Barrier reef

Hi

Does anyone know what company royal Caribbean uses for the gbr out of yorkeys knob

If you wish to do the GBR from a cruise ship from Yorkey's Knob you will have to do a ships tour. I know they are overpriced but with the tendering and having to get into Cairns from Yorkey's Knob you will miss the boat from the marina and it will get back too late for you to get back to Yorkey's Knob from Cairns. There is no other way unfortunately.

Please see my response (#5) in the following thread. There appear to be two snorkel excursions on Royal Caribbean which depart from Cairns (Yorkey's Knob) and I've narrowed them down to the boats I think they are.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2301996

Please see my response (#5) in the following thread. There appear to be two snorkel excursions on Royal Caribbean which depart from Cairns (Yorkey's Knob) and I've narrowed them down to the boats I think they are.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2301996

Yorkey's Knob is 20 mins from Cairns where the reef tours leave from. Yorkey's Knob is a tender port. There will not be enough time for them to get off the ship by tender and get the shuttle into Cairns and get a boat tour to the reef. They usually leave from 7 to 8 am. They get back around 5pm. That is too late to get back to Yorkey's before final tender.

It is too risky to even try and book privately.

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I have previously got in contact with them company's and both said they don't have any charters with rccl.

I'm settled on going with the ship excursion just which one I'm trying to decide on.

I want the better tour for a first time scuba dive

I have previously got in contact with them company's and both said they don't have any charters with rccl.

I'm settled on going with the ship excursion just which one I'm trying to decide on.

I want the better tour for a first time scuba dive

I think that is a wise move. Honestly it is not worth considering doing a reef tour privately. The weather plays a big part in the times and as I said before Yorkey's is 20 mins away from where the reef boats leave from. If you do a ship's tour the catamaran usually pulls up to the ship to get the passengers..... saves a lot of time.

It goes against the grain for me to suggest doing a ships tour as opposed to a private tour as the ships tours are overpriced and you usually get a better tour and better prices by booking private tours, however, there are some instances, this being one of them, that you really have to do a ship tour.

We did not do that tour from Yorkeys , but from memory , I think the boats come out to the ship to pick up those doing the tour and you leave from and are dropped off back at , the ship. This saves a lot of time when you only have the one day there.:)

I think that is a wise move. Honestly it is not worth considering doing a reef tour privately. The weather plays a big part in the times and as I said before Yorkey's is 20 mins away from where the reef boats leave from. If you do a ship's tour the catamaran usually pulls up to the ship to get the passengers..... saves a lot of time.

 

It goes against the grain for me to suggest doing a ships tour as opposed to a private tour as the ships tours are overpriced and you usually get a better tour and better prices by booking private tours' date=' however, there are some instances, this being one of them, that you really have to do a ship tour.[/quote']

 

We will be in Cairns for 4 nights 28 Jan to 1 Feb and want to do a snorkel trip to the GBR. It is my first time to Australia, my wife was there 15 years or so ago, and we added this stop pre-cruise just so I could see one of the world's great wonders. Do you have any recommended companies for a tour of the GBR?

 

Also, we will probably do a car rental for the other days to explore Daintree rain forest and the surrounding areas. If you have any recommendations, they would be greatly appreciated.

We will be in Cairns for 4 nights 28 Jan to 1 Feb and want to do a snorkel trip to the GBR. It is my first time to Australia, my wife was there 15 years or so ago, and we added this stop pre-cruise just so I could see one of the world's great wonders. Do you have any recommended companies for a tour of the GBR?

 

Also, we will probably do a car rental for the other days to explore Daintree rain forest and the surrounding areas. If you have any recommendations, they would be greatly appreciated.

There are many companies that do the GBR from Cairns. It all depends on whether you want to go on a large catamaran that goes to a pontoon out on the reef complete with glass bottom boats or if you want a more intimate experience on a yacht with a maximum of 20 people.

For the large cats..... there is Reef Magic or Quicksilver

http://www.reefmagiccruises.com/

http://www.quicksilver-************/reef-tour/wavepiercer/

For the smaller yacht..... I recommend Reef Daytripper

http://www.reefdaytripper.com.au/

As you will see from the prices, there is a vast difference between them all. Lunch is included in each of the fares.

