island on Daintree. In National Geographic I've read the more north you go in GBR, the better the coral. It checks out with my experience in Indonesia which is almost at Equater. I am a little afraid of flying in a small plane, though. Have Daintree ever have any problems?

Hi Simon - Daintree Air has an exemplary safety record and Greg won't fly in bad weather - well, there'd be no point in going to Lizard Island then.
Do book as far in advance as possible - plane fills up very quickly, especially in peak season.

Simon, I, too, would recommend Daintree Air with this one caveat--check the tide schedule. If it is low tide around noon, you won't get in much snorkeling, at least in our experience. The trip was wonderful, but we didn't get to snorkel as much as we wanted because of the tide. Also, be sure to tell Greg how adamant you are about snorkeling or he might take you on a hike instead, I think it might have been an issue with the other people on the trip not wanting to snorkel as much as we did.

Sally

Thanks. I'll check the tide table and reserve as soon as possible. It will be an exciting trip!

Could someone tell me which reef group Lizard Island is in? I tried to see tide chart. It lists by reef group and I couldn't figure out which is the one for Lizard.

I think its Turtle Group but may not be listed under that. Name some of the reefs you're looking at on your tide chart and I should be able to pinpoint it for you.

Simonv ,
Lizard Island is part of the Lizard group of Islands.

Five Islands in total.
The following info is for your tide research.

The main Island lies at 14.40.36 S / 145.27.12 E.
.
The Turtle group of Islands is situated 12 miles to the North West of the Lizard Group.

However several other Islands are situated just to the south of the Lizard Group.

You need not worry about tides affecting the quality of your snorkelling at Lizard or any other Island for that matter.

During a very low tide you will see marine life which you will not ever see at high tide and vice versa.

You will find different tides at different places all the way along the East Coast of Australia.

Some times two large tides exist in any 24 hour period.

At other times the tides will not move at all.

Some times the tide will only move one full cycle in any given day.

The very best time to snorkel is at midday on a very low tide.

If you are with a person
( professional fisherman ) or some one who spends or has spent much time in the ocean you may be lucky enough to go for a swim through a reef at dead low tide.

That way you are able to swim in gutters which are not open to the ocean because of the low tide.

Much marine life becomes trapped in these gutters until the tide comes back in.

I am a cray diver. My best ever swims have been in the middle of the day at low tide.

But you must know what you are doing or like the marine life you may become trapped your self.

Don?t attempt to go inside the reefs alone, however if you do it with some one who knows the reef systems you will be amazed at the colour and the diversity of marine life which you will actually come face to face with.

yobfeer