Reef Quest is a great value day trip to Cairns’ Outer Great Barrier Reef. The boat is comfortable and the dive crew very helpful and experienced. The dive locations are good and easy to dive. A great point for Reef Quest is the number of larger tanks allowing the more air consuming divers more time underwater. If you are looking for a great value day of diving, this is the trip for you.

Silverswift is a great day tour option for certified divers and snorkelers who are comfortable swimming in the open water (with no islands or pontoons close by). Licensed to visit several different reef sites and locations, the three (3) best will be chosen on the day to maximise your experience, pending weather and conditions. The boat is fast and comfortable with excellent facilities for divers and snorkelers, including large tanks, dry change rooms and hot water showers: the crew was friendly and very helpful. With a guided snorkel tour included, as well as all meals, this is a good value Cairns Great Barrier Reef trip.

Cairns Dive Centre offers the cheapest Cairns Great Barrier Reef dive and snorkel trips. These are great value for money day tours, offering up to four hours at the reef, exploring two different reef sites. The boat is comfortable for day visitors and the trip is great for budget travellers. Cairns Dive Centre is an experienced Cairns dive operator and introductory dives are available on board.

This is a great pontoon day tour with lots of inclusions and activities. It’s perfect for families, older reef visitors, snorkelers of all experience levels and certified divers who also like to add some snorkelling and other activities into their day. With a maximum of 200 guests and around 25 crew, customer service was excellent and the facilities had plenty of room for everyone to have a good day. The superior ride of the Reef Magic boat made for a comfortable transfer to and from the reef. All in all, an informative day, exploring all levels of the Great Barrier Reef, from above and below

Ocean Free is the only Cairns day tour to combine sailing, snorkeling, diving, Green Island and the Great Barrier Reef. The 16m sailing schooner is charted to carry 52 but takes a maximum of 35 for passenger comfort (on our day there were 24). The crew is very friendly, welcoming and helpful. This is an excellent day tour option for those wanting to combine all of the above elements. Diving depth is shallow and conditions suitable for the inexperienced to experienced diver, with introductory diving available. Snorkelling conditions are good and having the time on Green Island makes it a well rounded day trip.

The Coral Sea delivers adventure diving by the bucket load with its reef sharks and 1,000m wall drop-offs. We were extremely lucky with the weather, enjoying flat seas, blue water and unbelievable visibility for the entire trip. For those who had booked a 7-day trip, they had also seen (snorkeled and dived) with a Whale Shark the day before we joined them! Given the depths (and currents that sometimes occur in the open ocean) a Coral Sea dive trip is more suited to Advanced Divers, or Open Water Divers with lots of experience. Spirit of Freedom is a luxury liveaboard dive boat with air-conditioned interior and spacious exteriors. Even with its full accompaniment of guests on this trip, there was plenty of room to relax and enjoy your own space. A life changing and memorable dive trip

Cairns Sunset Cruises offer Cairns’ only sunset cruise, combining calm water cruising with glorious views, drinks and nibbles. A glorious way to end the day, you can also choose to combine this 90-minute cruise with a three-course dinner package at Dundee’s restaurant for a fabulous night out. The cruise departs at 5.30pm from Cairns Marlin…

Deep Sea Diver’s Den provides affordable, comfortable overnight dive trips from Cairns to the Great Barrier Reef. There are daily departures, thanks to SeaQuest, and OceanQuest is suitable for certified divers and snorkelers. Non-divers will enjoy the spacious, communal spaces and divers can look forward to excellent diving on varied Great Barrier Reef dive sites. If you are diver with non-diving family / friends, looking for a good liveaboard trip from Cairns to the Great Barrier Reef, then this is an ideal, well priced option

Great Adventures is the only tour operator to combine Green Island with the Outer Great Barrier Reef. The boat carries hundreds of guests, so you can expect the pontoon and boat to be quite busy. There is ample time to explore Green Island and then enjoy the Outer Great Barrier Reef, with the pontoon activities and options catering to people of all interests, from non-swimmers to snorkelers, introductory and certified divers. The pontoon has lowered, in-water platforms for entry and exit: there is also an elevated sun deck with lounges to just relax and soak up the views

Once a year, the over 400 different types of Great Barrier Reef corals reproduce en masse, in an event known as Coral Spawning. Coral Spawning always occurs at night, with the release of the corals’ eggs and sperm tied to the moon’s presence, light and lunar cycles. In 2011, we witnessed the magic of Coral Spawning for the first time, with Cairns operator Tusa Dive. It was amazing! Diving amongst the thousands of pink eggs which floated through the water, like bubbles rising in a flute of champagne.