I hope if you are considering hiring a car to travel around up here you recognise that we travel on the opposite side of the road to you and that you will have to be on your guard at all times to make sure you stay on the correct side of the road. Just a couple of weeks ago a local 17 year old girl was killed by a tourist driving on the wrong side of the road. The attractions up on the Atherton Tablelands (which I really recommend you see) are quite a distance apart and some of the regular tours covering the area can be around 300kms drive in the one day. If you feel you will be ok with this, go ahead and hire a car, otherwise just book a day tour so you can enjoy the views and be taken where you want to go.

There is the Skyrail Rainforest Cableway and the Kuranda Scenic Railway which are must sees..... There is the Rainforestation Nature Park if you want to see the aborigines and cuddle a koala, feed the kangaroos etc.....There are all the waterfalls, coffee plantations, mango farms, macadamia farms, historical village, and there is Paronella Park down past Innisfail which is fascinating.

Hope this helps?

There are many companies that do the GBR from Cairns. It all depends on whether you want to go on a large catamaran that goes to a pontoon out on the reef complete with glass bottom boats or if you want a more intimate experience on a yacht with a maximum of 20 people.

 

For the large cats..... there is Reef Magic or Quicksilver

 

http://www.reefmagiccruises.com/

 

http://www.quicksilver-************/reef-tour/wavepiercer/

 

For the smaller yacht..... I recommend Reef Daytripper

 

http://www.reefdaytripper.com.au/

 

As you will see from the prices' date=' there is a vast difference between them all. Lunch is included in each of the fares.

 

I hope if you are considering hiring a car to travel around up here you recognise that we travel on the opposite side of the road to you and that you will have to be on your guard at all times to make sure you stay on the correct side of the road. Just a couple of weeks ago a local 17 year old girl was killed by a tourist driving on the wrong side of the road. The attractions up on the Atherton Tablelands (which I really recommend you see) are quite a distance apart and some of the regular tours covering the area can be around 300kms drive in the one day. If you feel you will be ok with this, go ahead and hire a car, otherwise just book a day tour so you can enjoy the views and be taken where you want to go.

 

There is the Skyrail Rainforest Cableway and the Kuranda Scenic Railway which are must sees..... There is the Rainforestation Nature Park if you want to see the aborigines and cuddle a koala, feed the kangaroos etc.....There are all the waterfalls, coffee plantations, mango farms, macadamia farms, historical village, and there is Paronella Park down past Innisfail which is fascinating.

 

Hope this helps?[/quote']

 

Thanks. That is very helpful.

 

I was aware of the left side driving, and have experience with it in England and Wales on several trips. Thanks for the heads up, though.

We will be in Cairns for 4 nights 28 Jan to 1 Feb and want to do a snorkel trip to the GBR. It is my first time to Australia, my wife was there 15 years or so ago, and we added this stop pre-cruise just so I could see one of the world's great wonders. Do you have any recommended companies for a tour of the GBR?

 

Also, we will probably do a car rental for the other days to explore Daintree rain forest and the surrounding areas. If you have any recommendations, they would be greatly appreciated.

Rather than stay in Cairns, I'd recommend you spend your 4 pre-cruise days in Port Douglas. It's a smaller town with a much nicer ambiance. It's also the home of Wavelength, which is hands-down the best snorkel boat in the GBR. (I have gone out on many boats on my multiple trips to Far North Queensland, including 5 trips on Wavelength because of the excellent experience they offer.)

The trip to Kuranda (which I've done twice) is OK, but Kuranda is a rather touristy place. I think going to Daintree and Mossman Gorge is preferable.

We also enjoy visiting the Wildlife Habitat in Port Douglas.

I hope you are aware of the weather and sea conditions in Far North Queensland at that time of year. It will be extremely hot and humid with a chance of cyclones. It is also stinger (deadly jellyfish) season and you will need to wear a stinger suit when you snorkel, which will be provided by the boat. You can only swim off the beach within the confines of a stinger net and you should wear a stinger suit too.

But do not worry too much about the stinger suit because you must have protection from the sun and the suits provide that. You will see the locals here swim very covered up, especially children. The reason being that we and New Zealand have the highest rate of skin cancer in the world.

