My family and I, a group of eight will be arriving in Sydney January 6, 2010 and want to go to The Great Barrier Reef before returning home to San Diego. What is the best way to get to Cairns from Sydney, most economical etc. and are there any recommendations for a day trip to the reef. We range in age from 8-73.

Fly.

With regards to the reef trip does your party dive, snorkle only, not swim?

Flying is the way to go.
There are often bargain fares over the holiday period.

www.webjet.com.au will find the best fares available.

Domestic carriers are
Qantas: www.qantas.com.au
Virgin Blue: www.virginblue.com.au

There are myriad threads recently about various reef trip operators from Cairns. Just put "Reef trips" in the search spot on the RHS of this page.

I assume by saying you'd like to visit the GBR before returning home that the actual date could be sometime a bit after your arrival as obvious as that may seem - but meaning, do you intend it to be more mid to later January?

Reason I mention that is for the welfare of the 73 YO.
Sandiego, if that is where he also normally resides no doubt gets warmer summers but it is barely sub tropical as far as latitudes go compared to a tropical Cairns and you'll be coming from winter to a tropical summer.
Warmth coupled with humidity can be draining at the best of times for those living with it continually let alone for an elderly person visiting.

There are also locations not nearly as far into the tropics where you can go to visit the GBR.

The cost of flying all eight could be quite high unless you are able to corner some "specials" fares and they are more likely to be marketed at low business times of the year rather than at holidays as Bokhara feels and when they are marketed, there are only so many per each flight so your chances of a hit for all eight are not so great.

You can gauge from www.webjet.com.au what normal fares are, prices varying on same flights and cheapest tickets usually available when booked well in advance.

The other reasonably easy accessed locations are the Whitsundays where you can fly into either Proserpine for a $20 bus ride add on or Hamilton Island with a $50 ferry add on price.

Alternately, you could fly to Bundaberg via Brisbane and use a shuttle service to 1770 for Lady Musgrave Island - http://www.spiritof1770.com.au/

If you have drivers in your group and want to allocate more time you could look at hiring either a people mover van or even two small vehicles and having a drive up, a site like www.drivenow.com.au will give you an idea of rates and Sydney to 1770 and return to Brisbane is about 2000 km, and at todays prices somewhere about $200-250 in fuel; I'll leave you to do the sums.

There's all sorts of places on the way, where you can cuddle a koala, stay on a farm, see some glowworms for free and even visit the Irwins Australia Zoo so a driving trip up would be best staged over 3-4 days, a day out to the reef and then a day back to Brisbane.

Other than driving/flying there's also trains/buses - www.seat61.com and www.greyhound.com.au and www,premierms. com.au that can potentially shorten travelling time of driving and again by reference to fares you can do the sums.

If wanting to contemplate that type of trip, I'd suggest you look into getting an open jaw ticket, into Sydney and out of Brisbane or the other way around if wanting to add the GBR to front end of your trip which would possibly be better weather wise - it being a gamble to predict anytime in the summer season and hopelessly so a year in advance.

Visiting the southern end of the reef will however minimise much of the risk re weather and certainly lessen weather related stress but if on the day intended it's a bit windy and water choppy, could be that some people may be in need of sea sickness pills and using brown paper bags provided.

There are a few other options but likely dearer.

Basic trips are for snorkellers and diving is always an additional cost and platforms where the main boat trips go usually have an underwater viewing room and sometimes a semi submersible vessel with underwater viewing windows.
But snorkelling with a safety vest on should be within the capacity of a 73 YO in reasonable health - it can be as easy as one wants to paddle the legs.

We will be in Cairns from Jan 6 to Jan 10. We all swim and snorkel. I am the grandmother, the 74 year old ( I had a birthday) and do not like heat and humidity but have been to the area before so may modify my activities. The rest of the family range in age from 8 to 53.I have booked our flight to Cairns from Sydney and would like any suggestions for accommodations.  

Accommodation should be easy enough to come by, there likely to be plentiful vacancies seeing as a lot of Australians will pick other times to be there and the global economic situation will have generally less visitors.

You should even be able to get some great deals closer to the date rather than book ahead.

Just google Cairns Accommodation and you will have oodles of options and make yourself a list that suit the budget and then check www.wotif.com.au from about mid December on.

Does it make sense to go to Cairns on a first trip to Australia which would only be a little over a week, perhaps 9 days not including transit time from the US?

Can you see the GBR without snorkeling? Like are there glass-bottomed boats or submarine tours or something?

Some reef operators have glass bottom boats and at larger pontoons they may have underwater viewing rooms and some have semi submersible vessels.

But if someone wants to go to Cairns to see the gbr and looks like that's what is planned and if they can swim, they can snorkel, and that'll be a better experience.

A belated Happy birthday Gran and not much you'll be able to do about warmth, not overly hot but humidity may make it more draining, but do make sure accommodation has airconditioning and/or celing fans and has good screening and a nice pool.
If you get a real stinker of a day, consider heading for the hinterland that'll offer some relief and some great waterfalls/pools about but be wary of currents etc.

Also out on reef trips stay out of sun as much as possiblr and if snorkelling ask about hiring a lightweight lyrca stinger suit, not that stingers are a great problem off shore and operators will or should mention them if there have been recent occurrences but the suits will offer some protection from sunburn, being in the water able to catch people unaware as while you may feel cool enough in the water, back and backs of legs can get easily burnt/coloured - seen some real lobster effects at times.

Has anyone out there stayed at the Koala Court Holiday Apartments?

Haven't stayed there, but I live near Cairns and have driven past it often, so know exactly where it is. It would be a fair hike to main part of town for shops and restaurants, especially on a hot January day.

If you definitely want to stay in Cairns city, there are far better options closer to town, and nearer to sea, keep your eye on wotif closer to the time.

You might be interested in Hotel Cairns, www.thehotelcairns.com, easy, short walk into city and has its own award-winning restaurant.

Reef Magic, www.reefmagiccruises.com is a good reef trip for all ages, has semisubmersible, a pristine reef site for snorkelling and diving, and underwater viewing platform. It leaves from the Reef Fleet terminal near Cairns wharf or will pick up at accommodation around Cairns and its northern beaches.