What is the best Great Barrier Reef tour from Cairns?
What is the best Great Barrier Reef tour from Cairns you may ask? Let us show you the absolute best day tour for snorkeling and scuba diving the Great Barrier Reef from Cairns.
Now there are over 35-day boats operating from both Cairns & Port Douglas. To clarify and help you find which is the best day trip you need to apply the following three concepts to your search criteria.
DAY DIVING TRIPS FROM CAIRNS:
Sunlover Cruises
Great day tour for people of all ages. Visit Outer Reef Pontoon at Moore Reef, with lots of inclusions: snorkelling, glass bottom boat and semi-sub tours, underwater observatory and more.
Silverswift Dive & Snorkel
Only Cairns Great Barrier Reef day tour to visit 3 different reef sites in one day! Part of the Quicksilver Cruises fleet. Comfortable, high speed catamaran. Up to 5 hours at the reef.
Silversonic Dive & Snorkel
Silversonic provides daily reef tours departing from Port Douglas and visiting the ribbon reefs at Agincourt Reef. 5 hours at reef and up to 3 dives.
Reef Magic Cruises
Up to 5 hours at the reef. Outer Great Barrier Reef pontoon with fabulous coral gardens. Meet Wally! Lots of inclusions: snorkelling, glass bottom boat, semi-sub, underwater observatory and more.
Do you need help choosing?
Can't decide?
CALL US: 07 4041 1638
Or try the form below, we have personally been on every Cairns reef and diving trip. We can help you choose the best tour, to suit your experience and budget.
- Where are you staying, Cairns or Port Douglas?
- Do you have a decent budget? We don't mean crazy we mean are you in the position you can really choose any tour and budget is not a problem. It is not about the price it is about the ultimate experience and what you can see on your day trip to the reef.
- You are on a tight budget with not a lot of money to spare and want the best bank for your buck?
Ok, now we have the three categories out of the way lets get into it!
If budget is not a worry and you are looking for that ultimate day tour, we recommend Silverswift Dive & Snorkel. Read on to find out why!
We are staying in Cairns:
Ok great, this narrows it down to all the boats that depart from Cairns. Ignore and disregard all the boats that depart from Port Douglas. The truth is, there are magnificent dive and snorkeling options from Cairns just like there is from Port Douglas!
Now we have narrowed it down to the boats that depart from Cairns let's get into the nitty-gritty!
If budget is not a worry and you are looking for that ultimate day tour, we recommend Silverswift Dive & Snorkel. Why? It is the only boat in Cairns to visit three outer reef sites in one day. When we say outer reef, we mean the outer reef, Flynn, Milne, and Pellowe Reefs! Check out our Cairns dive sites map to get a really good idea!
- Why is this the best Cairns Reef Tour? Well, the boat is a fast modern twin-hull vessel that departs at 8:30 am. Due to the boat characteristics, you are at the outer barrier reef in less than 1.5 hours!
- You spend 1.5 hours at each reef site. You will visit three different reef sites in the one day. (This is the only boat in Cairns to do this) This is more than enough time to snorkel & explore pristine coral reef systems. For divers, you can easily complete a 45 minute certified or introductory first-time scuba dive (One dive at each reef site a total of three dives in the one day). All scuba divers are guided by professional dive instructors.
- Morning, afternoon tea and hot-cold buffet lunch are provided. All snorkel and dive gear is also included.
Do you have a decent budget?
How does this day trip differ from the competitors and what makes it the best?
The competition in Cairns is fierce and to be honest you will have a fantastic day on all the day boat operators. But the one main difference that does set them all apart is the reef permits they operate on. Reef tour operators pay a large portion of the money they earn to the Australian Government to own their tourism reef permit. The permits are located all over the marine park. Some areas are more beautiful than others.
Silverswift Dive and snorkel have reef permits on the outer reef, Flynn, Milne, and Pellowe Reefs!
Generally speaking the further offshore you travel the better the reef quiality gets! Why? the outer reefs are located near the edge of the continental shelf of Australia! Deep clear water from the coral sea flushes up onto the outer fringing reefs creating magnificent healthy reef eco systems.
See the video; The best Great Barrier Reef tour from Cairns:
The fact that you can dive and snorkel on three separate reef sites in one day is one of the major attractions to choose to visit the reef with Silverswift Dive & Snorkel. This is one of the major contributing factors why we think this is the best Great Barrier Reef tour from Cairns.
If you think about it, the more ground you cover in one day the more opportunity to see things. Because the more time you spend out on the reef the more you can find. As a result, moving around and exploring more areas of the reef increases your chance of seeing more colorful fish, marine life, turtles, large marine animals, and beautiful soft and hard coral systems.
You are on a tight budget with not a lot of money!
This is also fine, many travelers just want the best value-for-money day trip they can find. If this sounds like you then you cannot go past a fantastic company called Reef Experience. These guys visit two outer reef sites in one day, they have permits for Norman, Saxon, and Hastings reefs systems. These dive & snorkel sites offer magical snorkeling and diving experience. The trip also includes 1 x FREE Introductory scuba dive, hot cooked breakfast, and all snorkel gear. Talk about value for money!
In Conclusion:
If money is no problem the best Great Barrier Reef tour from Cairns is Silverswift Dive & Snorkel. If you are on a budget and looking for the best value for money day tour choose Reef Experience!
Sunlover Cruises
Silverswift Dive & Snorkel
Silversonic Dive & Snorkel
Reef Magic Cruises
Reef Experience
REEF DAYTRIPPPER:
Quicksilver Outer Great Barrier Reef Cruises
Poseidon Snorkel and Dive
Passions Of Paradise
Ocean Spirit Cruises Cairns
Ocean Freedom Cruise
Ocean Free Sailing
Great Adventures: Outer Reef Pontoon
Great Adventures: Green Island – Full Day
Great Adventures: Green Island & Great Barrier Reef
Frankland Islands
Fitzroy Island Ferries
Fitzroy Island Adventures – Boat Transfers
Dreamtime Dive & Snorkel Cruises
Down Under Dive: Evolution
Deep Sea Divers Den: Aqua Quest
Calypso Dive & Snorkel
Search for Tours:
Cairns Reef Information
Click the links below to find out more.
Do you need help choosing a trip?
Can't decide? We have personally been on every Cairns reef and diving trip. We can help you choose the best tour, to suit your experience and budget.
Special
FREE UNDERWATER CAMERA HIRE*
Spend over $550.00 AUD on your Great Barrier Reef tour with us and receive the latest Digital Underwater Camera Hire. Take amazing High-Resolution images and 1080 HD Video.
Not available for any tours to the Islands as fine white sand damages the seals on the cameras and makes them leak!
You need to come into our shop located on the Cairns Esplanade the day before departure to pick up the camera before 5:30 pm. You also need to supply your own SD Camera Card and drop the camera off back at our shop before 5:30pm.