Reef Info

The other option is if you are not really good at swimming, perhaps you have young children or elderly family members in your group please choose a floating pontoon.

The three floating pontoons from Cairns are Sunlover Reef Cruises, Great Adventures Green Island & Outer Barrier Reef Pontoon, and Reef Magic Cruises.

Pontoons offer fantastic value for money when you look at all the inclusions offered. For example, you get to enjoy all the snorkeling equipment, hot cooked buffet lunch, semi-submarines, glass-bottom boats, and underwater observatories.

All of these activities allow you to get up close and view the reef without getting wet in the water.

A quick side note is the beautiful islands of Green Island, Fitzroy Island, Frankland Islands, and Low Isles but please keep in mind there is not a lot of coral located around the islands.

The Islands do offer a wonderful day at the beach with crystal clear water and sometimes you can find sea turtles but in general, they are not the best location for seeing large coral reefs with bright beautiful colors, for this you really do need to travel much further offshore to the large coral gardens, this is the true Great Barrier Reef experience.