We have booked to stay at Palm Cove for a week from Jan 18. Would really appreciate some advice on a couple of matters:
- Snorkeling. I read the previous messages and it appears that Wavelength gets a lot of recommendations. However with a wife and 2 kids (age 13 and 16), they get a bit more pricey given that children for them are up to 12 (rather than 14, as with most operators). And it is not clear that they do pick up from Palm Cove. Or do they? Are they any other dedicated snokeling-only operators out of Cairns (or elsewhere) that would pick up from Palm Cove? Anyone been with Reef Magic? Any good? Or are there better options? We are keen to see good quality reef and marine life.
Secondly, the sky rail - is that a good way to see the rainforest? Or should we hire a car and drive?

Wavelength does pick up at Port Douglas, (by road) at a charge of AU$25 per adult and AU$12.50 for child. When you add that to the base adult price of AU$160, it certainly is getting pricey. Also charges AU$4.50pp reef environmental charge and AU$7 pp fuel levy.

Ocean Spirit has a snorkelling only trip and the motor sailer catamaran picks at Palm Cove Jetty. Until the end of January its running an introductory special which is terrific value at 2 adults for AU$200 - normal price is AU$136 and kids under 14 are AU$86. There are no extra charges here, a lovely sail boat which takes you snorkelling to Upolo Cay and Oyster Reef. The boat returns from reef to Cairns, there is then a bus transfer back to Palm Cove. www.oceanspirit.com.au

But for a family which needs to get to the best reef in area in terms of coral and marine life, go for Reef Magic. AU$140 per adult; AU$69.50 for kids under 14. Northern Beaches coach transfers are AU$12pp ( still much cheaper than a taxi) ; there is another A$12 pp levy for environmental management charge and fuel levy (almost the same as Wavelelength). Reef Magic's boat isn't much to get excited about but its safe and fast - 5 hours on reef. Introductory diving is also an option on Reef Magic. www.reefmagiccruises.com

Have been on both in last month and have enjoyed them tremendously; different reef experiences and you can't go wrong with either. It would be great to do both if you can stretch it.

You can hire a car and drive to Kuranda, but for most the whole point of Kuranda is views from Skyrail and scenic train, you don't see much from road - your hotel accommodation can arrange this and have the Skyrail shuttle pick you up at door.

Sorry, made typo in first sentence which should read Wavelength does pick up at Palm Cove. It leaves for reef of course from Port Douglas. Reef Magic leaves from Cairns, it does have a pontoon; Ocean Spirit's snorkelling is off a sand cay at Upolo Cay and straight off boat at Oyster Reef.

Thanks Pat for your very helpful message, and happy new year. You made me think about doing both the reef trips. In the space of a 6 day holidays, is that over the top, or is that how to get the most out of our time there? I also checked out a couple of things on the net - Sunlover and SeaQuest ADV. Though the later is advertised as a 'day snorkeling trip to the outer reef' its blurp finishes by saying that the majority of its passengers are scuba divers with few snorkelers, but they are 'welcome'. Am I mistaken in reading from those words that we are merely tolerated amongst their target group? Their boat and rates seem attractive.

We found Kuranda to be pretty much a tourist trap. A far better way to enjoy the rainforest is to drive up to Cape Tribulation. Palm Cove is a lovely spot. We can't help with the snorkelling tours as we had our fill on a Captain Cook cruise before going to Palm Cove.

Thanks Andydee for your message. I have always been fascinated with rainforest. I shall put Cape Tribulation in our itinerary, and consider leaving out Kuranda; and factor in the hire of a car.

happy new year to you too, eschaton.

If you get the right weather, 2 different reef trips aren't over the top, its not a very busy time of year(even though January is usually one of best months for reef) so you should be able to book on arrival and get a bead on the weather.

Sea Quest leaves from Cairns and doesn't pick up from Northern Beaches. It is primarily an inexpensive dive boat; catering to younger market, ie, backpackers. Snorkelling is straight off the boat; whilst Queensland diving (and snorkelling) rules are strict its a bit of a case of you pay for what you get in terms of number of crew per passenger. Here, Ocean Spirit and Reef Magic come out on top.

Sunlover has the advantage of picking up at Palm Cove jetty (as does the Ocean Spirit snorkelling trip). Both Sunlover and Reef Magic go to Moore Reef (pontoons are very well separated - its a large reef) but I must say the section for which Reef Magic has its permit is superior in terms of gorgeous coral and marine life. Reef Magic takes far less people than Sunlover and Reef Magic (locally owned) does not market to Asia.

Although Reef Magic caters to both introductory and certified divers as well as snorkellers, you won't be hassled to buy a dive. Divers have their own diving platform on pontoon; well away from snorkellers. It also has a couple of glass bottom boats and a small underwater observatory on pontoon.

Thanks again for your helpfulness, Pat. I shall take your advice. It is good to know Reef Magic is local owned. Also reassuring to know that late Jan is OK for the visit. I had images of cyclones and perfect storms initially. However I will not hold it against you should we get hit by a level 5 hurricane! A friend who visited Cairns long ago told me that he enjoyed the spectacular storms you have over there. I hope to see one of those during our visit - but not during the trip to the reef! So I will keep a watch on the forecast.
I shall be checking this forum again in a few days time when I return from a trip. Again, thanks.

