boutiquechoc Posted April 28, 2010 Share Posted April 28, 2010 I have a huge trip around Australiasia this year and looking at stopping off in Cairns near to where the Great Barrier Reef is. Has anyone been? Did it meet your expectations? Any advice would be appreciated! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ozfan Posted April 28, 2010 Share Posted April 28, 2010 Fantastic - one of the highlights of my trips to Australia. Barrier Reef - try snorkelling or scuba diving if possible, its wonderful. Cairns is quite a quaint little place, loved everything about it Obviously lots of backpackers there but no-one bothers you, everyone really friendly and helpful. Am sure you will have a fabulous time over there Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiSiSi Posted April 28, 2010 Share Posted April 28, 2010 Fantastic! One downer though, I was there in August (Oz 'winter') and couldn't find a restaraunt open after 8.30 p.m. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ukstudent Posted April 28, 2010 Share Posted April 28, 2010 Anyone know what has happened since that big oil spill or whatever it was a few months ago? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeS Posted April 28, 2010 Share Posted April 28, 2010 I have a huge trip around Australiasia this year and looking at stopping off in Cairns near to where the Great Barrier Reef is. Has anyone been? Did it meet your expectations? Any advice would be appreciated! Went in 1989 - Was absolutely stunning. All expectations were met, it was my first experience of snorkelling and that beautiful tropical type of warm, clear blue sea. That gave me a nice little reminiscent moment there - Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scozzie Posted April 28, 2010 Share Posted April 28, 2010 Cairns is a great place to see the reef, but there are on average 65 boats that go out per day, and have been doing so for 40 years, and it is about 1 1/2 trip to get there. There are amazing colours of coral and fish and some ace things to see... as well as pollution and rubbish. There is a town further down the coast called the Town of 1770. They have reefs that have just been opened, so there is little to no damage and no pollution or rubbish. Lady Musgrave Island and Fitzroy Reefs are amazing an only 45 minutes on the boat (of which only 4 go out a day). you can expect lots of wild life including Manterays, and if you are there during the migration of the whales, you aresure to see them too. I used to work in tourism on the backpacker route on the East Coast of Australia, so if you would like recommendations, contacts and what to expect, feel free to PM me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil-Sheff Posted April 28, 2010 Share Posted April 28, 2010 Went there 2006 , spent 2 nights on a boat on the barrier reef. Was great, went out with a small crew and about 4 other people plus my partner, was the most amazing part of our trip. What we saw was really brilliant:) If you go, do a few nights out there, worth the money, lots more time to see things. We had great fun on the boat in the evening. They cooked for us etc. Well worth the money. As for cairns it was OK, stopped in a hostel and had some nice food, but we only stopped there for two nights. Better places to stay then in cairns itself Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Debk Posted April 28, 2010 Share Posted April 28, 2010 I returned from my trip of a lifetime 2 weeks ago where we spent 2 nights in Port Douglas about 45 mins from Cairns. Despite bad weather either side of our visit we were lucky enough to get out to the reef. Fantastic. We went on a small boat specifically for snorkelling rather than diving. There were 25 passengers (max they carry is 30). The company picked us up from our accommodation and the crew of 3 looked after us all day. One of the crew was a marine biologist, so was very knowledgeable. We went to 3 dive sites & had never snorkelled before (apart from a 1 hr lesson at eckingtoin swimming baths before we went). We had an unforgeable time the company was http://www.wavelength.com.au we were so pleased we had paid a little more for the small boat rather than a more impersonal large one. Let me know if you need any other info as we booked all our own flights, accommodation and trips- we visited Singapore, Cairns, Ayers Rock Sydney & Hong Kong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thunzi Posted April 28, 2010 Share Posted April 28, 2010 Snorkelling on the great barrier reef is one of the best things I've ever done. Cairns is lovely, but don't expect a glorious white sandy beach. Its more like a crocodile infested mud pit. There is a really nice fake beach instead. I really recommend that you go up to Port Douglas and Cape Tribulation while you are up there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil-Sheff Posted April 28, 2010 Share Posted April 28, 2010 Yea second cape tribulation. We stopped @ http://www.yha.com.au/hostels/qld/tropical-north-queensland/cape-tribulation/ which was really good fun. It basically canvas rooms right in the middle of the rain forest. Has a night tour by this crazy local and a 20 minute down the road was some where called Cow Bay where the rain forest meets the Beach. http://www.oztravel.com.au/travel_mall/images/QLD3186.jpeg Well worth the trip up Food again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.