We are visiting Sydney in Nov 01. However, my dream is to go snorkling on the GBR. Any suggestions on how to best get there and make reservations in advance? Would prefer to fly due to time constraints.

yes, you would definitely have to fly into cairns, which is about a 3-4 (?) hour flight. i would recommend staying a few days in that area, esp. in port douglas. you can go snorkeling and explore the rainforest in daintree. lots to do! <BR>as for reservations, you could ask the tourist info person which boat they'd recommend for snorkeling and they can make reservations for you. personally, i'd go with newer boats that travel faster, since the reef is about a 2 hour ride out. i went with the aristocat out of port douglas. they were great.

Were you planning to go to one of the island in the barrier reef or were you just planning to take a trip out of Cairns? How much time do you have to do this (including travel time)?

From the US you can get a Kangaroo Pass from Quantas for cheap flights within australia. I think it was $130 USD for each "leg". Sydney to Cairns (pronounced "Cans") is 3 hours. We took a coral coaches bus directly to Port Douglas and stayed there. Most of the reef tours leave from port Douglas, which is an hour north of Cairns. We booked a tour with Quicksilver and were very happy. We are not experienced snorkelers and appreciated that they cater to all levels of experience. They take you on a fast catamaran to the Agincourt reef (a 90 minute trip each way) where they have a platform anchored. You can snorkel under the watchful eye of trained lifeguards, have a diving lesson, go for a ride on the semi submersible viewing boat, take a helicopter tour of the reef- lots of choices. They serve lunch and snacks and we had a great time.<BR> You can book your tours when you get there, all of the hotels have tour desks and they can provide info about the differences between each tour.<BR>have fun.

See if you can re-book your ticket flying roundtrip to/from Cairns with a stop over in Sydney. That's what we did (flew Quantas via code share) and ended up going to the GBR for "free".

You may want to consider bringing your own snorkeling equipment (mask, tube). We were inexperienced and decided it would be better to have a dry snorkel tube and a mask that fit well before we left. We used Poseidon. They go to 3 different locations using a fast cat depending on which areas might be the best that day. Food was wonderful, they are very safety conscious and usually take no more that about 48 people I think.