Hey, eschaton, we rented a car and drove to Cape Trib but I would recommend going with a driver/tour. Pat knows some good ones. The thing is Cape Trib itself is just a cool looking beach "where the rainforest meets the sea" but we would have benefited by some information to make sense of what we were looking at and to help spot some animals. The only animals we saw were some fruit bats and a lot of signs with pictures of cassowarys. The drive was very scenic and we met some nice people at stops, but if we had to do it over again, I'd go for the tour.
Sally in Seattle where we had the lamest firework show ever but happy new year everyone anyway!

Thanks Sally for your advice. I shall see what's available and weight up the advantage of having an expert guide against the flexibility of driving our own. BTW, Sydney's fireworks really rocked.

Hi Eschaton!

Excellent advice, as usual, and politically correct as well from Pat W! Please, whatever you do, cross off Sunlover from your list of possible choices. I was on them last year with a group of agents and have been warning people off them ever since.

And I certainly agree with Sally's observations about Cape Trib / Daintree area; it's wonderful but without a guide you really have no idea of what you're looking at, or for.

Best regards,

Melodie
Certified Aussie Specialist

hi Melodie,
I am indeed scratching out Sunlover. I now plan to go with Ocean Spirit on Day 2 to Upolo Cay/Oyster Reef and then Reef Magic to see the outer reef on Day 5. Pat said they are different experiences, and if so, I'd like to make the most of my time there. I was watching the news a couple of days ago, and was most disturbed to hear about the bleaching problem. Not sure if it was alarmist but they were saying that the GBR is rapidly losing all its colors, much sooner than predicted.
In between Day 2 and 5, I would fit in a trip to Daintree.
BTW, do you know some good places for mud crab in Cairns?

eschaton, there was no coral bleaching with Reef Magic the other day, even after the record heat of December. I did see in this morning's paper that one operator out of Port Douglas has erected shade sails over parts of Agincourt Reef, where there is a problem.

Melodie, I do remember your comments about your trip with Sunlover and must admit that I was a bit surprised at the time. It's three years since I've been on that trip and then the coral and marine life were fine - however you've been there more recently than I. My main objection to the trip is the sheer amount of people it takes (its by no means the only one to do this). All that body sweat, suntan lotion, perfume, showering on deck, and I'm afraid peeing doesn't do much for a reef system. And although there are strict warnings not to stand on live coral, or even touch it, it happens a lot.

Another problem was that the snorkelling area straight off the pontoon did not have enough fixed flotation devices for weak swimmers. The water was quite rough on the day I went and some people were having difficulties in reaching the floats for a rest. In fact I had to swim back to the pontoon to get a life vest for someone who thought she didn't need to wear one. I did bring this up with Sunlover; they said they'd rectify it.

However, one man's meat is another man's poison; yesterday a certified diver who only took the trip by default enjoyed himself thoroughly. He was firstly horrified to see the amount of people on board, luckily for him there were no other divers, in fact most couldn't swim at all. He was able to get well away from pontoon area where he assured me the diving was terrific.

hi Andrew,
Thanks for your tips.
I also saw something called 'Catch a Crab' - anyone been on that before?

Hey "eschaton",
Just my two cents worth:

Wavelength does family deals, so it probably wont cost that much if you go as a family unit. Even so, you do pay for what you get in most cases - if you want a cheap experience, go cheap ! Oh and yes, Wavelength is also a local family for some 30 years and the owner is a marine biologist - quite the EcoTourism pioneer of this area.

ReefMagic claims "5 hours on the reef" but this is NOT time in water - thats 5 hours total on the boat on the reef. Im not sure how many people ReefMagic takes but it sure as heck is a LOT more than Wavelength so its not exactly the same experience.

I used to work on the reef boats out of Cairns then one day I went for a snorkel out of Port Douglas. I moved to Port Douglas the following week. I now pretty much do all of my snorkelling/diving out of Port D. In my opinion, as a photographer and biologist, the reefs out from Port D are better than off Cairns. Maybe thats got something to do with all that sugar cane around cairns....

Bleaching is a tropical world-wide problem from global warming that has hit the reef hard in 1998 and 2002 but from which the reef HAS recovered. We were predicting a bleaching event this year due to above average temperatures. Rains in mid January have now cooled things down. Bleaching in the reef and around the world WILL occur, more frequently with more damage... but not yet.
Quicksilver has a large public relations campaign designed around "caring for the reef" to offset their clear damage to the reef with giant pontoons and hundreds of people. Part of this public relations is so called "research" into shading small bits of reef as an "experiment". Its just a feasability study to see if they can maintain business by saving a small patch of coral (if a bleaching event occurs) by shading it.

CathaCrab is a little boat company that lets you go up the esturies to catch mud crabs which are delicious !

Hope this helps.

hi fish boy,
thanks for your helpful message. It does appear that Wavelength is the standard bearer for snorkeling. I doubt they can offer me a family deal given my kids are 14 and 16, but I'll call them just in case they feel generous that day. I plan to do Ocean Spirit one day and either Magic Reef or Wavelength another - I'll have to see if the price difference is substantial.
I did not know the reefs have recovered from past bleaching that quickly. If so, that's great news for our children
I hope to taste one of Cairns' famed mud crabs - either with that Catcha Crab or in a restaurant.
CS