Aparna

We are planning to go to Australia for approx 1 week in early Nov. After a few days in Sydney we plan to spend the remaining 4-5 days in Port Douglas. Can anyone recommend the must see places in Port Douglas. Needless to say snorkling the reefs and visit to rainforest is top of our list. Any recommendations on what tour companies to use?

Christina

Aparna,<BR><BR>We used BTS tours to go to the Daintree. We loved our small group & our tour guide George was fantastic!<BR><BR>For the reef, we took Poseidon. It was a great boat & we did some intro-dives, which I highly recommend if you aren't certified.<BR><BR>Have fun!

jill

Aparna,<BR>I can unequivocally suggest David Armbrust's Natural History Safari. Check out his website at anhs.com. It was the most memorable tour of our 2 weeks in Australia. It is a small, personal tour of his rainforest and the outback.<BR>Jill

jake

We used BTS for the Cape Trib trip also. The lunch spot was in the rainforrest and we had time to canoe & swim in a freshwater creek.<BR><BR>We took Wavelength out to the reef. It is the best option for snorkelers. Three stops along the reef and a guided tour with marine biologist included.<BR><BR>My favorite was the Sailaway tour to Low Isles. Tiny island about 45 minutes from shore via sailboat. Included snorkeling gear. If you want to see turtles this is the best place. They were everywhere.<BR><BR>We booked the majority of our tours after we arrived in PD. There is a BTS tour office right down town and they were most helpful.

aparna

jake,<BR><BR>This is the first I have heard about the Sailaway tour to Low Isles. It sounds a lot of fun. Can you go into a bit more detail? e.g. how long is the whole tour. is there plenty of time to snorkel. We don't know anything about sailboats.. so is it for novices?<BR><BR>thx

jake

We actually stumbled upon this trip because we wanted to find a way to Green Island without having to drive to Palm Cove or Port Douglas. Everyone told us for a day trip Low Isles was much closer and more scenic.<BR>The boat leaves the marina area at about 9 am and gets back about 4 pm. We used the Sailaway company which takes 30 people. Two other companies take people out to the same island area (one is a chinese junk boat which departs later in the day and stays out until sunset & and the other is run by Quiksilver which takes about 100 people).<BR>We boarded the boat and had coffee and cake. It does sail if there is wind, but we motored out to the island. They fit you with snorkeling gear on the way out. The boat anchors outside the protected area of the park and they ferry you to the shore by dinghy. <BR>The island is tiny. You can walk around it in about 15 minutes and there is a trail through the middle. There are umbrellas to sit and store things under. (A bonus if you use the Sailaway Company was that we were the first tour group island so we got first choice of umbrellas).<BR>You are free to lie on the beach, swim, or snorkel for the bulk of the day. The water is shallow and it is an easy swim to where the turtles hang out. They also have floating stations anchored to stop and hang on to if you need a break while snorkeling. Around noon, they shuttle you back to the boat for a lunch buffet and then back to the island. After lunch you can resume your freetime or join a guided snorkel tour or glass bottom tour. On the way back they served fruit and cakes.<BR>Although the water was not as clear as further out on the GBR, we were amazed with the snorkeling.<BR>

caro

Hi there, Glad that you went to Low Isles. The reason you havent heard about it is that is isnt owned by a multimillion dollar japanese company- like green island. The turtles at Low are very mellow and you can get quite close to them- they see people all the time. When I went to the reef with Wavelength I went to one site where I saw 20 turtles in an hour. It was amazing. The turtles on the Great Barrier Reef are a little more flighty than the ones at Low Isles. The Low Isles neevr has good visibility- it averages 1 metre, whereas on the reef the visibility is 25 on average.<BR>Low Isles however is not part of the Great Barrier Reef, it is only 7 miles off the coast of Port Douglas.<BR>It is part of the marine park. I think Low Isles is the best thing to do at the end of a holiday for ultimate chill out factor.<BR>Of course I would always recommend that one does the Great Barrier Reef first, as there are coral cays all over the world, but only one Great Barrier Reef!<BR>There is also a greater variety of coral and fish on the outer reef as opposed to Low Isles.