We will be in Cairns for 4 nights 28 Jan to 1 Feb and want to do a snorkel trip to the GBR. It is my first time to Australia, my wife was there 15 years or so ago, and we added this stop pre-cruise just so I could see one of the world's great wonders. Do you have any recommended companies for a tour of the GBR? Also, we will probably do a car rental for the other days to explore Daintree rain forest and the surrounding areas. If you have any recommendations, they would be greatly appreciated.

Congrats for your first trip down under. Lots of great options to consider for in and around Cairns. If you seek a more unique angle, view and Great Barrier Reed experience, below are more details as to what we did. We did have a rental car for one day doing the rainforest, seeing Port Douglas, etc. Also did the nice train adventure on another day. That worked very well, too!! Below are a few of my visuals as "photo evidence" and "proof" that we made good choices.

Lizard Island/Great Barrier Reef: For our flight/adventure to this historic island in the middle of the GBR, we used Daintree Air Services. Their e-mail contact is: info@daintreeair.com.au. Worked with chief pilot and owner Greg Letondeur. Their website is http://www.daintreeair.com.au. Seeing the Great Barrier Reef by air makes a big difference, plus it saves time. Being on this island in the middle the GBR, doing lunch on the beach, have such snorkeling fun, etc., was super awesome!! Per Insight Guides, Lizard Island is is 19 miles off of the shore and 157 miles north of Cairns. It is a dry, mountainous island with very diverse vegetation and terrain. Its gentle beaches and clear water uniquely allows direct, easy access to the reef, coral and fish life. Per Fodors, this is a 2,500 acre island with Cook’s Look at a high point of 1,180 feet where Captain Cook in August, 1770, found his way out of this challenging reef region. Its coral reefs and marine life are considered among the best in the world.

Cairns/Australia: Stayed with two other couples in a large three-bedroom, three-bath unit at Jack and Newell Apartments, 27-29 Wharf Street, Cairns. E-mail to: info@jacknewellcairns.com.au. Very helpful staff with lots of room to relax after our long flights and to have as a “base” for doing much nearby with the Daintree Rainforest, Great Barrier Reef, etc.

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

Enjoyed a 14-day, Jan. 20-Feb. 3, 2014, Sydney to Auckland adventure, getting a big sampling for the wonders of "down under” before and after this cruise. Go to:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1974139

for more info and many pictures of these amazing sights in this great part of the world. Now at 153,594 views for this posting.

For the Great Barrier Reef, we chartered a plane and flew out from Cairns to Lizard Island, one of the most isolated locations in Australia. Chief Pilot Greg has done about 2200 trips to this location and really knows it well. First is Susan looking through the plane window towards one of the small, isolated islands we passed over enroute to our snorkeling site. Second has us on the beach getting his briefing for snorkeling in these reef areas right off of this location/beach. Yes, we saw real lizards here when we walked from the landing strip to our beach location. Captain Cook named this island because when he landed, he saw so many lizards!! Had a wonderful lunch on the beach. On the way to Lizard Island, we flew our over the edge of the reef to better understand this amazing 1500-mile long natural wonder, how it works, etc.:

For our snorkeling, I got to try out my new Nikon AW110 underwater camera. Shot about 260 underwater pictures. Here is one quick sample below. More visuals and details on the full live/blog.:

The Kuranda rail trip took us back a different routing, plus lots of interesting scenery, dramatic waterfalls, major engineering work, many train tunnels, big bridges, etc. The rail line dates back to 1891. For our group of six, we did the upgrade to the "gold" rail seating with plenty of wine, nice food/snacks, etc., in a wonderful, old-style rail car with great service and attention by the staff The great company and nice sights (plus the flowing wine), made it very much fun on a day with on and off patches of rain.:

From the Daintree Rainforest and National Park near Cairns, Australia, here are two samples of our exploring there. We did a somewhat challenging 1.43 miles circular hike in the deep, deep of this dramatic rainforest. Lots of rocks, up and down paths, twists and turns, hard work, etc., as this picture illustrates. But we survived!! Even at our ages. Our group crossed the Mossman Gorge on a fairly long swinging bridge. Not Indiana Jones, but for us it was super spectacular. Here is one of my favorite pictures as it show John in our group looking at one of these huge trees in the middle of this rainforest and contemplating its majesty, size and history. And I told John, the picture shows his more photogenic side!: